Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Accent Press
Description
Ever wondered how it all began? It's two years since the final victory at the Battersea Barricades. The fighting might be finished, but for Dr Bairstow, just now setting up St Mary's, the struggle is only beginning. How will he assemble his team? From where will his funding come? How can he overcome the massed ranks of the Society for the Protection of Historical Buildings? How do stolen furniture, a practical demonstration at the Stirrup Charge at Waterloo, students' alcohol-ridden urine, a widowed urban guerrilla, a young man wearing exciting knitwear, and four naked security guards all combine to become the St Mary's of the future?
User reviews
LibraryThing member crankybookwyrm
Set before the first novel in the series, the story probably won't be as enjoyable if you haven't read that novel (at least). Coming back to it after reading twelve of the novels, I found it delightful, and enjoyed meeting the seven "essential" characters (along with several other important ones,
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including the main character of the series) for the first time. Delightful! Show Less
LibraryThing member michigantrumpet
Jodi Taylor's prequel provides a glimpse into the founding of St. Mary's. In addition to the back stories of many favorite characters (I like Helen's the best), we learn the cause of Dr. Barstow's underlying sadness. Of course, no chronicle should be without a little pod-jumping -- this time to the
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Battle of Waterloo. Armed with all this new information, I quite want to re-read the rest of the chronicles just to see how the pieces all fit together! Show Less
LibraryThing member mountie9
An intriguing introduction to how St Mary's came into existence. I cannot get enough of this series. Ok and I giggled when there was a comment about "it being bigger on the inside" If you don't know why I giggled about this -- than I am just not sure we can communicate. I really enjoyed getting to
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know a little bit more about Dr Barstow. As usual lots of fun dialogue and outstanding characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member passion4reading
Dr Edward Bairstow goes about getting together his team for St Mary's Institute of Historical Research which he is going to found – being from the future, luckily he already knows who's on it.
This short story serves as the prequel to the Chronicles of St Mary's series, giving readers a brief
This short story serves as the prequel to the Chronicles of St Mary's series, giving readers a brief
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glimpse of characters' back stories. As I'm only just starting out, having picked up Just One Damned Thing after Another from the charity shop a short while ago, I wasn't familiar with any of the names, and found it initially quite difficult to keep track of who's who (26 names are squeezed into about 75 pages); luckily the author has helpfully provided a list of characters at the beginning – readers who come to the prequel out of sequence, having read some or all of the other volumes, will of course have no trouble remembering names and their position in the Institute, and are able to link revelations about their past to their present, fleshing out their characters. For someone who doesn't have the benefit of hindsight the short story provides intriguing glimpses of the main protagonists, written with a tongue placed firmly in cheek and with an obvious affection for each of them (possibly with the exception of the employees of the Society for the Protection of Historical Buildings) and has definitely whetted the appetite to start reading the series as soon as possible. Show Less
LibraryThing member jdifelice
I liked this story about how St. Mary's got it's start. It was interesting seeing things from Dr. Barstow's POV. It wasn't as ridiculous and adventurous, but it had a great tone and you can see how things got started and how they got to where they are when we start the series. Overall, it was good,
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but not great. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
I think this is a prequel that would have had more impact if I had read it after the first few books in the series. I picked this up for free on Audible and, while it was well-written, I was mostly confused by what was happening.
I listened to this on audiobook and the author reads it. Taylor did a
This book follows a character named Dr Bairstow as he gathers funding and people for his time-traveling historical society that is being house in St. Mary's.
A lot of characters are introduced rapidly. The book is broken into very short vignettes that show how each of these characters comes to join Dr. Bairstow's group. Unfortunately, I haven't read any other books in the series and don't have any reference for all these characters, so this didn't have a lot of impact for me and was mostly just confusing.
Overall this was okay but a bit hard to follow and choppy for me. I might have to come back and reread this after I read some of the series itself. I guess I would recommend this to fans of the series who want some more background. However, it doesn’t seem to be a good starting point if you are just starting to read the series.
I listened to this on audiobook and the author reads it. Taylor did a
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good job reading it and I would recommend if you enjoy audiobooks.This book follows a character named Dr Bairstow as he gathers funding and people for his time-traveling historical society that is being house in St. Mary's.
A lot of characters are introduced rapidly. The book is broken into very short vignettes that show how each of these characters comes to join Dr. Bairstow's group. Unfortunately, I haven't read any other books in the series and don't have any reference for all these characters, so this didn't have a lot of impact for me and was mostly just confusing.
Overall this was okay but a bit hard to follow and choppy for me. I might have to come back and reread this after I read some of the series itself. I guess I would recommend this to fans of the series who want some more background. However, it doesn’t seem to be a good starting point if you are just starting to read the series.
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LibraryThing member jamespurcell
In the beginning there was chaos; then St. Mary's was founded and the chaos became organized. Staff recruitment is confoundingly assertive and results in a very unique verging on weird faculty and staff. And that iis BM, before Max. A. belated but interesting prologue to this imaginative and lively
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series. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Some humor, not much zaniness.
LibraryThing member SharonMariaBidwell
A prequel to a series of books of the Chronicles of St Mary’s featuring a group of time-travelling historians, this one read by the author. It’s entertaining and an interesting idea, and perhaps adds to the series for invested readers, but I’ve not listened/read any of the other books and
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I’m not sure this made we want to start another series, particularly as it has mixed reviews. Still, I like the idea enough that if I had enough time, I’d try the first book, so I can’t truly recommend one way or the other. Show Less
LibraryThing member beentsy
A very nice little back story / fore story snack.
LibraryThing member jsfecmd
Great origin story for the fans of Jody Taylor's St. Mary series. Highly recommend.
Original publication date
2015-12-25
Local notes
St. Mary's, 0
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Taylor |