Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 2,801-2,850 of 5,829

[Choko]

Emily!!! Those are the questions the series always poses, but I don't think I have gotten any answers. Have in mind, I have not read most of the books, but I think her whole thing is making us think on it...

I got mad at Chief too, but he truly loves her and they both have a ton of baggage in the relationship department. Even though she never said it, it is obvious that there was a lot of abuse in Max's family when she was little. And I am guessing some of it at least was sexual, because she said at one point, that she was not like her college friends, interested in sexual relationships, because she wasn't even sure if she could have such, after her childhood... So they both have a lot to deal with...

I am so glad you liked it too! Yay!!!

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "Emily!!! Those are the questions the series always poses, but I don't think I have gotten any answers. Have in mind, I have not read most of the books, but I think her whole thing is making us thin..."

Oh yeah I did catch that bit! Wonder if she'll explore that background...

I do like that the author mostly keeps it light, but it can get dark at the turn of the page like you said... It definitely makes for an interesting read, but it doesn't keep me depressed like some darker material.

[Choko]

Exactly! My grandma was a storyteller, and she had that talent. She never said a funny story without something darker in it for contrast, nor a serious story without some humor in it. I wish I had her natural talent in that... She would always have captive audience:) May her memory be a blessing!

[Nirkatze]

Brian wrote: "🤞 I hope she responds"

Crossing my fingers too...

@Iain--those sound really fun! I loved the Andrea Vernon series, and recommended it around to some folks I know who do audiobooks and they loved it too. Added the Orlando People series to my wishlist... trying not to spend credits too much lately... but I keep jumping on thos $5 sales.

[Nirkatze]

Emily wrote: "@Nirkatze and Choko

I also really liked St. Mary's 1! The title is honestly perfect for that book bc dang, it really was One Damned Thing After the Other...

Time travel books make my head hurt so..."

So much what you said Emily!

Just what Choko said too--the "questions the series always poses"--I'd stretch that to Time Travel books always pose. Alternate dimensions? Paradox? And if it's that little things can change, but big things can't--who decides what is little and what is big? What is important to people is not necessarily what is important to nature, or the world, or anything. Assuming that something like Lincoln becoming President is important to history is a very humancentric view of the universe, and I don't think the universe cares about a pinprick of time on a pinprick planet in a pinprick galaxy.

So is there a Time Travel Police out there somewhere, other than St. Mary's fiddling their Pixises to keep "History" in line?

Ditto on Sussman, ditto on Chief. Max is better than all of us. It's almost Monday. Yay!

And Choko, I maintain that your Grandma (is this the same one who escaped from an oppressive culture as a teenager?) is a frickin' superhero. I swear she must've had a cape and tights somewhere in the bottom of her hope chest.

[Choko]

Haha! She must have! I cherish her memory more and more the older I get:)

[Choko]

I just started St. Mary's #2... That was a horrible way to have your last, supposedly leisurely jump in time! What were the girls thinking??? I think this creature was (view spoiler)[ a demon or something... I am surprised the author went with something obviously supernatural, not science fictiony... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished Indie Saint... I think I picked it up in the last 2-for-1-credit sale...

I thought the book was OK, with kinda clunky dialogue and rushed romance subplot, but a very interesting premise... until I got to the epilogue, which added another interesting layer to the story, that makes me more interested in reading the whole 4 book series... and the books are short, so it's not a very big commitment...

[Choko]

If you wait a couple of days, I will join you in discussing them together:)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Was that aimed at me?... I'm no longer sure if I paid for #1... #2 & #3 are available for free on Audible... #4 is harder to find... the author says there's an ebook, but I only see paperbacks when I search...

[Choko]

Yep, for you:))) I am reading three very difficult for me emotionally books and I can use something lighter...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Sounds good... I'm all over the place right now... playing hot potato with my audiobooks to try to avoid slumping... starting, stopping... re-reads are proving easy enough...

[Choko]

I am doing the same... I read too many Grim Dark Fantasies on a row and not all of them gave that exit, where you feel ok about the end... So it started throwing me into a depression... So I am looking for ways not to stop reading...

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Emily wrote: "@Nirkatze and Choko

I also really liked St. Mary's 1! The title is honestly perfect for that book bc dang, it really was One Damned Thing After the Other...

Time travel books make m..."

Oh for sure! In recent human history I'm sure Lincoln being president is important... But the universe is huge and what even billions of humans are doing on a single planet can't be that important (Hah that reminded me of that machine in Hitchhiker's guide series that shows you how insignificant you are... Can't remember exactly which book it was..)

Started #2 today and the (view spoiler)[ Jack the Ripper opening was intense! So we've got time traveling and some sort of supernatural creature too... Wonder what all this series will throw at us (hide spoiler)]

Okay and I am through Chapter 9 and I must have missed something important but I couldn't scroll back at the time (view spoiler)[ But was Max at an alternate St. Mary's? Or was it just at a different time point? Was honestly kinda confused about that point. But I think she makes for a pretty good director :)

And so far she's being "forced" to go on leave. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Dodo (view spoiler)[ OMG that bit was hilarious! I wish I could see some live Dodos... (hide spoiler)]

Also, the author is a really big fan about ending some chapters with hints of things happening in the future.. I'm not really the biggest fan of this. End of chapter 9 (or maybe 8... sorry lol)(view spoiler)[ ended with her saying she would want tear Leon's heart out... so I guess we need to expect something bad he did?

Also I don't feel like Taylor ever completely revisits the little foreshadowing snippets? (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Chapter 11... I'm confused (view spoiler)[ Summarizing because I'm not sure if I understand this? So Max and Chief are in some sort of rehab/luxury mental facility... They have a joint sesh with Dr. Knox where Chief spaces out during which Max and doc are talking and she also hears something wild about murdering someone?? (Is this about Barclay?) She leaves and they were planning a rendezvous later but when she makes her move Chief rejects her "I don't think so Dr. Maxwell, do you?"

So... somethings definitely weird here... If Chief had some sort of problem I feel like he would follow that up with, IDK, ADULT CONVERSATION??? And instead of asking what's wrong Max destroys his car?? Good lord can we talk to eachother???
But it almost seems like Chief forgot they had an entire relationship with eachother?? Idk. This chapter was weird. Am I missing something? (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Okay.. Chapter14 (view spoiler)[ I suppose they resolve the incident.. But it's still frustrating because damn, that could have been solved by TALKING to eachother?? Also Chief needs to stop believing everything he hears... He just keeps hurting Max.

More references to Max's childhood.. Apparently Chief saw Max as a girl? Also this just creates so much timey wimey paradoxes that make my brain hurt... Like if Max was important to St. Mary's, and Chief had to give her that book so she went to St. Mary's in the first place... How did she end up there to begin with? Idk so much circular logic lol (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Emily wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "Emily wrote: "@Nirkatze and Choko..."

Seems like someone needs a bit of a St. Mary's mythology lesson... let's see how I do from memory, not having done a re-read in a few years...

(view spoiler)[St. Mary's is set in a nebulous future where some wars and stuff have happened and the world power structures have shifted a bit, regarding US/UK/etc... this isn't really expanded on, too much...

Then in the future, sometime past Max's time, time travel is discovered... it runs along nicely for awhile, then Dr. Bairstow and Clive Ronan and the bunch come along... there's a mission... Ronan's (unrequited?) love dies... and Ronan goes off the deep end... Ronan starts fiddling with the timeline to try and save her... Bairstow is sent back in time to setup St. Mary's early... several years later the engineering guy is sent back (Max's love interest)...

That's pretty much the setup... where you're at, Max visited the future St. Mary's that Bairstow and the engineering guy came from, and became leader for awhile? (hide spoiler)]

Hope that helped... I think that was all explainged in #1 and #0.5...

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Emily wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "Emily wrote: "@Nirkatze and Choko..."

Seems like someone needs a bit of a St. Mary's mythology lesson... let's see how I do from memory, not having done a re-read in..."

Hah thanks for the recap. I knew most of it, but I was hazy on (view spoiler)[ if Max went to the past of the future to become the interim director.. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Definitely the future... the future creeps in, a bunch of times in the first 3-6 books... then, the (view spoiler)[Time Police (hide spoiler)] replace that story beat...

I'm honestly thinking about tagging along late... the books are zany... might be an opportunity to do all the short stories, including the ones I missed... and I have a feeling the re-read will be more fun with you guys than the last time... my last group didn't enjoy the series, as it progressed, and it kinda put a damper on my feelings, too... (same way reading bad reviews can color my perceptions)...

[Choko]

I am only up to after the Dodo episode, which was absolutely awesome!!! But, Max went in the future, about a 100 years ahead, to safe Chief from Ronan kidnapping him. There, he and bitch-face Barkley and Co. had (view spoiler)[ tortured and killed bunch of the St. Mary's future personal, wanting all the pods, but they had sent most of them to an alternative location and wouldn't give it up. So this is where Max killed Barkley, and now is the temporary director, until they figure out what to do and get a new power structure going. I like their Chief - Pinky:))) She is one tough cookie:)

Our chief is recovering, but whatever they gave him to induce coma is screwing with his brain at the moment. Max is actually doing great as a director. Her sacrifice of the sandwiches to capture the Dodo's was prescious! (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Iain, join us:))

[Choko]

St. Mary's #2... is that psychiatrist screwing with them? WTF?

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "St. Mary's #2... is that psychiatrist screwing with them? WTF?"

That threw me off as well!

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "Iain, join us:))"

Ditto to this!

[Choko]

I just got to the part where they figured out the psychiatrist... This was a rough way to deal with the situation... Wow!

[Choko]

St. Mary's #2 ... Wow! The author just keeps knocking us down! (view spoiler)[ David!!!
And I don't understand why Chief keeps on doing things and being led by people who obviously mean them both harm! I thought he is strong, but he obviously has a bunch of hang ups, because he lets people influence him...

I don't understand why Max is feeling so bad about Barkley either. She was going to kill her and she had already killed other people. Just because she shot her in the back, doesn't make her a murderer for no reason... Also, Barkley got killed 100 years in the future. That gives her opportunity to still be in the historical timelines... So I am sure we haven't seen the last of her...

Also, Chief forcing the conversation of forgiveness was difficult to read too... But moments like that are always uncomfortable... At least she is partially facing some things. She is the queen of putting everything unpleasant in a box, dropping it in the deepest darkest corner of her subconsciousness and trying to ignore it forever. Then she wonders why she drinks and reacts to things weirdly... I feel for her, but it would be healthy if she could at least face them within herself... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

"We are doomed!"... Everyone cheered up. " Hahaha!

[Choko]

Just finished St. Mary's #2... I enjoyed it quite a bit, despite Chief being kind of dense when it comes to relationships... The historical research jumps were very cool! I am all in on the relationship drama, but my favorite parts are definitely the historical visits. The Dodo's stole the show for sure! :))) It is a different story set-up, because the biggest drama was in the first third of the book, and the rest was really dealing with the aftermath...

I read the short story #2.5 after that. Very short and just cute:)

I am definitely enjoying this series!!!!

[Tonari no Emily]

Definitely agree with you on relationship points! I wanna knock both Max and Chief upside the head! (view spoiler)[ They book obviously have heaps of baggage... Max has a lot of trauma/abuse from childhood which makes her very not good at healthy relationships... And Chief lost his children and was betrayed by his wife.. But I HATE how he takes it out on Max sometimes. LIke that is not doing ANYTHING for her trauma. And why is he so gullable?? That rather bothers me... (hide spoiler)]

Yes loved the Dodos! and I'm excited for more historical jumps (view spoiler)[ Looks like we're going to Troy! (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Barkley (view spoiler)[ Good point about her I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her...
But I understand why Max has guilt.. I mean she killed someone, can't be an easy thing to live with (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I love the historical jumps! It is kind of hilarious how they always screw something up though:) They are St. Mary's:)!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I still need to catch up on comments, but St. Mary's is one of those series where the rules matter until they don't... I mean... (view spoiler)[changing history is bad, and time will fuck your shit up... unless you're going back in time to start a time travel agency, which sounds like it would REALLY fuck up the timeline, right?... (hide spoiler)]

Speaking of less important things, Max said everywhere she goes smells of horse... but what about that final test in training, where you was sent to some untouched landscape for 16 days?...

And for minor future spoilers, it only takes 5 books to address (view spoiler)[the crazy high death rate of historians, and try to come up with a better training system and prep system, if I recall correctly... (hide spoiler)]

I feel like this series has lasted long enough to hit most big big events... even the ones advised against in training, like (view spoiler)[the birth of Jesus, in one of the short stories... (hide spoiler)]

I'll try to read the last page or 2 of comments, later today, and comment correctly... should be done with #1 by then, and maybe #0.5...

[Tonari no Emily]

Yay the Timelord is joining us for some time travel! :D

Excited to get to some of those events.. I'm mostly not gonna get caught up in the rules, just enjoy the wacky ride with the disaster magnets :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

That’s the best way to do it…

[Choko]

Same here! Enjoying the ride:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Jodi Taylor is a pantser... her writing is hectic and lacks plans... she'd kinda fit right in at St. Mary's, from the interviews I've watched..."

LOL "pantser"--is that liter..."

Time Travel has several main tentpoles, and I've read/watched a fair amount, I love all the different ways it can go...

I'm actually the biggest time travel / multiverse fan... it's in my profile, I think... which makes it sad I wasn't in the mood/too busy for Middle Falls... I bought a ton of middling time travel books on audible sale last year, and kind burnt out on them...

I should get you guys to read Middlegame sometime... it's kinda bonkers, and by Seanan McGuire, a favorite of mine... wouldn't mind a re-read, and still need to read the loosely connected Seasonal Fears set in the same universe about different characters... Seanan says it took her over a decade of growth as a writer to be able to do Middlegame justice, and it'll probably take another decade to be ready to write the sequel (there HAS to be a sequel to Middlegame...)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "The whole testing experience in Ch. 3-4, was awesome! And the test is obviously how to cheat but not get caught:)) I love her writing. It feels light and it is very funny at times, but she can get ..."

It's the best/worst... it's terrible, all these characters die... but it doesn't have the weight of a dark book... usually... my opinion is a bit different in Hope for the Best / Plan for the Worst duology, around book 9 in the series...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "St. Mary's #1 Chapter 6 [spoilers removed]

re: Chapter one quote--in Chapter 8 [spoilers removed]

Random note--I love how the narrator says "Yay!""

Early on in the first book, they talk about the problems with people removing the batteries from the fire alarms... this problem gets resolved in book 10, I think, when they install (view spoiler)[a system that draws power from the toilet/septic system somehow... no more batteries required... but the group gets so distracted with the logistics of how to pee directly on to the fire alarms on the ceiling, that the announcement kinda devolves... classic Jodi Taylor :D (hide spoiler)]

If you read that, you'll probably forget by the time we get to book 10... and/or, it's such a random side thing with no effect on the main plot anyway, just hilarious...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "St. Mary's #1 Chapter 7--[spoilers removed]..."

All the titles in this series are great... but the first 3 books are loosely a trilogy... hard to say if the author originally planned to stop, because if so, the plan changed before the publication of book 3, given how it ends...

My main problem with the series, is really a problem with time travel in general... altho I blame Jodi Taylor... it's that bad guys keep coming back... when time travel is in play, just because a character is dead, doesn't mean they can't still cause problems earlier in their timeline but later in yours... and it means that stopping them is risky, for paradox reasons... after a certain point, it feels like JT struggling to come up with new ideas for baddies...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "St. Mary's #1 Chapter 17 So... one question. ..."

I think the easiest catch-all is just that (view spoiler)[time travellers and anything related to time travellers is self-regulating, and ignored by Time... otherwise all the stuff with future St. Mary's, new early St. Mary's, and Clive Ronan, just becomes a headache to rationalize... thus the need for the Time Police... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "St. Mary's #1 ... Ch. 15... Nope, nothing has been brought back before...

The Dodo's... I feel exactly the same! We need Dodo's today!

I finished it as well! I loved it! I am a big fan of histor..."

I think the books are set vaguely in the future, not alt-world... also, a crazy amount of time passes in the books... over 5 years in this first one... most books span months/years... planning trips, spending time ON trips, etc etc etc...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Choko wrote: "St. Mary's # 1...

Ch. 6 - Jedi Knight should be a religion for sure!!! And the answers of that dude in the Sex section should be accepted:)))

Ch. 7 - that was unexpected, but it mak..."

Not to be too much of a downer... but every time I read the news these days, I feel like the world is regressing... or at least the US is...

[Choko]

Iain, I agree with everything you said... And the regression of the world is a real thing, not only here in the US... I have no idea what is going on... But it scares the hell out of me...

That little spoiler for the future book 10 is hilarious! I am sure I will remember it:) Also, for some reason, I am terrified every time, that Ronan and the bad guys are going to start a fire in our St. Mary's and they will not be warned, because of not having batteries in the fire detectors, and bunch of people will die and pods would be lost .. It is one of those things I totally expect to happen every moment..

Overall, I am really enjoying the series:))

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Jodi Taylor is a pantser... her writing is hectic and lacks plans... she'd kinda fit right in at St. Mary's, from the interviews I've watched..."

LOL "pantse..."

Loved Middlegame! Would totally do a re-read and then a read of Seasonal Fears!

[Tonari no Emily]

Very much agree about the regressing of the world/US in particular :(
Can only hope we just get out of a slump or something, but I worry.

[Tonari no Emily]

Omg the batteries thing is hillarious and on brand from what I've seen from Jodi Taylor so far :D

[Choko]

I need to check Middlegame out...

[Julian]

We're living the roaring 20s without having gotten to experience the party aspect first :(

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "I just started St. Mary's #2... That was a horrible way to have your last, supposedly leisurely jump in time! What were the girls thinking??? I think this creature was [spoilers removed]"

A little bit of excitement! Wouldn't you want a thrill for your last ride... if you were crazy enough to be in St. Mary's in the first place, that is? I bet she's a true crime buff. (view spoiler)[I too was surprised that Taylor went full supernatural with Jack the Ripper. And it still feels unsolved for me...

Like, they burned everything that had a trace, and Foster only took a few cells to study, and those cells expanded like crazy... but Max was COVERED in that thing's blood, and so was her partner! With open wounds on them! They TOTALLY would have gotten infected... I felt like there should have been more to that bit, and it was more or less just dropped... (hide spoiler)]