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The Chronicles of St Mary's #2.5
When a Child Is Born
A Chronicles of St Mary's short story that is sure to entertain. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.It's Christmas Day 1066 and a team from St Mary's is going to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror. Or so they think...However, History seems to have different plans for them and when Max finds herself delivering a child in a peasant's hut, she can't help wondering what History is up to.Readers love Jodi 'Once in a while, I discover an author who changes everything ... Jodi Taylor and her protagonista Madeleine "Max" Maxwell have seduced me''A great mix of British proper-ness and humour with a large dollop of historical fun '' Addictive. I wish St Mary's was real and I was a part of it''Jodi Taylor has an imagination that gets me completely hooked ''A tour de force'
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2013
169 people are currently reading
2730 people want to read
About the author
Jodi Taylor
84 books5,387 followersJodi Taylor is the internationally bestselling author of the Chronicles of St Mary's series, the story of a bunch of disaster prone individuals who investigate major historical events in contemporary time. Do NOT call it time travel! She is also the author of the Time Police series - a St Mary's spinoff and gateway into the world of an all-powerful, international organisation who are NOTHING like St Mary's. Except, when they are.
Alongside these, Jodi is known for her gripping supernatural thrillers featuring Elizabeth Cage together with the enchanting Frogmorton Farm series - a fairy story for adults.
Born in Bristol and now living in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and write a novel. Over twenty books later, she still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
Alongside these, Jodi is known for her gripping supernatural thrillers featuring Elizabeth Cage together with the enchanting Frogmorton Farm series - a fairy story for adults.
Born in Bristol and now living in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and write a novel. Over twenty books later, she still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews
June 9, 2022
*** 3.75 ***
"Don't eat yellow snow, sir!
🙂🙂🙂
A quick short read about a birth in a manger and its connection to the birth of Parliament as we know it:) Nice and pleasant.
Second read was just as likable, just not significant:)
"Don't eat yellow snow, sir!
🙂🙂🙂
A quick short read about a birth in a manger and its connection to the birth of Parliament as we know it:) Nice and pleasant.
Second read was just as likable, just not significant:)
February 10, 2017
Aside from the wry remarks from Dr. Bairstow and the belated realization that women in history *do* matter, this short, short time-travel SF featuring our favorite, Max, discovers, with the rest of the crew, that they're a bunch of softies.
Oh, yeah, and history *might* need a bit of a personification after this. What the heck? Well, alls well that ends well.
Oh, yeah, and history *might* need a bit of a personification after this. What the heck? Well, alls well that ends well.
August 23, 2021
I took a break from the heartbreak And the Rest is History to read this and yay!
Not even a novella, just a very sweet short story about how one small deed can change history. For as short as it is, charming with some ironic humor.
Not even a novella, just a very sweet short story about how one small deed can change history. For as short as it is, charming with some ironic humor.
May 11, 2019
Jodi Taylor’s very entertaining series about the St. Mary’s time travelers rolls on into the Christmas of 1066 outside London where William the Conqueror is being coronated at Westminster Abbey.
Except Dr. “Max” Maxwell and her team find themselves assisting a Saxon woodcutter and his wife instead of observing the Norman king’s ascension.
But was the mission a failure after all?
Taylor’s erudition in history and her fluid prose make this short work come alive. We see, hear and smell (!) a post-Roman settlement and get a sense of the socio-political climate of the times.
Fun, entertaining, and thought provoking. Now on to the next story.
Except Dr. “Max” Maxwell and her team find themselves assisting a Saxon woodcutter and his wife instead of observing the Norman king’s ascension.
But was the mission a failure after all?
Taylor’s erudition in history and her fluid prose make this short work come alive. We see, hear and smell (!) a post-Roman settlement and get a sense of the socio-political climate of the times.
Fun, entertaining, and thought provoking. Now on to the next story.
June 18, 2019
Another Christmas outing with the gang from St. Mary's. This is a quick listen at just 30 minutes, and I didn't love this one as much as the other shorts I've listened to in this series. There were a few amusing bits, but the history hook in this one was meh for me.
Still, not a bad way to kill 30 minutes when you're waiting for the book you really wanna read to become available.
Still, not a bad way to kill 30 minutes when you're waiting for the book you really wanna read to become available.
June 25, 2022
A short that fits between book 2 and 3 in the Chronicles of St Mary's. Most of these 'between' stories are available as e-books individually, or in a couple of collected editions. I purchased the first collection of shorts and am reading them in chronological order with the main books.
A decent story, but one that does need a bit of English History to appreciate. Taylor does a good job of explaining things to a certain extent so all is clear in the end.
A decent story, but one that does need a bit of English History to appreciate. Taylor does a good job of explaining things to a certain extent so all is clear in the end.
August 18, 2024
All the right ingredients for a short story set at Christmas with the added hilarity of St. Mary’s turning up
May 10, 2024
A funny interlude between books (presumably for the Christmas market).
A few of the St Mary's staff head off to Westminster Abbey to see the coronation of William I. However, as usual, the gods of history have the last laugh sending the pod to a site some miles from the Abbey. Instead of witnessing a coronation and a rumoured punch up, the gang get to assist in the birth of a child ... in a stable ... under a starry night? Hmmm luckily the men involved could never be called wise and they've not brought any presents so ...
Another short story that was really enjoyable. Jodi Taylor has a definite skill in this difficult medium. Chortled nearly all the way through.
A few of the St Mary's staff head off to Westminster Abbey to see the coronation of William I. However, as usual, the gods of history have the last laugh sending the pod to a site some miles from the Abbey. Instead of witnessing a coronation and a rumoured punch up, the gang get to assist in the birth of a child ... in a stable ... under a starry night? Hmmm luckily the men involved could never be called wise and they've not brought any presents so ...
Another short story that was really enjoyable. Jodi Taylor has a definite skill in this difficult medium. Chortled nearly all the way through.
November 8, 2016
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
When A Child Is Born takes place on Christmas (though it is not that child that is born). Max and her team end up being sidetracked while they are hiking towards William I's coronation. It's short and sweet and it fits perfectly in the holiday season.
While I enjoyed it thoroughly, all 20 or so pages of it, it did seem a bit incongruent with the previously established laws of the series. (This is something that slightly bothered me throughout the whole series, but here it is very clear). It seems to me there is a regular switch in exactly how much they can interfere with history.
Nevertheless, a sure recommendation to the fans of the series!
When A Child Is Born takes place on Christmas (though it is not that child that is born). Max and her team end up being sidetracked while they are hiking towards William I's coronation. It's short and sweet and it fits perfectly in the holiday season.
While I enjoyed it thoroughly, all 20 or so pages of it, it did seem a bit incongruent with the previously established laws of the series. (This is something that slightly bothered me throughout the whole series, but here it is very clear). It seems to me there is a regular switch in exactly how much they can interfere with history.
Nevertheless, a sure recommendation to the fans of the series!
February 15, 2019
This was a very quick short time travel story (one of many stand-alone time-travel stories written by Jody Taylor in a series) to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror, but turns into delivery of a woman's baby in a hut and helping her injured husband. Very sweet enjoyable story.
April 30, 2015
Max and her team of time travelling historians travel to 1066 to observe the coronation of King Harold II. Unfortunately they get sidetracked and find themselves helping a woman in labor and a man who has managed to injure himself with an axe.
Very short story which will only take half an hour to finish, if that. It's pretty good fun and worth a look...but go for the audio edition available from audible.com (it's free). The Kindle edition on the other hand is going to cost you 87 cents.
Very short story which will only take half an hour to finish, if that. It's pretty good fun and worth a look...but go for the audio edition available from audible.com (it's free). The Kindle edition on the other hand is going to cost you 87 cents.
November 23, 2017
This would have been better if I would have known, or even heard of, the person at the end. (The education system failed me.) Still, I love The Chronicles of St Mary's!
December 24, 2024
A quickly but a goodie.
January 8, 2021
A short and sweet story that I thought might be about baby Jesus, but turned out to be something else entirely. A great way to ease back into this series after a break.
February 11, 2017
This is a TINY little story set in the St Mary's world and I have to say that whilst I did enjoy being with the characters and I love the fact that many of these are free on audio, I just felt that this was a bit too short and not much happened. It's about the team travelling to a place where they meet a lady about to give birth and have to help her. It's a nice enough story, but there's not a lot more there so it was just an okay read for me :) Still good fun to be back in the world though, and I do intend to read the rest of the shorts.
December 27, 2019
Fascinating time travel setting at a historic moment in time. Clear and personable narration added to the story's understanding and enjoyment.
October 4, 2017
Fun fun fun. St. Mary’s and Christmas.
September 30, 2017
This second novella is the shortest of the lot but that doesn't mean that it is less good. The revelation of the child was actually epic and the story before that was just hilarious (from the "liver" to Dr. Bairstow's hint at the Three Wise Men - just think if he was right)! "Sometimes it's just about the little people" - what a wonderful conclusion.
January 2, 2019
Amusing St. Mary's short, though really, all of the series is pretty dang amusing. It's also a gentle but pointed reminder of our tendency to regard history as something where only the men are important.
December 30, 2017
A short Christmas story with the unique St. Mary's flavor. Now we finally know where the legend about the three kings started.
November 16, 2020
This was super fun!
November 16, 2020
What an excellent little story 😂
June 24, 2015
https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...
Time travelling is fairly commonly addressed in science fiction, but not always in a successful manner, due to all its implications.
This is a short story I found for free on Audible, so I was not expecting much. The group of three historians lands in a place which is obviously not where they are supposed to be. There isn’t much information about the means of transportation, other than it is a pod. I cannot recall listening to any details of it, particularly about its visibility to other people. That has always been an issue to me: if the device is visible, won’t the time traveller risk it being gone by the time he or she returns from prancing about?
It was on ok story, though it got a bit repetitive with the few guilty of thinking as an historian lines, and I did not much care for the three mage reference as it seemed too farfetched.
I also didn’t really know what to think about ‘Nature’ being the one to blame for how the events turned out. That seems to imply that time travelling is a natural matter, no?
There were a few moments where I chuckled, so I will rate the story up. The bit about the stew was especially funny.
Overall, it is a good story to listen to if you are going to do a quick workout as I did, or something of the sort; nothing stupendous and it will leave plenty of questions unanswered, but it will get you thinking about the repercussions of an event in the far past being handled in a different way. The narration itself was ok. Zara Ramm’s voice is pleasant enough, but the voices could have been done a wee bit better.
Time travelling is fairly commonly addressed in science fiction, but not always in a successful manner, due to all its implications.
This is a short story I found for free on Audible, so I was not expecting much. The group of three historians lands in a place which is obviously not where they are supposed to be. There isn’t much information about the means of transportation, other than it is a pod. I cannot recall listening to any details of it, particularly about its visibility to other people. That has always been an issue to me: if the device is visible, won’t the time traveller risk it being gone by the time he or she returns from prancing about?
It was on ok story, though it got a bit repetitive with the few guilty of thinking as an historian lines, and I did not much care for the three mage reference as it seemed too farfetched.
I also didn’t really know what to think about ‘Nature’ being the one to blame for how the events turned out. That seems to imply that time travelling is a natural matter, no?
There were a few moments where I chuckled, so I will rate the story up. The bit about the stew was especially funny.
Overall, it is a good story to listen to if you are going to do a quick workout as I did, or something of the sort; nothing stupendous and it will leave plenty of questions unanswered, but it will get you thinking about the repercussions of an event in the far past being handled in a different way. The narration itself was ok. Zara Ramm’s voice is pleasant enough, but the voices could have been done a wee bit better.
April 30, 2017
I didn't realize til recently that Jodi wrote shorts to go between each full length novel.
This was short but was a rollicking read from start to finish.
Because it's a short, there is no time wasted on introducing the characters and setting up the world of St. Mary's. You're expected to be familiar with them from the other books.
Which to me isn't a big deal because the full length books are VERY worth reading. I've read the first 4 books. Pacing myself to spread out the fun. This short was a nice appetizer.
It never gets old how Max and her fellow St. Maryians get into trouble in the wink of a gnat's eye.
Highly recommended series. Once you've read a couple books, then read this one!
This was short but was a rollicking read from start to finish.
Because it's a short, there is no time wasted on introducing the characters and setting up the world of St. Mary's. You're expected to be familiar with them from the other books.
Which to me isn't a big deal because the full length books are VERY worth reading. I've read the first 4 books. Pacing myself to spread out the fun. This short was a nice appetizer.
It never gets old how Max and her fellow St. Maryians get into trouble in the wink of a gnat's eye.
Highly recommended series. Once you've read a couple books, then read this one!
December 10, 2015
Audible Freebie
After I read the first volume of the Chronicles of St. Mary's, I noticed that the audible version of this (and a few others) were free. They still are and you might want to try them.
It is entirely possible to listen or read this short story (its about 30 minutes in audio) without having read volume one of the series. The info dump is not long and serves simply to make time travel understandable. In short, certain members of St Mary's travel back and in time and learn a little something.
Mary Beard would like this story, to say anything more than that would ruin it.
After I read the first volume of the Chronicles of St. Mary's, I noticed that the audible version of this (and a few others) were free. They still are and you might want to try them.
It is entirely possible to listen or read this short story (its about 30 minutes in audio) without having read volume one of the series. The info dump is not long and serves simply to make time travel understandable. In short, certain members of St Mary's travel back and in time and learn a little something.
Mary Beard would like this story, to say anything more than that would ruin it.
November 18, 2016
Max and her little band of historians and security from St. Mary's are off once again, this time to London in 1066 to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror. At least, that's why they think they're there. But everything goes wrong, and they arrive well outside town, and trip over a wounded woodcutter while heading toward what they think is their destination.
History has other things in mind for them, though. They're soon in deep, deep trouble, and Max is wondering how she's going to explain this to Dr. Bairstow. Along the way, Max discovers that sometimes she needs to "not think like an historian."
It's short, fun, and free on Audible. Take advantage; you'll enjoy it.
History has other things in mind for them, though. They're soon in deep, deep trouble, and Max is wondering how she's going to explain this to Dr. Bairstow. Along the way, Max discovers that sometimes she needs to "not think like an historian."
It's short, fun, and free on Audible. Take advantage; you'll enjoy it.
February 11, 2014
This was a very sweet and funny short story, which I must try to remember to reread at Christmas next year. Better read after the second book, but really all that you get is that St Mary's survives everything history throws at it, unless that should actually be the other way around! Given that book three is on the way that should be obvious, anyway. And after the end of book two's revelation of WHERE they'll be going next, I can't wait to a painful degree.
December 3, 2013
Lovely little short story to fill the gap inbetween novels. I am not normally one for short stories but I enjoyed this one. I suppose it is like getting a quick email from old friends. I hope their next email though is very long indeed ;0D
February 17, 2018
This was a weird story even by St. Mary's standards. What I loved most was It's really quite brilliant. But then again there should be some actual use of those pesky historians, right?
May 13, 2020
This was a really short but really sweet little story. I just really enjoyed it and the revelation towards the end was cute too. Max is always learning something new.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews