Spoilery thread on Out of Time by Jodi Taylor?

[EmpressaurusKitty]

The latest Time Police book - I’ve just finished it but think I need to read it again to appreciate it properly, since one plot twist distracted me from everything else until near the end.

Anyone else?

Yes. I've loved all the others but this one seems to have divided opinion. In the end I stuck with it and, like you, I think I need to re read it to clarify some things. I know of others who have simply given up on it.
I suspect all will become clear(er) in future books.

Since I put spoilers in the title…

All the way through I was waiting for an explanation as to why the hell Max had forgotten Markham, trying to remember if I’d heard of Hyssop before & gradually working it all out, which meant I was impatient through all the dinosaur stuff.

Once it got to Max’s return to St Mary’s, & Markham reappeared, I wanted the book to carry on from there.

I also thought there were a few too many snarky comments about Max. They’re to be expected from the Time Police, but having them in the actual narration as well was annoying.

I think given the choice I’d either be a historian or part of R&D. Not a TPO.

I thought it was the best TPO book so far, really enjoyed it and was sorry to finish, but think I might have to go back and reread the last two or three St Mary’s books as I get confused with some of the characters and their back stories.
Has JT done a Christmas short story this year?

I read it over Christmas too, and like pp I need to read it again too, to work out exactly when and how the temporal anomaly (as Capt. Picard would call it) occurred.

I knew something was up when Matthew was stuck in the Time Map in 1483 - significant date - and thought of Hyssop as Head of Security. Then Max had been to 1483 before, then she hadn't been, which we were obviously meant to notice, because she made such a point of having been to the time of Romulus before.

And since this is a spoiler thread, I didn't believe she would kill off Ellis and North.

Bit of a ramble, those are just my initial thoughts. I nearly always have to go back and re-read the new book and the preceding books to get it all straight. I don't know how Jodi keeps track of all the characters and storylines.

And since this is a spoiler thread, I didn't believe she would kill off Ellis and North.

I wasn’t sure, since she did kill off Helen Foster.

I’ve only read / listened to the other books on library apps so far, & it’s a while since I read the last St Mary’s book so I kept wondering if I’d forgotten Guthrie’s death / Markham’s leaving St Mary’s.

I am doing a full re-read because of this one. I think it will all come clear in both the next ST Mary’s book and the next TP book that something has happened to the timeline, either because of Matthew or because of Max being affected by too many jumps.

I used my Christmas money this morning to buy the full set of St Mary’s novels from World of Books - I’m really excited about being able to read the lot without gaps.

I'm wondering if there's been a glitch in the Time Map (maybe caused by Matthew), and this is a resultant alternative universe without Markham. We've had them before, after all Max isn't living in her original universe and there are at least two bubble universes (although they do collapse in on themselves)
I got frustrated with the dinosaurs by the end.
And I'm about to settle down to read the Christmas short story in bed. I've been away since Christmas Eve and just got home so I've been saving it 🙃

I did think, in her quite carefully set up world with rules, that the TP would never leave a dinosaur to live a happy life in a park, which made me think it was very odd. Plus Max's odd behaviour, lack of Markham etc.

I think there's definitely something fishy afoot. New St Mary's book comes out after the next Smallhope/Pennyroyal book, and I assume next TP book after that.

This year's Christmas Day drop was fun though.

I thought the knot in Time was caused by Plimpton’s plot as amplified by Max & Varma, & that the Time Map wanted to warn Matthew.

And they were all shifted into an alternative Markhamless timeline which then got fixed.

One thing that seemed really weird to me was how little seemed to have changed - when you think of how involved Markham was, things should have been more different. Would Maxine Forrest have had to cope by herself, for example? Maybe all that will come out later.

Is the Christmas story a published book or would I find it on her website?

You can get the Christmas stories from Amazon. They are published on Christmas Day every year and there have been a mixture of St Mary's and TP ones. This year it's St Mary's: Murder at Martingale Manor.

@EmpressaurusKitty, are you signed up to her Substack newsletter? It's called The Rushford Times and comes out every week. You get some fun very short stories (one involving Max, Dr Bairstow and an Egyptian mummy for Halloween for example) plus news, a bit of historical focus, her favourite authors etc. I don't pay for it, just get the free one, though there is a pay option.

Thanks both! I’ve just finished Murder at Martingale Manor on my kindle & signed up to the substack.

I agree - it jumped around a lot and seemed "bitty" although in fairness I only got to read it in small chunks, so that might have been me rather than the book.
I was also confused. Why wasn't Max worried about Markham during the Princes in the Tower bit?

And she must have been back to that time Period before, I vaguely remember a river!

Definitely needs a reread of the the TP series, but I wasn't a fan of the last book.

Oh yes and what happened with the Time Map? Matthew just reappeared.

Why wasn't Max worried about Markham during the Princes in the Tower bit?

Because at that point they were in an alternate timeline and Markham as she knew him didn't exist.

And she must have been back to that time Period before, I vaguely remember a river!

She had been, in her own timeline. But not in the timeline she was in at that point.

Yes. In her own timeline Dr Bairstow saved Markham from drowning.

I've been given this book which I hope will help me to sort out the timelines!

Oh I must have missed a timeline leap- thanks everyone for the explanation. Back to re-read the series again!

One thing I want to look out for when re-reading is the bit where Matthew gets out of the Time Map.

Has anyone else read the Christmas short story yet? I'm part way through it and have an observation, is a spoiler okay re that?

I’ve read it so I’m ok with an observation.

When they check into the hotel Leon introduces Max as Lucy. Wasn't she Lucy in the original timeline? Is it possible that Out of Time and the short story are running in the original timeline rather than the one we've become used to ?

No, she was Madeleine in the original universe & became Lucy in the new one - is that what you mean?

Leon calls her Lucy initially as a reference to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and then the 'official ' name change marks the change in timeline. Is that right?
I need to re-read. The only reason I can think of for her not recognising Markham is a different timeline