Fun read, fast read. Still want to go to St. Mary's one day.

( )

Max has a plan. Clive Ronan had been free and killing people for way too long so she is really tired of it and if noone else can catch him, she would. Or that is the idea anyway. Except that history does not really care about people's plans so things go pear-shaped. Again.

Welcome to St Mary's - the institute where historians investigate major historical events in contemporary time. About that plan... it requires Max to work for the Time Police (well... she has connections so that works out), everyone there to get really pissed with her (not a problem), a teapot travel pod (check), a couple of crazy teenagers (check) and a bit of luck (well...). Of course there is no way for the plan to happen without distractions - a few years ago Max went back to the 16th century to make sure that Mary Stuart does not become a queen, now it is time for ensure that Mary Tudor does - for a historian, she seems to be changing the timeline a lot (but only when someone breaks it before it of course). And in the meantime Holcombe manages to take over St Mary's and Max finally start realizing that all those bad guys that keep trying to change the timeline are somehow connected... or must be anyway.

Once 16th century is sorted out (and we see what happens when a whole space and time gets out of sync with history), we are back to the plan, stopping in Kush and in the future en route and ending up in the Cretaceous. Where things don't really go as expected - to the surprise of exactly noone.

The end works beautifully - if you had been paying attention, you know that things won't finish in this novel. If you had not, the explanation is pretty straight forward. In both cases, we end up with the Time Police and St Mary's at each other throat's again. Which usually leads to a lot of interesting situations. Plus the dodos showed up again.

If you had not been reading the series, don't start here. The book will be incomprehensible if you lack the backstory. And unlike the earlier books, very little of the actual action is in the past - the novel is dealing with current and future issues more which makes it even less suitable for reading it as a standalone.

Another great entry in a highly entertaining series. ( )

Although this book could feasibly be read as a standalone, I wouldn't recommend it. With nine previous books and a number of short-stories, it is becoming almost impossible to cover the major details in all the previous works. I would imagine if you are nearing this book to read, there is not much I can give you regarding the series background that you don't already know.

This book continues the adventures of Madeline "Max" Maxwell, historian and time traveler of St. Mary's. Max has conceived of the perfect plan to capture her antagonist, the time renegade Clive Ronan. She not only convinces her superior but also the time police of its brilliance. Of course, where Max generally is, there disaster will be. I believe that she is a proverbial lightning rod for crisis and calamity. The title of this book portends its events for one should "hope for the best...but plan for the worse."

If you are a fan of Doctor Who, you might enjoy this series. Begin with her inaugural book, Just One Damned Thing After Another and buckle up for a thrilling ride. ( )

I think it's safe to say that Taylor has done it again. Not MAX doing it again, per se, but for writing a great SF time-travel hijinx novel, the WRITER has done it again. :)

My goodness. Max taking herself into Mastermind territory? Oh, WHAT COULD GO WRONG, indeed? lol

I admit I'm a huge fan of big heist-type novels and this one gives us all the attempted makings of one. Max even GETS PERMISSION to run such an ill-conceived notion against her arch-enemy. Will wonders never cease?

Of course, things go wrong. They always go wrong. History department or FAR off the History department's tracks, I was consistently amazed at the lengths that Max went. From start to finish, I think this one might be one of my favorites in the series.

Sure, there isn't so much involvement with the old characters so much, but that is to be expected, being on the run and all. :)

So? Bravo! Totally entertaining. :) ( )

Clever plot, infused with gentle humour that entertained but lacked the personal angst and historical set-pieces that make the series sparkle.

The strong point in this tenth episode of St. Mary's is the plot. Max finally puts together a cunning plan to capture her arch-enemy, Ronan and has to leave St. Mary's for a secondment to the Time Police to put it into action. I didn't guess how this would work and I certainly didn't see the end coming.

With Max moving to the Time Police, the focus moves from History to Time. I thought this was handled well, especially in the way the collapse of the timeline and the plan to try and fix it were described, but I found myself missing the historical set-pieces: the prep, the how-will-St.-Mary's-mess-it-up-this-time suspense and the wow-it-feels-like-I'm-there evocation of events.

The book keeps that distinctive mix of subversive humour and deep devotion to duty against all odds that, for me, defines St. Marys and it was what I enjoyed most about this book. I'm just happy to have the opportunity to spend more time in Max's company.
In the past few books, being in Max's company has been a fairly emotionally exhausting experience, given all the things that have happened to her. This time, although Max was almost constantly at risk of being killed, I never really felt more than curiosity about how she would get out of trouble this time.

It was an entertaining read with a plot that tied up a lot of loose ends and revisited old actions in new and clever ways but didn't quite get there for me in terms of feeling real threat.

Still, I'll be there for book eleven whenever Jodi Taylor produces it. ( )