Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Orbit (Time Warner)
Release Date: March 2004
ISBN: 1841492671
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Paperback
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Genre: Comic Fantasy [Present day, various locations]
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Rachel A Hyde
Reviewer Notes:  
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For Two Nights Only (Omnibus 4)
By Tom Holt


     Dedicated Tom Holt fans need not get too excited; he hasn’t just written a new book called For Two Nights Only. This is a reissue of two earlier novels involving knights, castles, chivalry and all that sort of thing, namely Overtime and Grailblazers. Tom Holt is almost as much of an institution in the British comic fantasy world as Terry Pratchett. Holt’s speciality is stories of the extraordinary paying a visit to modern Britain—the opposite to Pratchett’s Discworld tales. In Grailblazers five of King Arthur’s less impressive knights are still looking for the Holy Grail, without even being sure of what it looks like. Assembled into some order under Prince Boamund, they tackle the vicissitudes of motorways, Australia, the Bank of Atlantis, and Father Christmas in order to reach their goal. This is standard Holt fare—plenty of jokes, not much plot, and lots of topical references to the sort of things that make modern life…modern life. If you like Holt’s style you will doubtless enjoy it; if not you probably won’t even be reading this review.

     Although I own up to not normally being a fan of Tom Holt or comic fantasy, I have to confess to finding Overtime very enjoyable indeed. Crammed with throwaway ideas, an intriguing and highly imaginative plot and crying out for a sequel of some kind, it takes WWII pilot Guy Goodlet on a rollercoaster ride of weirdness. From the moment his dead colleague starts speaking in a different voice this is not going to be one of those routine missions, and soon he is assisting John de Nesle on a quest to find the imprisoned Richard the Lionheart. Somewhere out there is the sinister Antichrist and his dreaded Chastel des Larmes Chaudes, and just what does go on behind all those doors marked Staff Only? This is one of those books that stands being read more than once, and probably ought to be available on prescription…