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Publisher:
Orbit (Time Warner) |
Release
Date: March 2004 |
ISBN:
1841492671 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon US
|| UK |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Comic Fantasy [Present day, various locations] |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
|
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…
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