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The Very First Damned Thing

An Author-Read Audio Exclusive

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The Very First Damned Thing

By: Jodi Taylor
Narrated by: Jodi Taylor
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About this listen

Audible is delighted to bring you an exclusive, author-read production of The Very First Damned Thing. Hear it here first, months ahead of the EBook publication.

Jodi Taylor reads the long-awaited prequel in her Chronicles of St Mary’s series, as Dr Bairstow struggles to set up St Mary’s as we know it in a world still scarred by the ravages of civil war.

Ever wondered how it all began? It’s two years since the final victory at the Battersea Barricades. The fighting might be finished, but for Dr Bairstow, just now setting up St Mary's, the struggle is only beginning.

How will he assemble his team? From where will his funding come? How can he overcome the massed ranks of the Society for the Protection of Historical Buildings? How do stolen furniture, a practical demonstration at the Stirrup Charge at Waterloo, students’ alcohol-ridden urine, a widowed urban guerrilla, a young man wearing exciting knitwear and four naked security guards all combine to become the St Mary’s of the future?

©2015 Jodi Taylor (P)2015 Audible Ltd. Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Time Travel Psychological Horror
All stars
Most relevant  
Thanks for your books. You’re a good writer. Especially love the free stuff! Keep it up.

👍

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this free short story drew me into a whirlwind adventure I would not escape from for months.
Terrible and beautiful, I am glad I took the time to listen.

An Exciting Begining

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Well written and provides extra backstory leading
into a wonderful series. However, most authors should not narrate their own books and unfortunately the same holds true here. It was difficult to stick it out to the end and I only managed it due to its relevance to the series.

Great insight to the series. Poor narration.

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I stumbled onto this series. Thanks Audible for suggestions of ‘like Douglas Adams and Jasper Fforde’. How true. How it has escaped my radar I don’t know but I have been able to indulge in a back to back marathon of delightful characters, learn some historical information along the way and be transported (once you have read this book you wil get this and groan) into a world inside my head. It is just that damn good.

What a series.

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This book is marked as 0.5 in the series and indeed, in chronological order it does come first (yes, I do realise that for this series stating that there is a chronological order is almost contradictory). However, I only came across this book after reading the first two in the series and I believe that reading those two first gave me a lot more insight, and enjoyment, than I would have had if I had truly read this one first.

I love these books by Jodi Taylor, but I woods urge you to read this particular one out of its numbered sequence in order to get the most from the story. Having said that, this book gives you an understanding of the history of St Mary's and Dr Barstow's role in setting up the zany institution.

Finally, I have become accustomed to hearing the stories narrated by another narrator and was slightly less enthusiastic in hearing the author narrate her own book. Nothing wrong with her reading of course, it was simply different to the usual narrator.

Best to read this out of order

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This was my first experience of this series and I don't think it is a good place to start. Apart from the opening narrative, which took time to grab me, but did eventually pull me in,, the rest of the book is bitty. I imagine if you already love these characters, all this would be completely forgivable.

The author is clear and adequate as a narrator, but an actor who performed the book, rather than just read it aloud, would have enhanced the humour that suffuses the book, with a few laugh out loud moments. I think if I read it to myself, or an actor had performed it, there would have been many more embarrassing snorting laughs.

Funny. Would have preferred a different narrator.

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This prequel to the Chronicles of St Mary's explains some things about how and why Dr Bairstow set up St Mary's but leaves me in the dark about others. I've read quite a few of the series, including most of the short stories, and this one was a welcome addition. Read by the author, it sounds a bit different from Zara Ramm's rendition of the others, but it was fun. Time Travel (although they don't want you to call it that) is involved as a man travels back from the future to set up the organisation he manages in that future. Confused? So am I! Mind, a bit of confusion never hurt anyone in St Mary's.

Prequel

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Loved this one. Pacy. Great premise. Fun. A heroine that is witty, sarcastic, smart and tough.
Having just discovered this series, now I’ll have to read them all! Magnificent narration.

A Rollicking Read

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Really enjoying this book. It's a great start to a series for someone like me. It has kept me wanting for more and I am finding it very hard to "put down". I can't wait to find out what happens in the next installment.

Very well written

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I bet I would love this story, if it had been narrated by someone other than Ms. Taylor who should stick to her day job.
She simply hasn't got the knack of expression, voices, or inflection....and conversly over pronounces words.
She probably thinks she has a nice voice. She does, for a conversation. It's boring for narration, which is like acting.
I'm only 1.5hrs into it, I just heard her say...."Look...oh....Look..." in the most monotone way I nearly laughed out loud.
No more self narrations Jodi.

Like listening to the minutes of and AGM

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