Customer Reviews

Faust Among Equals

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Almost back to his original stride, this is probably the Holt that I've enjoyed the most in the last five books. That enjoyment can also be summarized in one word: Eurobosch. Yes, following DisneyWorld, the MGM Grand Theme Park, Atlantic City, and Cyberia, the most famous theme park in all of history is now open for business. Based on that mad genious Hieronymous Bosch and his most famous work, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," and operated by the holding company of Beelzebub, et al. You don't have to take the painting and imagine what thrilling rides and attractions are available--Holt has it down.

That's just a part of the book, though. The plot concerns a certain George Faustus who has managed to effect an escape from Hell, right during an impending audit. Now that Hell's operated as a business-- once you start reinventing government, it was inevitable--the loss of a major asset can't be tolerated, and the chase is on.

The good parts here are equal to his previous best, parts like Helen of Troy being a lovely and perfect little woman with a slight penchant for decorating. In the time of Homer, that couldn't amount to much (what? a curtain over the castle window?), but with centuries of design to choose from.... And Leonardo da Vinci--wasn't he just the greatest geek that ever lived? And that's only a couple of the strange yet amusing additions to the lives of historical and fictional personages in the story.

As a big fan of Tom Holt I was rather disappointed in this novel.

This is as funny as any of his other books but is somewhat lacking in characters. The main characters are Lucky George Faustus, who has escaped from Hell, and Kurt Lundqvist, the greatest bounty hunter of all time. The problem is that even after finishing the book the reader is still left with no direction as to which side they should root for. Is this a twist like in Bedazzled where the Devil is the good guy or are the characters just not defined enough? I don't know but the book was definitely missing something.

While not quite up to the 5-star standard of EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER, FAUST AMONG EQUALS is certainly more than equal to the task of entertaining a reader for an afternoon. Holt's unique spin on theology, literature, and popular culture continues to be worth the price of admission to the "Disney-meets-Dante" theme-park ride contained between the covers of this novel.

Holt appears to be at the end of his rope - a paper-thin plot loaded with every pointless contrivance he could dream up. After the pleasure of "Expecting Someone Taller", "Who's Afraid of Beowulf", and "Flying Dutch" this proved a complete disappointment. It does not deserve the 1 star I was forced to give it. I would have better served reading the side-panel of a cereal box.

Tom Holt's "Faust Among Equals" is the 2nd of his books that I've read (Flying Dutch being the first). Unlike "Flying Dutch", this one lacks most of the cleverness and all of the intertwined storylines that made that other book so good. What we're left with here is merely a somewhat clever idea (Faust escapes) and a lot of haphazard activities that wend their way to an eventual close. Because of this, the best I can rate it is only an OK 3 stars out of 5. It's good for filling up some spare time. So, get it from the library and save some money.

Holt does here what he does best: he takes characters from the classics of Western literature, and brings them up to the current day. In the case of Faust, the Devil's lien against Faust's soul resulted in repossession long since. But the Devil has moved on, and a new consortium is handling the business. They're the modern devils - they're demonic management consultants, bean-counters who've mastered accursed accounting, and lawyers. No, no special kind of lawyer, just the usual. As you might expect, there's a hell of a management reorg when the new team takes the reins. A few things get lost in the confusion, including Gregorius "Lucky George" Faustus.

He's not actually lost. He knows right where he is, enjoying a new time on earth. He and Helen of Troy have settled down to shear-it-yourself sheep farm in Australia, with only occasional disruptions of the world's technological infrastrucutre. This one blemish on their otherwise spotless record isn't good for the new corporate image, so they take on a bounty hunter ("acquisition consultant") to wipe out that blemish. Or to wipe out Faust, they don't much care. He does, though, and the chase is on.

It's Holt at his best, with chases across continents, across centuries, and across planes of being. His characters are caricatures, living exaggerations of painfully familiar people. It's great good fun.

//wiredweird

Faust Among Equals is of the school of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy type of humor. It's not as good as HHGG, but that's asking a lot. It is, however, clever and quick, with wry references to Faust, Helen of Troy, and Hieronymous Bosch and lots of contemporary commentary (Australia doesn't come off too well). I listened to the book on tape and Simon Callow is so good at droll characterizations that I cannot imagine reading it myself. Well done.