- Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Voyager (1 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000648302X
- ISBN-13: 978-0006483021
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 11.2 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 61,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
1999, and the run-up to Armageddon has begun. Sheep are exploding in the Welsh highlands, the Pyramids are up for repossession since their 5,000-year lease has expired, ghastly US evangelists overrun Britain, King Arthur awakens, and rains of fish are of course inevitable. The prophet Nostradamus, still with us under his academic alias Professor Mike D. Nostrus, knows it's time to take precautions against the likely end of the world... This is moderately sprightly humorous fantasy in the vein of Tom Holt, or (in particular) Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, though less skilfully funny--it's Matthew Thomas's first novel. The famous Pratchett footnotes are painstakingly imitated. There's a tendency to leave loose ends: for example, the expected amusing rationale for why those sheep are detonating never actually turns up. Thomas loves Blackadder-style comparisons: "Adam was more full of shit than King Kong's colostomy bag"--and is pretty good at turning such phrases. But their rapid-fire repetition in earlier chapters has a numbing effect, as of being beaten around the head with Moby Dick. Later the pace quickens into madcap action-adventure and a crowded Last Battle which offers some good chuckles. Worth a look if you enjoy funny fantasy. --David Langford
Product Description
That rare find: comic fantasy that actually makes you laugh. Douglas Adams10;Terry Pratchett, but with more jokes. A dark, deadpan millennial tale.
‘The sheep shall be the first sign.
Those that frolic and hop will detonate with great concussions,
The strongest glues will not hold them, their suffering will go unheeded,
Until the Great Triangles depart’
From the Lost Centuries of Nostradamus: Quatrain v11.5
So it begins: the end of the world. The Apocalypse is at hand, afoot, in your face – wherever – it’s going to affect you, mentally and physically. Ask Colin the sheep about it and he’d probably say ‘BOOOM!’ which isn’t very helpful but then he has just exploded. Ask Professor Michael D. Nostrus, history teacher at a redbrick university and formerly the sometimes-vaguely-accurate prophet Nostradamus, and he might give you a piece of advice along the lines of: hole up in a Welsh farmhouse with an attractive young woman and read books like THE SAS SURVIVAL GUIDE: KILL SQUIRRELS THE WAY THE PROFESSIONALS DO.
Some people think he’s mad…Professor Michael D. Nostrus knows better. After all, he’s had 500 years to work out what to do…
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
10 out of 10 for inventiveness,
By A Customer
This review is from: Before and After (Mass Market Paperback)
I really liked this book. It is funny and Matthew's ideas are clever. It's always good to read somebody new whose ideas are still fresh.My only criticsm is that there are sometimes too many similies. Simply it's good, a really enjoyable read and I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nostrodamus and exploding sheep. Who could want more?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Before and After (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the best book I have read in ages! Matthew Thomas is original, witty and crafty in his work. If you're not careful some of the jokes will just fly right over your head. Even the acknowledgements make you laugh. The only flaw I found with this book was that as I was reading it, I couldn't help but feel that the whole thing could have been compacted into a smaller edition. This book is for anyone who has an imagination and loves things that just aren't run of the mill. Very inspiring!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Sheep Mutilation... its for you!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Before and After (Mass Market Paperback)
Best book i've read in ages! i've now gona and ordered his second book as well! i hope its as good as this one! if you like stories about fights with good and evil in a sportsman sort of way then this is for you. several interesting scenes involving a black cat!
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