It keeps the worst from the first

The great performance and character voice persists from the first book.

That said: I cannot recommend it.

It was very disappointing to see every moment that gave me pause in the first book expanded into full-on disgust.

The opening nearly lost me with its misleading start, false suspense and premise that relies upon an utterly absurd level of stupidity.
But I really did enjoy the first book and I hoped there would be a return to form.

Things got hopeful and overall I enjoyed most of the middle section. There's a contrived break up which leads to one of the funniest scenes in the book but the lead-up and fallout did not make for good listening at all. (A lot of sighing and asking "really?" to an empty room.) But oh well, I wasn't a fan of the romance in the first book anyways.

Then it gets worse.
Your mileage will vary on this matter.

In the first book, she discovers someone she trusted intended to sexually assault and murder her (candidly described as having a shag and tossing her out -- but Max is a VERY candid character). She's rather forgiving about the matter, but those around her aren't. It does help that he died horribly and she knew that grief before the betrayal. Really muddies the emotional waters. There's still a disconnect there, but it's not unrealistic so to speak. You can see her unhealthy thought process, and it's fortunately challenged by those close to her.

Max fends off both the first and a second (different man) assault attempt with aplomb and both are treated as a fairly comedic shutdown at the time.

Now. Book 2. Slight spoilers, but I'm miffed enough to not care.
She literally walks into a stranger - a man of historical import - and he immediately tries to have his way with her. As the narrator, Max muses on how he has "careless charm", is "rakish" and "can't help himself" and that women must throw themselves at him. All this as he tries to get at her tits, ignoring her "no"s. Really?
I know the 1st book considered being tossed over a bonnet romantic, but really?!
Anyways, the book really tries to have its cake and eat it with this one. She extracts herself from the room with the excuse of getting wine -- after such things as him pulling her legs out from under her so she can't leave is treated with the book's usual humour ("one of his best moves" or something to that effect - the point being he was clearly practiced at it) despite the fact that it's... not a funny situation at all. "Gosh, this is dangerous for women!" and off she trots.

The tonal dissonance could leave you spinning.

Max forms a plan and is, now, fully aware of how dangerous of he is and that he's a threat. The tone changes gear at a whiplash speed... fast enough to wonder why it didn't do that earlier.
She completes her mission by shoving another woman into the room and locking the door. History: corrected.
Max thinks on how this was "the worst thing a woman could do to another woman" and feels rightfully bad about the whole thing as she apologises to the reader.
Her own beau, Farrel, comforts her, within an hour of the event, with such gems as:
"she could of screamed for help, or denounced him, but she didn't"
"She made bad decisions"
"Besides, she was no innocent"
And Max herself wonders if the woman kept the event secret "out of shame or because he'd been a monumentally good shag".
👎👎👎👎👎👎
Farrel then asks Max out on a date. What. A. Charmer.
They have a laugh about their antics from much earlier in the story, and the chapter closes - a short time later - with him asking about her encounter/relationship with the rapist (even the book calls him one) in a very jokey, wink wink fashion.

Wot??

The worst part is that although it's distasteful as a plot point, I'm not utterly opposed to it. There's some screwy morals in there that could be explored and give very good reason for strife between characters, but from the delivery to the reception to the general lack of consequences (she "got over it, of course"), it's *just* distasteful.

This all happens in the last hour of the book, which is why this review is so... incensed, I suppose. Certainly disappointed.
I regret not checking reviews before jumping into this one from the back of the first!

And then the epilogue hints that the next book will be much more in line with what I was hoping for from this one. Sigh. Not falling for that again, thanks.

I will not be continuing this series.
...But I would check out other ones read by Zara Ramm.

11 people found this helpful

I sort of enjoyed the first one and...

Left it a while to read this one - shouldn't have bothered. Confused nonsense that is both illogical and of such silliness that I didn't even care that it didn't make sense. Can't believe there's another 600 in the series. Drivel.

5 people found this helpful

Great

I thought it was going to be more of the same but you get immediately hooked with the story. I loved it. And the following seems to be as good as this one. Can't wait!!

5 people found this helpful

More entertainment

Some of my recent listens haven't had quite enough pace for me.... not so with this book. It cracks along at full tilt. So much going on that I got lost occasionally (I'm blaming my previous slower listens where I could let my attention wander without consequence. Nod off here, and you'll certainly miss something!)

This is pure entertainment from start to finish - even the car destruction scene made me grin.

I'm really enjoying the characters in this. And even learning a little about history too - I assume some of it is based on real occurrences....

Narration is exactly right.

Will be downloading the next instalment shortly.

17 people found this helpful

Just Brilliant - What a Ride!

Got this in a 2 for 1 sale & what a bargain it was. I listened to it in a day & straight away bought the next one. Cannot praise this series enough. If you like Sci - Fi with humour this is for you.

The very English very eccentric St Marys is a place I loved immediately, this is not Dr Who this is time travel with a whole new slant. I really don't want to spoil anything for anyone but one thing that struck me and I really liked was there wasn't the traditional beginning, middle & end of this story it goes, setting the scene, adventure, conclusion, adventure, conclusion and so on. I love the detail in the descriptions of everything, you really can imagine it.

The narrators voice is just right for the lead character and really brings it to life. Cannot recommend enough. Working my way through the series now and it gets better and better.

17 people found this helpful

A darker St Mary's emerges

The first book in The Chronicles of St Mary's, "Just One Damn Thing After Another" was a triumph of originality, introducing us to the world of intrepid, if chaotic, British historians risking their lives to witness past events first hand.

Chronologically, "A Symphony of Echoes" carries straight on from where the first book left off but the tone of the second book is quite different and, sadly, not quite as satisfying.

This is a darker book than its predecessor. There is less games-playing and amusingly clever trickery and more killing and death.

In this novel, Max, the plucky if unstable woman the first book followed from Trainee to Historian, has become part of management and shows an allegiance to St. Mary's that borders on the fanatical. Under her leadership it becomes clear that although St. Mary's appears to be an institution filled with eccentric individuals who muddle through while creating madcap mayhem, it is actually capable of being ruthless, even murderous. Its enemies are hacked to pieces, shot in the back, abducted and executed. It is even willing to go to great lengths to throw a woman in harms way to ensure that the "right" historical path, the one that protects St. Mary's, is taken.

I found myself thinking that this was a St Mary's that I would not be inclined to support.

"A Symphony of Echoes" shares many of the same strengths as its predecessor: it is witty, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny and it is depicts bravery and loyalty in a way that made me want to be brave and loyal. Whereas the first book read as a novel, with a beginning, a middle and an end, this book abandons that structure and is the worse for it. "A Symphony of Echoes" is literally a chronicle, a record of important events in the order in which they occurred. It is a picaresque piece, following whatever happens to Max, without imposing any deeper narrative thrust or emotional or intellectual leitmotiv. While each episode was well described, I found the lack of unity frustrating.

I also found that some of emotional trauma Max was pushes through seemed contrived and distorted.

"A Symphony of Echoes" is still a good read, but unless the third book returns closer to the form of the first, "The Chronicles of St. Mary's" and I will part company.

By the way, the title refers to another definition of history: "History is a symphony of echoes heard and unheard. It is a poem with events as verses. Charles Angoff"

I'm hoping that this novel has some echoes I haven't heard yet and which the third book will make clear.

12 people found this helpful

Similar to the first one but not as good

Very easy to listen to and quite entertaining this book is great for the beach or the park. It was fun however some of the actions of the main character could not be justified, she was just overreacting so that the plot could progress. In the first book there was a hint of supernatural elements and here they are more prevalent something which I found unnecessary.

3 people found this helpful

But, listen and repeat again and again!

I listen to the Chronicles of St Mary's A LOT! They make me chuckle and take me to a comforting 'other world' which I love to belong to. Each one also has a part or two that brings tears to my eyes... Jodi Taylor really knows how to express every emotion. I also now have a better picture of history and a clear timeline of it in my head. For the first time ever I'm actually interested in battles and kings and queens which, until the fabulous Max appeared, have always been presented to me as boring and complicated. Zara Ramm is a star narrator. I introduced these to a friend in book form, I think she read one a day until she had read them all. More St Mary's books please!

6 people found this helpful

Even more enjoyable than the first book!

What made the experience of listening to A Symphony of Echoes the most enjoyable?

The narration by Zara Ramm is exceptionally good and has put her at the top of my favourite narrators list.

What other book might you compare A Symphony of Echoes to, and why?

I find these books similar in enjoyability to the Peter Grant/Rivers of London series from Ben Aaronovitch.

What about Zara Ramm’s performance did you like?

All the characters are easily discernable from one another and I think she captures the dry humour of the books perfectly.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud in quite a few places while listening to this book.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed listening to this second book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series narrated by Zara Ramm. I really love her narration and feel that it adds a lot to the enjoyability of the book. I didn't feel the need to fast forward sections of this book as opposed to the first where I did, and because of this I would definitely say that I found this book more enjoyable than the first. Despite being desperate to cash in my audible credit immediately to purchase the third book, I am holding fire and waiting to receive it from my library as I want to try actually READING one of the series as opposed to LISTENING to it to see if that changes my enjoyment of it in any way.

Frankly, I don't think it will. The writing and storylines are just exceptionally good and right up my literary alley. The characters are all so well written that I really find myself caring about all the characters, from the major players to the background ones mentioned in passing. I'm secretly delighted there are so many left in the series (all of which were available to reserve :o) ) and can't wait to binge read them all!! I've already downloaded the free mini .5 stories that are available on audible to listen to at the appropriate points.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys funny contemporary writing, time travel and historical fiction. If you like the books by Ben Aaronovitch you will love these!

6 people found this helpful

Better than the first book

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this - the story, writing and narration was better than the first book, which had a good premise but flagged a little for me. Just enough to encourage me to get the second and I am glad I did! In fact I actually went straight to get the third after reading the second...
I've grown to quite like the way the story seems to be in episode format as it means when very tired and busy I don't have to concentrate on a long, complicated storyline - there is an ongoing story with decent character development but the characters have various adventures within this, that are quite self-contained, so easy to follow.
Gentle, enjoyable entertainment, with no saucy bits in this one - hurray.

12 people found this helpful