A Catalogue of Catastrophe

Name: A Catalogue of Catastrophe
Author: Jodi Taylor
ISBN: 9781472286895

St Mary’s · Novel 13 · 2022

A Catalogue of Catastrophe sends Max and Markham after a future organisation’s interference with history, while repeated jumps begin to wear Max down.

Book 13 of 15 in The Chronicles of St Mary’s · 14 published; 1 announced

AI-generated illustration inspired by A Catalogue of Catastrophe; not a book cover.

What it’s about

A Catalogue of Catastrophe sends Max and Markham after a future organisation’s interference with history, while repeated jumps begin to wear Max down. The novel combines an investigative thread with a physical limit: the team can keep travelling, but the demands of the work are not without cost.

That tension keeps the series’ central premise lively, since historical research is shown as a responsibility with consequences for the people doing it.

Max and Markham must make sense of what the future group is changing and how the Institute should respond, while the relentless pace tests the habits that have carried them through earlier assignments. This thirteenth instalment makes strong use of the series’ cumulative world and its connected institutions.

Its title has the unmistakable St Mary’s sense of humour, but the story also invites readers to notice when a familiar routine is becoming difficult to sustain. Reading in order preserves both the investigation and the personal context around it.

Listen or read

Listen on Audible

Buy from Bookshop.org

Can I start here?

This is book 13 in its series. Start with the first novel for its clearest introduction.

Reader questions

Do I need to read the earlier books first?

Yes, for a first visit to this series. This novel is the 1third numbered novel, rather than the opening volume. Read from book one to meet the recurring people. Their introductions belong within the developing series sequence. The series guide separates those novels from optional shorter adventures.

Source: joditaylorbooks.com

Who narrates the A Catalogue of Catastrophe audiobook?

Zara Ramm narrates the linked UK audiobook of this novel. Choose the exact edition for this recording. Other formats can carry the same title. The Audible product link identifies the performer. Follow the listening guide to continue in numbered order.

Source: audible.co.uk

Where this fits

This is the thirteenth numbered St Mary’s novel, between Another Time, Another Place and The Good, the Bad and the History. It continues the series’ future-facing conflict and the changes from book twelve.

The next novel carries the Institute story onwards, so these two are best read in sequence. The change unfolds in sequence.

See readers’ ratings on Goodreads

Why readers love it

Our view

The mix of a forward-looking threat and a very human limit gives this book a satisfying double focus. Readers can enjoy Max and Markham working together while also seeing the cost of always moving on to the next problem.

The future organisation expands the scale of the story, yet the Institute’s friendships remain its emotional anchor. Fans of the series’ running wit will recognise the title’s tone; readers who follow long character arcs will appreciate its more reflective thread.

The familiar team remains at the heart of the wider stakes.

Listening notes

The standard UK audiobook is read by Zara Ramm and lasts thirteen hours and twenty-four minutes. That is a long session overall, but the ongoing investigative thread makes it easy to return to after a pause. It is an unabridged single-narrator performance, not a cast production.

Listeners who have been following the earlier recordings can continue without a narrator change.