Subject: EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER by Tom Holt

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Aug 91 04:04:00 GMT

[Please forgive if this is a duplicate.  They were evacuating the building
 in preparation for Hurricane Bob while this was in the queue and I don't
 *think* it made it out.  --AW]

                    EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER by Tom Holt
                     A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		      Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper

     I don't normally enjoy "humorous" fantasy.  For one thing, it's usually
not very humorous.  But Tom Holt's EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER is funny--funny
enough that I frequently laughed out loud reading it (much to the distress
of my spousal unit, who was trying to read something serious).

     Holt takes as his background Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle of operas.
Malcolm Fisher, schlemiel supreme, runs over a badger one night.  The badger
is not really a badger, however--it is Ingolf, a Frost Giant who had seized
the Ring and the Tarnhelm from Siegfried's funeral pyre.  If you're not
following this, that's okay.  Malcolm didn't either, so the badger ...
excuse me, Ingolf, provides some explanation and Malcolm later does his own
research as well.  At the end of Malcolm's research, Holt describes his
state as follows:
	"Malcolm had never been greatly inclined to metaphysical or
	religious speculations, but he had hoped that if there was a supreme
	being or divine agency, it would at least show the elements of logic
	and common sense in its conduct.  Seemingly, not so.  On the other
	hand, the revelation that the destiny of the world had been shaped
	by a bunch of verbose idiots went some way towards explaining the
	problems of human existence." 

     Now that Malcolm has the Ring and can rule the world, of course,
everyone else wants it back--gods, valkyries, Rhinemaidens.  He also need
some practice to get the knack of the Tarnhelm.  And throughout all this
Holt demonstrates a wry wit that other humor writers often fall short of.
My only objection is the somewhat abrupt resolution, but then any long
drawn-out serious stretch would spoil the comic timing.  If you are a fan of
Wagner's operas, you *must* read this book, but even if you've never heard a
note, EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER is highly recommended.

     (Extra note to opera fans: Anna Russell would have loved it.)

%T      EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER
%A      Tom Holt
%C      New York
%D      September 1990
%I      Ace
%O      paperback, US$3.95, copyright 1987
%G      ISBN 0-441-22332-X
%P      231pp

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   +1 908 957 2070   |   att!mtgzy!ecl or [email-masked]