Just One Damn Thing After Another

I thought it was kind of a silly title for a book, until I read this: "History is just one damned thing after another." -Arnold Toynbee. Which makes the title perfect, because that is essentially what happens to the main character of this book and her colleagues, historians who go back to to observe major events and return to tell about it.

One reviewer had this to say: "The title unfortunately describes the way this book is plotted. Things happen, and they are sort of loosely slung-together, with very little sense of time passing (at one point the protagonist notes she's known another character for five years, and I genuinely thought only a single year had passed since their meeting at the beginning of the novel) and with absolutely no character development."

In part I agree, especially as to the time passing more quickly than I realized, and to the character development. No one is especially changed by the end of the book. But. It was FUN!!! So fun I've ordered the second book and plan on enjoying that as well.

Apparently, there are quite a few books in this series so I am not the only one who loved this book. The main character is smart, witty, and brave. Some of her colleagues are awesome. Some are assholes (like any job, right?), and some are worse, as we come to find out.

And then of course there's the history part, which was wicked fun, too. I mean who doesn't like dinosaurs!!!

Final thoughts: If you like history, mad-cap adventures, dinosaurs, time-travel, the library at Alexandria, you'll probably like this book.