Customer Reviews

A Symphony of Echoes: The Chronicles of St Mary's, Book 2 (Unabridged)

Discovered to my delight that the sequel had been published a couple of days earlier than thought and have just finished reading it. It's safe to say that if you loved the first you will also adore the second.

Max and her St Mary's friends continue to rampage their way through the timeline, surviving mostly unscathed (and if there are a few scars ... well, don't boys dig scars anyway?)

As with the first (Just one damned thing after another), I found A Symphony of Echoes gripping and extremely difficult to put down from start to finish. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

It's well worth paying for and having read it on my kindle I now want the paperback for my bookshelf.

I read the first in this series earlier this year, and have been waiting for the second one...so how on earth I missed it when it first came out, I have no idea...perhaps they could lend me a pod so I could go back in time?!?
Max, along with all of the beloved characters from St Mary's are back, fighting Jack the Ripper, losing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, almost dying (several times!!!) and then setting history right again. This book made me shiver, weep, laugh, weep, and want to punch the air for the good guys....but I was on the bus, so I had to restrain myself!
Jodi Taylor has an enormous love of history, and this comes across in her novels...but she also has a very fine-tuned sense of humour. The dodo-hunting expedition was so funny, and so deftly written that I read it about three times, just so I could experience it again, and yet the incident at the Red House just made me want to weep for both Leon and Max.

This was just as good as the first one, and I can't wait for the next in the series...this time, I'm keeping a very close eye out for the release date...Troy, here we come!!!!!!

Symphony of Echoes continues the adventures of the time travelling Dr Maxwell in a kind of Dr Who meets Indiana Jones meets Mission Impossible. Max and her team hop through history on series of ill fated missions, creating carnage and chaos wherever they go. This particular book takes us from the Victorian London to a future version of St Mary's and back to 16 century Scotland.
I have to say these novels are something of a guilty pleasure. There are a number of frustrating aspects to them; I find that the main protagonist spends far too much time on self commentary and spelling things out, and also there is way too much going on in the novel. Too many subplots and unnecessary events distract from the main plot line and often the structure feels like it lacks discipline, trying to cram in too many ideas.
That said, this is very readable and engaging, and it is easy to be swept up in the ridiculousness of the whole thing. For some light-hearted escapism this is just the job to pass the time.

This is the second in the Chronicles of St Mary's series. The first book set up the concept of St Mary's - a centre for historical exploration. The members use time travel to chronicle what happened in the past. Obviously there are bad guys out for their own gain.

This book has a few threads but builds up to an expedition to not just find out what happened then, but to head off the bad guys. It's a fair chunk of a book and at about 3/4 of the way through I was thinking there might have been one too many "side trips", but everything did lead to where things were going.

In the first book Max, the protagonist was a bit unsure of things but this time round, she's hardened up and at time shocked me with her behaviour.

In the main, this is a fairly light read, but gets serious at times. I really enjoyed it and like this author and the world she's created. I was thinking of this when I wasn't reading it.

This was excellent, Max is a wonderful, funny character, and the others feel like old friends. An absolute pleasure to read

Well, having decided to finally review this book, I first took a look at the other reviews and it's made me realise that other people's reviews should not be used to choose a book. Much better to read the sample if possible and make your own decision.

I base this on the fact that I just loved this 2nd episode of St Mary's and yet there are reviewers who are very lukewarm about it - it makes you wonder how people can have such different views about the same thing.

Anyway, having got that off my chest, if you like books that involve you immediately, make you care about the characters (even the minor ones) but still manage to inject excitement, mystery and science fiction into them then this book is for you.

I'd suggest reading them in order as the story continues from the first one - not in the sense of having a true cliffhanger but in terms of the overall story arc - and some references won't make sense without having read Just One Damned Thing After Another.

As I don't like spoilers I won't go into details, suffice to say that we have another thoroughly enjoyable, scary, and sometimes sad romp through time with Max and the other St Mary incumbents. Although the historical events referred to are real, it's obvious that the author uses poetic licence to flesh out the 'contemporary time' observations made by the historians in the book so I don't think that we need to worry about historical accuracy - given that this is fiction and all!

I agree with another reviewer that it's not a simple, one-stranded plot and, therefore, it's not an easy read but I don't want to read one-dimensional books that don't take any thinking about; if that's what you want out of a book, then certainly don't even think about reading this one, it won't suit!

If all the good reviews don't convince you, take a look inside or download the sample - don't just rely on reviewers opinions, I'm not going to anymore.

I read this on the Kindle, just a side note to say that I didn't notice any grammatical, spelling or typo errors at all.

I don't usually read a follow on book and make it to the end let alone find it equally as much fun as the first!Maxwell is the funniest most loveable character,Bridget Jones with a brain meets time travel.its awesome.I might be on my own here but I'd love to see it on TV.I think it would be a massive hit.anyway enough chattering i am onto A Second Chance now so must go,keep writing Jodi I'm catching you up!

An amazing find. These books really grip you and don't let go, I can't believe they aren't on the best-seller lists. They are exciting, funny, gripping,and written well (a good plot is all well and good, but the way a story is told is the measure of a true writer). Please write more Jodi - there's still so much more history to cover!

Loved this book. From cover to cover. Had me captivated.
Have now read both books and waiting for the third to appear on the Kindle store.
Nice light easy read but characters really draw you in.
Would recommend for the dark winter nights or sunny holidays.

Loved this book. It was as good as the first book and worth every penny. It ended too quickly. I'm ready for book 3.