Customer Reviews

Blonde Bombshell

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What can you say about an author like Tom Holt?

His books are creative, odd, hilarious, and great reads, and Blonde Bombshell is no exception.

Blonde Bombshell takes place in the near future and revolves around computer genius Lucy Pavlov and intergalactic bomb, Mark Two (who takes a body and calls himself Mark Twain), and their efforts to stop the Ostar (an intergalactic race driven mad by the radio music signals humans sent through space) from blowing up Earth.

While at some points Blonde Bombshell is a little hard to follow, its off the wall humor more than makes up for it. Blonde Bombshell jokes about everything from corporate stooges, to the misuse of common expressions, to the idiocy of popular culture, hitting the mark on most of these jokes. But besides the humor, Holt demonstrates his ability as a talented writer in this novel, placing himself in the company of the irreverent Douglas Adams.

All in all readers should read Blonde Bombshell for the humor, and those that give this rip-roarious novel a chance will not be disappointed. An excellent read for fans of A. Lee Martinez, Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams, as this humorous fantasy novel provides exactly what it promises, a great summer read.

[...]

Tom Holt is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. He has the gift of envisioning an alternate world in great detail, and using its differences to illuminate our own. At the same time, he never falls into the sci-fi author trap of explaining how his Master Thesis(tm) actually really *would* work and finally show all those people who picked on him in grammar school what a smart guy he really is. No, Holt just delivers up hilarious punchline after hilarious punchline, while considering what it means to be human (by looking at us through the eyes of super-evolved canines). Douglas Adams and PG Wodehouse would be proud of the absurdities Holt has cooked up, and the excellent use to which he has put them.

This is a very cleverly written and funny book and not just for science fiction lovers. Being a dog lover, I found the ending to be superb. It is a very quick read, I have been recommending it to anyone who will listen.

A very funny, science fiction tale set in 2017 when the Earth is under threat from a distant planet whose peace is being disturbed by Earth's music - but maybe the smart bombs are a bit smarter than those who designed them after all. Great fun.

The blonde bombshell in question in Tom Holt's latest book of that name is Lucy Pavlov. If you are reading this review in 2017 of course you will know who Lucy Pavlov is. She's the beautiful, talented, wealthy, CEO of PaySoft Industries - the revolutionary operating system that is running on every computer in the world. Of course, if that is indeed the case, then we've got a problem. A very big problem. Because what Lucy doesn't know is that she is literally a blonde bombshell - well she knows she's blonde, just not that her body is a shell for a bomb. A very big and a very smart bomb, but nevertheless a bomb. And she's been sent to destroy the planet. It kind of makes Bill Gates seem OK for the time being.

Yes, it's Sci Fi time - but not the fantasy sci fi type. This is very much in the comic sci fi genre. Tom Holt has something of a cult following although I've never read any of the vast list of previous books he's written. On this evidence, I can certainly understand why he is so popular.

Things started off pretty well with Blonde Bombshell - on the third page I was chuckling away at the line "George spent so much time in no fit state that he was entitled to claim it as his domicile for tax purposes".

So, Lucy, basically a computer probe, has been sent by the Ostar (where the canines live and have pet humans including an adolescent human called `Spot') to blow up the Earth in revenge. What could we have done that has so upset the hounds at the other end of the galaxy? Well, it appears that our music is what is disturbing their peace and quiet. And let's face it, if you recall the European space project that sent up strange music from Blurr a few years ago, you can sort of see their point.

The plot is somewhat complicated and convoluted - it manages to somehow take in the odd unicorn and octopus as it goes - but how it plays out is part of the joy of the book so I won't attempt any further explanations here.

Much of the comedy comes from observational humour on the human condition, the cultural references of mankind and our interaction with computers as well as the idea of computers with a moral conscience. He has a fine eye for the absurdities of human behaviour and culture. But he also maintains a strong level of plot development. He has several strands of plot running at the same time and it is far from clear until very late on if, or how, these are going to come together. OK, there might be some gaps in the logic now and then, but this is sci fi, after all.

Blonde Bombshell is an easy to read and frequently very amusing book. It would be a fantastic holiday and it's great escapism.

And dog-owners would be well advised to be particularly nice to their pets after reading this book - you never know if they are passing information about you back to their home planet!

I've never actually said this about a book, but Blonde Bombshells literally made me laugh out loud. More than once. Which is an amazing feat considering it's a book about an alien species trying to blow up Earth. Of course the aliens aren't really aliens, and the blowing up part doesn't go as smoothly as was intended.

If you're a fan of sci fi, Kurt Vonnegut, Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams, or just someone who wants a good entertaining read, Blonde Bombshells is a must. This was my first Tom Holt book and I plan to read more.

As with usual Tom Holt there are multiple story threads, but in this one they were more closely associated than sometimes before. I have to admit that I had guessed where some of the story was going pretty early on, but it did not detract form the fun.

For anyone not familiar with the work of Tom Holt his tongue-in-cheek look at situations and his witty, clever style make for an excellent read. If you have never read him, Blonde Bombshell is a good place to start but expect to have to shell out dollars for his back catalogue because you will want more. This book ticks along very nicely and as the plot progresses you find yourself realising that earlier passages were whopping great clues as to where it is going. Its a good book, quite thick and full of words, try it.

In Novosibirsk, in between being intoxicated former scientist turned banker George Stetchkin ponders how $50 trillion from various bank vaults around the world could be stolen without anyone or cameras witnessing the thefts. At the same time programming guru Lucy Pavlov, whose computer programs owns the global market place, cannot comprehend why she has no memory of her childhood.

Out in space on planet Ostar, the canine sentient rulers fearing further distraction by human pop music, debate why Mark One failed to explode and eradicate intelligence on planet earth. They agree that humans should be walked as pets and not piss away a planet. As they launch Mark Two, George figures out the missing money riddle only to have two aliens shoot him. Meanwhile the Mark Two finds Ostar coding in Lucy's programs so sends the Mark Twain probe to learn how an earth human obtained their canine coding. George's bank assumes Twain is a programmer and hires him while Lucy has doubts about this Twain fellow.

This is a zany over the top of Olympus Mons societal satire that rips the international financial programming government complex skewering all and much more for their me-me top line attitudes. Fast-paced, the frantic story line is jocular although lacks a cohesive focus making it difficult to comprehend. Still fans who relish a dog eat human Armageddon science fiction will relish the Ostar solution to the too big to fail problem.

Harriet Klausner

i am enjoying the book, and have no complaints about the author, the narrative, or the story. if i had bought the physical book, i'd probably give it 4 or 4.5 stars.

but the Kindle edition is filled with typesetting errors. i simply don't understand why these aren't proofed or edited.