Nothing But Blue Skies [Paperback]

Tom Holt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

There are many reasons why British summers are either non-existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, mad, or both—but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones. The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons. Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, nearly indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as a real estate agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time. But now things have changed, and Karen’s no longer irritable. She’s furious.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Tom Holt: 'Uniquely twisted ... cracking gags' Rob Grant, THE GUARDIAN, 'Frantically wacky and wilfully confusing ... gratifyingly clever and very amusing' MAIL ON SUNDAY, 'Frothy, fast and funny' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY, 'Dazzling' TIME OUT, 'Wildly imaginative' NEW SCIENTIST

From the Publisher

There are many reasons why British summers are either non–existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, mad, or both — but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones. The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st (incl.) is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons. Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, nearly indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as a real estate agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time. But now things have changed, and Karen’s no longer irritable. She’s furious.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; First Edition edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184149058X
• ISBN-13: 978-1841490588
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 4.2 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,548,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad. But not Holt's best., October 2, 2011

By 

manly-but-bookish - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Kindle Edition)

In Nothing But Blue Skies, British comic writer Tom Holt takes aim at one of Great Britain's least appealing qualities, the one that occupies the position of second worst, right behind its cuisine: its weather. Most of its residence attribute the oft inclement weather on natural meteorological patterns, but a few of the weathermen have suspected for a long time that there's a much more sinister cause behind it: Chinese weather dragons.

These dragons have the ability to control the weather with their moods and are the real culprit behind Britain's interminable dreariness. The weathermen have become fed up with what they perceive as the dragons' sabotage of their sunny-weather forecasts in order to make them look foolish and they're ready to exact their revenge.

Their plan is to kidnap the Adjutant General to the Dragon King of the North West and hold him hostage in the dragon's most vulnerable form that it can take: that of a goldfish. Now try to stay with me for a minute because it doesn't get any simpler to explain. The dragon's daughter, who had taken human form prior to her fathers kidnapping in order to pursue the man she's fallen in love with - the son of a wealthy newspaper tycoon who is himself trying to capture dragons so that he can harness the power of their third eye to telepathically deliver the news to millions of people worldwide without incurring the unnecessary expense of paper, ink, and delivery services. Got all that?

The plot tends to get a little shallow in parts and none of the characters were that interesting for me, but Holt's humor redeemed the book as a whole for me and made it worth reading. I've enjoyed some of his other books more, most notably Falling Sideways and three of his more recent books that featured the company of J. W. Wells, but this one definitely had its moments.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What if the conspiracy theorists were right?, September 10, 2006

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Paperback)

All of them?

That includes the death cult worshipping Princess Ann with human sacrifice - humanely, of course. It also includes the fanatical weather forecasters in search of the air dragons who make them look like such ninnies (not that they need much help). It also includes a secret government laboratory in the Australian desert, with Holt's usual assortment of marginal personalities and bizarre coincidences.

It's good entertainment, in a wandering kind of way. Pratchett fans will appreciate the humor - but will be likely to appreciate Pratchett even more for the comparison.

//wiredweird

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Holt, November 12, 2004

By 

Kotori (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Paperback)

Whew! Finished it! I suggest you read this book with about 200 bookmarks, or a notepad and pen ready - I wasn't two pages in before telling myself to remember this funny bit, that funny line.

It's fantastic - You almost want him to slow the pace of the action, to properly appreciate all the good bits that are slipped in with the action. The one liners or the musings on workings of man, and just Why the weather drove the English to build an empire.

There are stilted men in grey suits wandering around trying to gather up another Ark. The weather men are revolting. A dragon has fallen in love with a human, and Murdoch is trying to take over the world. Again.

Complete chaos ensues, and the characters are trotting in and out so fast it's all a whirl to hold them together - old chums and new torturers, it's brilliant.

I have been reading a great deal of (here it comes...)Pratchett, and Tom Holt is completely different yet... the similarity is most apparent in their despair on the inadequacies of agencies and individuals.. or is that masses?

Is it a treatise on fatherly love?

Or the fallibility of human love?

Is it more concerned with exactly how whacked the English are?

Or is it intended as a showcase for Australian adventure?

Do we really spend a third of our lives sleeping?

All I can definitively say is: it's your call, reader.

kotori [e-mail]