Customer Reviews

Only Human

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

 

 

There is no God.

At least, not for the next few days. OK, it takes "deus ex machina" (emphasis on the "machina") to get the story going. After that, it was a happy few hours of reading. The characters are enjoyable: a vicar having a devil of a time (or vice versa), a milling machine with a great personality, ...

My professional "must read" pile is approaching knee-deep right now. I really can't take much time off. Every know and then, though, I need to read something like Holt. It's a little vacation for me, a half-hour at a time. "Only Human" is a nice place for that little (very little) vacation.

After hearing high praise for Tom Holt, I decided to give him a try. I picked this book at random, and I was sorry I did. The plot, which is thin, was a loose idea around which several vague (and often un-funny) comedy skits orbited. Worse still, the plot is the same one that every thirteen-year old develops after reading Douglas Adams for the first time... God goes on vacation, hilarity follows. Well, laughter follows. Well, mild chuckling follows.

Not that it was a total loss... the idea of Hell having embassies on Earth is interesting. However, I will not be recommending this book to friends any time soon.

I can only say one positive thing about Only Human. It wasn't God-awful. In fact, it was cute in parts. I will be giving Tom Holt another try, and read Expecting Someone Taller or Who's Afraid of Beowulf. But this one will sit at the bottom of my bookshelf, next to the Piers Anthony books, collecting dust.

OK, I admit it my reviews for Tom's books are short, but I think he is an author you either hate or love ! I love his work, although some is better than other, so all I will ever say will be positive. Read and be assimilated ;-)