Subject: Tom Holt - "Odd and Gods"

From: [email-masked] (Alex McLintock)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 22:51:30 GMT

"Odd and Gods" by Tom Holt.

A book review by Alex McLintock

hardback, 14.99, publication date 19th January 1995

What do you do when you are a God well past his "Sell by" date? If you are
Osiris then you open up a retirement home for gods and godesses, and check
yourself in. But when one of your godsons tries to take over the world then
what can you do but check out and save the universe?

The two great British "comic fantasy" novelists Douglas Adams and Terry
Pratchett work by placing the familiar characters in totally unfamiliar
situations. Holt starts off by doing the reverse and gives us supernatural
beings who won't eat their rice puddings, and who fight over the correct
reading of a map. This works well if you ignore the fact that all the Gods
sound like they come from Oxford. The action is a bit confusing as the
location darts across the physical and spiritual worlds as the "good guys"
avoid being disincorporated by the evil godson and prepare themselves for
the final showdown.

The biggest problem for this book is that the gods have lost most of their
powers but not all. Too often they can't wish the bad guys out existance
because they aren't supposed to - its against the rules.

I enjoyed this much more than the other two Holt books I have read. It gave
me a good belly laugh every few pages - a much higher rate than Pratchett
or Adams over recent years. But at 15 pounds I can hardly recommend you go
out and buy it tomorrow. Anybody want to buy a second hand Modula 2
textbook?

%A Holt, Tom 
%T Odds And Gods
%I Orbit
%C London
%D 1995
%G ISBN 1-85723-266-6
%O hardcover, GBP14.99