Why Is Nothing Ever Simple?

This is the first time Ive been disappointed in a Christmas release. Yes there were some funny moments, once I actually laughed out loud. But for a Christmas St Marys short this was disappointing. Christmas could just as easily have been May Day with as much attention as it received. I personally think this short was mainly published to introduce two characters that we will see in future books.The story was rather blah. If I ranked all of the shorts in the entire series this would be on or next to last. I live in the United States and we havent had a book from Ms Taylor since April. There is a huge delay between U.K. and U.S. release dates. I would enjoy an entire book, not another book of shorts. A real honest to goodness book about St Marys. The only scheduled releases we have are for more short stories which tend to confuse the continuity of the story. Im becoming frustrated . I waited for 8 months for the release of a 100 page short story that I spent $5.56 for and wasnt thrilled.Twenty percent of this short is a partial of a book that Ive already purchased. Im tired of paying again for things that Ive already purchased. If this is the direction that this series is going it will be easy to walk away from this author.

The Battle of Bannockburn, the final battle of the War for Scottish Independence, should have been an overwhelming victory for the English, at least if you looked at the numbers. Englands King Edward II fielded more than 13,000 infantry and 3,000 heavy cavalry, to face Robert the Bruces 7,000 pikemen and a few hundred light cavalry. It was indeed a rout under the Scottish kings skilled generalship the English cavalry were decimated and the English forces roundly beaten and sent fleeing.

It was this battle that Major Ian Guthrie, newly retired Chief of Security and Scotsman to the bone, chose as the event he most wanted to see when he retired from St. Marys the Scottish army kicking English arse. And since St. Marys studies historical events contemporaneously (do NOT call it time travel), it meant that wherever they arrived to see the battle, they were going to be surrounded by hostile warriors quite willing to kill anyone not on their side. Furthermore, because they were St. Marys, something was bound to go wrong. With St. Marys, nothing is ever simple.

When the pod containing Major Guthrie, Markham (his replacement as head of security), and Dr. Peterson suddenly lost all radio contact, a rescue team had to be sent out. This is their story…

This is a delightfully confused St. Marys story, fully up to author Jodi Taylors inimical style. It would be rather less than comprehensible to anyone who has not read the earlier books in the series.

I should start by saying that Jodi Taylor is one of my favorite authors. If you havent read anything by Ms. Taylor, its best to start with the first book in the Chronicles of St. Marys series, Just One Damned Thing After Another. If youre already familiar with The Chronicles of St. Marys, why on earth havent you snapped up this short story already? Why is Nothing Ever Simple? is another wonderful Christmas treat. I never want Jodi Taylors books or stories to end, and the only thing I hate is that when I finish reading one, I have to wait for the next.

I’m a fan of Jodi Taylor’s St. Mary’s stories. I haven’t read one I haven’t liked–including this one. If you’ve liked her other stories, you’ll like this one. If it’s not your cup of tea, find something else. If you haven’t read any St. Mary’s stories before, you could start with this one. Not the best place to start because it assumes you understand relationships between the characters established in earlier stories. But, it introduces you to the madcap flavor of this stories in a short form. So go with the flow, and if this universe interests and entertains you, go back and start at the beginning.

This was a short story telling how Major Guthrie and Elspeth Gray leave St. Mary’s. It was very active and lots of back and forth activity. Not enough Leon and really not enough Max although she is telling the story. It is essential to all readers who like Jodi Taylor as much as I do. It has characters from ‘Doing Time’ and takes us back to the 1315 Scot-English battle. Some twists are quirky and yet fit in because they are St. Mary’s. Waiting for the next big chronicle.

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