Doing Time: Time Police, Book 1

So many others have given this book good reviews, so let me just say that this is the first book by Jody Taylor I have read. I was a little reticent as the other series she wrote about, St. Mary's, did not sound appealing to me. Now, I want to read the rest in this series! I am a huge Time Travel affectionado, so I thought I would give this one a try. Taylor is a great writer! Her dry English humor really appealed to me. It was difficult to put this book down. I will not read a book that does not have interesting characters, and Taylor did a wonderful job developing the personalities. I found myself chuckling while reading, to the consternation of others reading in the room. I could see this one scripted as a movie. It's. that. good. A real thumbs up!

Today I finished “Doing Time” by Jodi Taylor. This is the second book by Taylor I’ve read, with the first being “Just One Damned Thing After Another” earlier this year. I’ve included a link to my review of the first book. Taylor has written several novels based on the first book in the “Chronicles of St. Mary’s” series, about a group of time-traveling historians. This new book is the first in a new series that takes place in the same universe but is focused on a different organization, the Time Police. While the crew at St. Mary’s are focused on studying history, the Time Police are focused on tracking down those who muck about with history, stopping those who seek to change it.If you think that sounds like the Time Variance Authority from the Marvel miniseries “Loki”, you’re not alone. However, while “Loki” was released this year, the book was published in 2019, so presumably, the similarity between the two featured organizations is coincidental.In “Doing Time”, the Time Police was established after the Time Wars, a period during which nations, companies, and criminal organizations all sought to disrupt time and history for their own purposes. Eventually, all actors are brought to heel and the Time Police established to maintain the order of the timeline. The Time Police were given broad enforcement powers and earned a reputation for “short first, ask questions later.”Like any police force, the Time Police occasionally needs new recruits. The organization has the equivalent of basic training followed by a probationary period called “gruntwork” in which new trainees are sent on simple assignments to see how they will function before being formally admitted to the police – or discharged completely.Enter three new recruits: shy and mousy Jane, uber-nerd Matthew, and Luke: son of the world’s richest man and gadabout, enrolled in the Time Police by his father as punishment for once again failing to act responsibly in any fashion.Of course, these three newbies get thrown together as a training team and completely fail to mesh at all. And, since they don’t fit the tough-as-nails persona that all previous Time Police officers did, they are looked upon with disdain by others as well.In a typical misfits-find-a-way-to-succeed, the trio manages to do what they need to do in their first couple missions, but their approach to completing the missions does not win them any fans among the veterans, only more scorn. Yet the team of oddballs begins to find its way.Until suddenly there is a crime. A serious crime. And it looks like one of our three misfits is guilty in a big, big way.As with Taylor’s previous book, “Doing Time” is a breezy read. Even at 396 pages, I completed it fairly quickly. However, this book didn’t entertain me quite as much as the first one did. Also, I thought there was a pretty big plot hole that a group of time travelers should be able to address pretty easily. I wouldn’t recommend this book quite as highly as the previous one, but would still put it down as a “fun read.” And Taylor still has that British sense of humor (humour?) that I enjoy so much.

Jodi Taylor is one of the very few authors who can make me laugh aloud while reading (thus annoying those around me, I’m sure).In ‘Doing Time’, Ms. Taylor has moved from St. Mary’s to their arch rival, the dreaded Time Police. It must have a challenge for her to write, as in her St. Mary’s novels the members of the Time Police are, with just a very, very few exceptions, illiterate Neanderthal buffoons who run around the time line shooting people for the hell of it.We learn that this description is inaccurate. No more than maybe two-thirds are monosyllabic thugs (for whom it’s hard to write dialogue); most of the rest are just doing their jobs until they can retire, if they survive that long. And a few— a few are good, decent human beings, hoping to guide the organization in more suitable directions, and happily they are in leadership positions. If the aforementioned illiterate, brutal thugs don’t manage to violently remove them, there is hope for change.Into this interesting mess is inserted a group of three misfits, who are our protagonists. One is the wastrel son of a mega-billionaire, a young man who has taken responsibility for nothing in his life. Luke Parrish has not so much joined the Time Police he has been, in his own words, trafficked to the organization— his father made quite a large donation to the Widows and Orphans Fund in exchange for their accepting Luke, who had no say in the transaction.Luke is joined by Jane Lockland, a young woman who has not so much been raised by her grandmother as beaten down by her. She carries a notebook in which she lists everything she hears, in the vain hopes of getting nothing wrong. She has volunteered for the Time Police because she has nowhere else to go. Why they accepted her is another question.The third member of our unlikely triad is Matthew Farrell, only son of Dr. Lucy “Max” Maxwell and Chief Technical Officer Leon Farrell, both of the Institute of Historical Research at St. Mary’s Priory, where they study historical events in contemporary time (not to be confused with time travel). Young Matthew— he doesn’t actually know how old he is, which is another story— had been partly brought up at Time Police headquarters for his own protection (he’d already been kidnapped and abused once by someone trying to get at his parents and St. Mary’s). He’d joined up largely because the Time Police maintained the Time Map, a room-sized depiction of Time which Matthew could somehow comprehend and even manipulate with his mind.None of the three young people is, on the face of it, a decent candidate for the Time Police. Their collision with the Time Police is the stuff of which delightful comic novels are written.Highly recommended, particularly to those who’ve first read the St. Mary’s novels.

What just happened? How did I go into this firmly and completely on the side of St Mary's, squinting sideways at the - boo, hiss - Time Police but end up rooting for Team Weird as much as I ever do for the Disaster Magnets?! Well, because it’s Jodi Taylor, of course, and her writing always, always bowls the reader along from incident to incident (seriously, there are individual scenes that could form the entire plot of other novels!) Her books are joyous, breakneck-speed adventures, but don’t imagine that leaves no room for careful characterisation, or even moments of breath-catching pathos. This is brilliant, clever, entertaining stuff.I fully intended to keep my 'favourite' badge for Matthew, because we know him already and I had no wish to warm to the other members of his team...ha, ha. Hahaha. I would follow any of them, anywhere. Jane is amazing. Her arc was thoroughly satisfying. I loved that some old friends from St Mary's popped up, really loved seeing them, but I would have been okay, story wise, if our new heroes had had to manage on their own. And I say that as someone who was highly sceptical that the - boo, hiss - Time Police would ever capture my heart in the same way. (That is NOT a challenge to leave anyone out in future. All stories are improved with added Markham!)I would love to list some of the laugh-out-loud moments, but I think it’s better for readers to trip over them themselves. Just know that I lost count of the times I wanted to share a bit with anyone in the vicinity. Especially near the end. In the office. I’m giggling just thinking of the line.Not enough stars to do this justice. I loved it.

At last! It's here, the latest book from Jodi Taylor. A spin off from her hugely popular Chronicles of St Mary's series it follows the lives of new Time Police most unlikely recruits: Luke Parrish, Jane Lockland and Matthew Farrell. Luke a playboy who is a disappointment to his father and is foisted into the Time Police against his will. Jane a young woman who has been bullied all her life who runs away from home and enlists and Matthew who is known to the Time Police as the person who broke the time map with parents that the Time Police would prefer to steer clear of!There is trouble brewing in the Time Police as old ways and new ways collide. Change does not come easily for many. The question is can the Time Police embrace changes and become an organisation to be proud of rather than 0ne that is feared. Only time will tell.I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I enjoy The Chronicles of St Mary's mostly because Jodi Taylor did such a good job making the reader really dislike the Time Police at the end of her last book so I was surprised how early I was drawn into the story and I can't wait for the next instalment

Newcomers need not fear. They will soon cotton on to the highly imaginative concepts behind this popular series. Set in the future, drastic measures are needed to combat those who have perfected ways of meddling with time, not to mention sorting out problems that may have resulted.The Time Police now has three highly unlikely new apprentices. This is their story: timid Jane, fugitive from her control freak grandmother; playboy Luke, forced there by his dictatorial father, in the forlorn hope maturity will result; taciturn Matthew (whose eventually revealed background greatly surprises).How will they cope with the tough tasks ahead? It is great fun finding out - key episodes including they scarily in Ancient Egypt, hilariously after an all important rabbit in 1837 Australia, on the run in Rome at a devastating moment in its history. Why on the run? Suspected involvement in a murder, that is why. Yes, a genuine murder mystery is included here.So much is on offer: as well as the three mentioned (all to develop most strikingly), highly colourful characters, bitter long-lasting feuds, many moments to treasure and lots of laughs - not least an outcome which totally satisfies.Thank you, Jodi Taylor, for such an enjoyable, highly unusual read.

‘Doing Time’ is one of the worst written novels I’ve read. The sad fact is, the writing could be improved by following and implementing the most advice spammed across the novice writer’s blogs. I’ve read fan-fiction created by sugar-hyped 12 year-olds with ADHD that avoided these fundamental mistakes and were more consistent/logical.These errors include poor language choice, overused words that are repeated and repeated, too much telling and no showing, pages upon pages of dialogue (most of the book actually), paper-thin characters with no motivation, and a total lack of plot. There isn’t one redeeming feature or thing the author did well.The author starts the book with a prologue that is a big information dump that provides a contextual backdrop to the story, which should be included in the story - and in all honesty, isn’t needed. Novel writing mistake number one, but one most people will totally skip.The book then launches into a background of the three main characters to tell you about their personalities and motivations (or lack of). And when I say tell, I mean tell. ‘I hated that bell. Nearly as much as I hated the seagull. But not as much as I hated her.’ (pg.5) This is about as subtle and subtextual as this novel gets. Don't expect anything beyond this depth. Everything - even character growth, is related directly, usually through the never-ending dialogue.The first character is a Cinderella trope, and the author decides to emphasize the monotony of the character’s hard labour by attaching ‘every’ to every period of time mentioned:- ‘Every day’ (pg.5), ‘every month’, ‘every month’, ‘every month’, ‘every day’, ‘every day’, (pg.6) ‘every single day’, ‘every moment of every day’, (pg.7) ‘Every other Thursday’, (pg.8) ‘Every moment’ (pg.9).The worst part of the summary listed above, is that the page six list didn’t include every every, as they were also attached to things like ‘every single one of them’, ‘every mouthful’ and ‘every inch of the way.’ If the author is reading, please take note that you don’t need to attach an adjective to every noun. Especially not the same one over and over again. Please, I beg you, stop. Buy a thesaurus at least.The author also uses the first person Cinderella character to describe how her grandmother acts on her trips to a social centre, but the problem is the character doesn’t go on these trips - as she is Cinderella and stays home to clean. Seems that this is Science Fiction, I’d let this slip if the character demonstrated the ability of remote viewing at any other point in the novel. Unfortunately, she doesn’t.What is more unfortunate, is this isn’t the only logical contradiction that the author creates in this character introduction. Cinderella states ‘I don’t at what point it occurred to me,’ (pg.11) but two lines earlier she states ‘watched it twice before it registered.’ So, wasn’t it like two seconds ago?The character also establishes she a 'feckless dreamer.' And then when she decides to leave she 'doesn't where this thought had come from.' So, you're a dreamer, living like a slave, but you've never thought dreamt about leaving? Almost immediately, the text does a 360 again to tell you she had this thought 1000 times before in dreams. So, erm guessing the thought came from there then? So, from page 8 onward I knew this book was destined to bad. Oh, so bad.The one good thing this introduction does is set-up a good base-line of how well plotted and edited the readers can expect this novel to be. Low-bar.You even have a point in the novel, where a character responds to another character's thoughts as if they’re having a conversation, with no establishment of telepathic abilities before or after.The character introduction uses hyperbolic language, and events to set-up the idea that Cinderella was leading a life that was on par, if not worse than a slave - constant work, no money, and constant abuse for her efforts. After the character establishes that from childhood to now their life wasn’t worth living, an event occurs that motives the character to run away and join The Time Police as she had nowhere else to go (what a strong goal that is.). And that motivation is ‘If I remained my life would hardly be worth living.’Erm, but you’ve been establishing it wasn’t before. So, how’d that be any different? Surely, there could have better been a strong resolution that gave your character a goal to strive for?But the worst red flag in this introduction is the use of ‘suddenly’ on page nine, not once but twice. And this will continue and get worse throughout the novel, becoming more frequent, more unneeded and propping up increasingly weaker words. The fact that everything suddenly happens could go a long way to explain why everyone is surprised at everything in such an overwhelming way that they enter a paralytic shock at least once every other chapter. When it is really surprising, the author ups the ante by making it blinding too.Suddenly is one on a long list of empty word errors this author engages others include:- Immediately, ‘everyone immediately remembered’ (p.234) - as you know, I’d naturally assume there was a waiting period of 24 hours if that wasn’t placed in the text.Seemed ‘The man seemed puzzled.’ So, what he wasn’t puzzled - so what was he? Oh, he was puzzled, not just appearing puzzled. Okay...Obviously is used often too. Well, it was obvious as you stated, if it wasn't sub-text... oh right. Sorry. You can't do that.Stating how the character ‘looked around’ before describing the scene. As we wouldn't assume the scene is what the character is seeing because that is how eyes work at all. Although, to be far, the author does describe how talking works on occasions. ‘Luke opened his mouth to argue…’ I hate it when I forget to open my mouth before speaking.So, if that stuff annoys you, this book will most probably trigger you into an irrational killing spree. Just because it is hard to find a page where something like this doesn't happen at least once.As the majority of the story is told through back and fore dialogue between the characters, repetitive actions start getting attached to the speech tags like nodded, stared, sighed, shrugged, turned around, looked, gazed, and shook their head. A single term from this list can appear up to six times on a single page. And are often accompanied by a lazy adverb. I imagine, if you deleted all instances of nodded, sighed, and stared from this text, the book would lose 200 pages. And a further 100 pages if you included ‘suddenly.’If you can push past the poor writing, you soon discover the plot and characters are little better. The characters are one dimensional tropes, and the plot only really starts on page 300. Before that, characters just tell us about stuff that happens through dialogue 80% of the time. And random stuff happens that isn’t central to the story at all.If you're looking for a funny, engaging read - avoid this book at all cost. The only people I would recommend this book to are budding authors, as it is basically a technical manual on how not to write a novel. It’s also a great inspiration for them, as if this can get published, anything can.

"The rainy season was upon them and visibility was poor. Tall buildings were outlined in flashing red lights for the benefit of low-flying airships. The Shard and the Cheesegrater were brightly lit – the Folded Napkin and the Startled Hamster were out of sight."Ok. If this is your first Jodi Taylor book, then either hang your head in shame for eternity or quickly read everything she has written. I love that in all of the Taylor books every single character has a personality, a history, a story that weaves through the books like a magical woven thing! I brag about St. Mary's to anyone unfortunate enough to converse with me.I was NOT looking forward to this book. The Time PoPo are enimies of my beloved Max and friends. But would you not read a new Dickens book just because you hated Christmas? ...ok bad example. I don't like Christmas so I wouldn't.But St. Mary's is in the book so it was good enough for me! I was not let down. This was brilliant.Thank you Jodi Taylor for the sunshine you give little dark souls like mine.