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the_yellow_dart's review against another edition
4.0
Tom Holt has a creative way of making a silly concept work and is a super funny writer. His stories reminder me of Terry Pratchett.
pedestrianatbest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bellaraynebow's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Very thought provoking and hilarious story that I can confidently say you won’t have any idea what’s going on, and that’s somehow not a bad thing. I think my favorite thing about the book is that everything is unexpected the entire time, but never in the way you think it would be. Some things make sense, some things don’t. But it all works in the end and yet somehow doesn’t. I picked this book up in the library because it looked so odd and out of place and I’m so glad it did. Not gonna lie though, it can be confusing and hard to keep up with at times, but I never found that to be an issue because the main character himself also had a hard time keeping up and was confused most of the time. All in all, a very very good read and highly recommend if you like thought provoking scifi that can’t keep itself from cracking a joke about reality every other page. Truly loved it.
brassduke's review against another edition
3.0
Technobable and deception. It's been a while since I've read a Tom Holt book but only about a chapter in I remembered how they largely work. There's some mcguffin going on, and everyone lies to the protagonist about it. That's what happened, and I didn't quite see the conclusion coming. There were a couple to many 'aha' moments for my liking which diminished the times when he did figure out what was going on though. Good, standard Holt.
spuddleing's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
emalda's review
3.0
Oh well. It was an easy read, I'll give you that. Dumb puns from beginning to end. Somehow addictive, and hard to stop devouring, yet it was obvious from the beginning it couldn't be very special, just a sort of "well not I've had that"-experience. Like a doughnut. Also very classic man writing, sorry to say. But it was okay.
alliebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I like Tom Holt's literary flair (for example, "if energy and enthusiasm were money, he'd be Greece" or "it was as welcome as a Klingon battle cruiser at a garden party"), but overall, I felt sort of lost reading the book. For a large portion of the book, our main character has no idea what's going on around him - which means the reader certainly has no idea either - and at the end he understands everything far better than the reader can. As the reader, you sort of have to take the plot on faith and not think too hard about what's happening, and I didn't like having to keep it at arm's length. It's a really unique idea, and parts are fun to read, but it's not my favorite style.
joehall2828's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
kevinthedragon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jennieandrews's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes