Djinn Rummy [Import] [Hardcover]

Tom Holt (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 277 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857233298
• ISBN-13: 978-1857233292
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,920,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Djinn as tonic (for a world set on self-destruction), June 8, 2000

By 

RevDorothyL "DorothyL" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Djinn Rummy (Paperback)

Tom Holt once again endeavors to turn a literary tradition and a mythic system upside down and inside out, in order to take the reader on a wild ride and suggest the general folly of nuclear arms, romantic stereotypes, and self-destructive tendencies in all forms. In DJINN RUMMY, the literary tradition and mythic system is taken from The Arabian Nights (as told to Hollywood), with a Force 12 genie called "Kiss" stuck with the task of saving an ungrateful world while stumbling through the minefield of mortal romance. Though not, perhaps, among Holt's best works, DJINN RUMMY is still a worthy and entertaining afternoon's read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Highly imaginative and witty comic fantasy, January 15, 2007

By 

Tom Cremins (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Djinn Rummy (Paperback)

In Djinn Rummy, British comic fantasy writer Tom Holt takes the old "Genie in the Lamp" premise (or in this case it's an aspirin bottle), recasts it in the present day and has a lot of fun turning it to his own far fetched ends.

Their are some fairly remarkable plot twists involving druids, giant carnivorous plants, plagues, Iraqi fishermen, electronically controlled magic carpets, wimpy shop assistants and Cupid that keep the plot moving along at a breakneck pace.

There isn't a whole lot of logic to the plot mind, in fact it's debatable if it's even that important. The book depends on Holt's ability to create interesting characters and his witty descriptions of the predicaments that they find themselves in.

There is the likable anti-hero Kiss, the love-struck genie with the acid tongue who finds himself in the inconvenient position of having the fate of mankind resting on his shoulders. Then there is the psychotically evil Philly Nine, who loves nothing better than to wipe out all humankind when he's not pursuing the favourite genie pastime of acquiring wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. The human characters are less interesting; this book is all about the genies.

If you like Terry Pratchett or Robert Rankin, you'll probably be fairly well disposed towards this book. It does not operate in a purely fantasy environment like Pratchett's Discworld, and it is not nearly as anarchic or off the wall as Rankin's work but it has its moments of inspired lunacy. While it isn't necessarily laugh-out-loud hilarious all the time, it is quite clever, never boring and an enjoyable read throughout.