The Problem with Polish Medieval Historians

I read a lot of Jodi Taylor: Chronicles of St. Mary’s, Time Police, Smallhope & Pennyroyal. I really can’t get enough of these quirky, zany, madcap adventures. They’ve begun leaking into everyday life.

For instance:

In the evenings my husband and I have storytime as we go to bed. The other night he was reading “Imaginary Countries,” a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin. The story takes place in the late summer of 1935 in Central Europe. At this point in the story, the house of the Baron and Baroness is so full of visitors that duck hunters are sleeping in the disused stable because the spare bedrooms are occupied by Polish medieval historians.

This is where my mind wandered off without me. Polish medieval historians? Does that mean Polish historians from the medieval period? What are they doing here? How did they get from 14th-century Poland to 1935? Was St. Mary’s involved? Did a pod malfunction? Why did the Baron and Baroness take them in? Aren’t the Time Police a bit miffed about this? And how do you get a gęganie of historians into a pod that smells like cabbage?

By the time my husband was finished reading, we had experienced completely different short stories.

If you haven’t read Jodi Taylor, I highly recommend her—especially if you enjoy history, historical research in contemporary time (don’t call it Time Travel!), and complete chaos.