The problem with listening to these stories is that they're .5 stories -- meaning they occur in between the full-length Chronicles of St. Mary's stories .... and they kind of hint at stuff that happened in books I haven't read yet!
Still, they're good. They're fun. And I'll probably listen to them again, once I've listened to the books that go between them/they go between. (What is the proper English/grammatical phrasing here?)
THE TOAST OF TIME: Story 12.5
Yeah, that means there have been TWELVE full-length novels so far. Whoa .... Don't want to give too much away, but Max is not spending Christmas at St. Mary's as most of these short stories seem to do. She and Markham are pretty much fugitives, and most of the characters I've come to love and look forward to visiting again are living in hiding, trying to avoid trouble from the Time Police and various nasty characters who have gotten themselves put in charge of St. Mary's. The TOAST referred to is a comment on the joke about how toast always manages to fall butter side down, if you drop it. Max and Markham get an assignment from the "retrieval agents" who are currently giving them shelter, to investigate a "flying auction" where various historical artifacts have been stolen and are being offered for sale. Of course, between Max and Markham, you know this auction isn't going to go as planned.
Great fun.
WHY IS NOTHING EVER SIMPLE? : Story 10.5
Yeah, I'm going in reverse order. Why does it matter? I haven't ready Book 10 yet, either! It's Christmas, and time for Maj. Guthrie's traditional last jump before leaving St. Mary's for civilian life. Being a loyal Scotsman, he wants to visit a historical battle where the Scots beat the snot out of the English .... but something goes wrong, and when Max goes to investigate, she discovers some time-traveling interlopers who want to change time so the English always win. And that's just the start of the trouble and fun mayhem!
CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Story 4.5
Whew! Finally it takes place after a story I actually read. I think I'm ready to plunge into book 5 .... Max and Markham team up to give the ultimate Christmas present to a friend, by finding someone lost in time, and the Muse of History lends a helping hand. Or rather, it's more like a good, solid, mysterious kick in the pants, to get the two of them going. It wouldn't be Christmas at St. Mary's without an illicit, off-the-books time jump, of course.
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