Nothing But Blue Skies
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Amazon.co.uk Review
There's a sardonic edge to Tom Holt's novel title Nothing But Blue Skies, since the master of comic conspiracy theories here reveals just why British weather consists of a wide variety of rain. Rather than his usual scapegoat the Milk Marketing Board, the culprits are--of course!--Chinese water dragons.
Young heroine Karen is herself a dragon, but for love's sake has taken on the almost human form of an estate agent. Alas, she's hopeless at romance--unfortunate for Britain, since as the hereditary Dragon Marshall of Bank Holidays she causes rainy side effects of up to 2,000,000,000,000 litres/second/square kilometre whenever angry or upset ...
No wonder rebellious TV weathermen, enraged by sabotaged predictions of sunny days, have kidnapped Karen's father and trapped him in the third shape available to dragons: a goldfish. But the kidnappers fall foul of imperialist conspirators who reckon Britain's weather made it great, inspiring us to go out and conquer all those hot places. Behind this outfit are the even more megalomaniac schemes of an Aussie media baron who for excellent legal reasons isn't called Murdoch.
We also learn about Britain's real state religion, featuring human sacrifices to the Queen, and the North Welsh cult which believes "that when we die, we'll be reunited on the other side with all the used paper hankies we've discarded over the years." Better not to mention the potshots at Microsoft Windows.
Full of comic invention and crazy set-pieces, it's guaranteed to cheer up a rainy day. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing But Good Books,
This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Paperback)
Tom Holt does it again. Manages to please me with another of his fantastic tales of a woman who wonders why it rains so much in Britain. Something we all want to know, surely? Or maybe not, as Tom shows us why it REALLY rains so much in GB.Top quality stuff again. Easier to follow than Valhalla or Falling Sideways, but still as good a read as the others. Enjoy the book. You will.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Far from the standard of "Odds and Gods",
By A Customer
This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Hardcover)
In Tom Holt's latest mainstream comic fantasy "Nothing But Blue Skies" he manages to offer the reader a biting satire of fierce proportions. What Holt is lampooning in this new annal into the world of Danny Bennett is the climate; the bloody British weather to be exact. We've seen in past Holt volumes his penchant for going on tangents about how much he personally hates the Microsoft computer system, and how similar to a dog's breakfast Australia seems to him, so this time the fact that Britain is eternally accosted with horrendous conditions seems a funny concept to thumb his nose at. It *is*. Hilarious in some respects. In the zany pseudo-Britain of Holt's imagination in "Nothing But Blue Skies", weathermen are reminiscent of biblical-age prophets: people believe they have the ability to control the weather. When a fellow says on TV that he forecasts a shower tomorrow, and there is one, it's bloody well his *fault*. Or so it seems. The guilty parties in fact aren't the benign weathermen at all: Holt blames irritable Chinese Water Dragons, who, with a simple mood-swing can alter a nice, peachy day into a sleet-driven rain bucket. In a world where weather-weary forecasters are blamed for something they aren't responsible for, one can sympathize why Gordon and Neville, two such fellows go and capture the culprit, the Adjutant General to the Dragon King of the North West, to be precise, and trap him in the form of a goldfish. Karen, rebel estate agent and superbly wet fish, goes out in search of her goldfish-bound father, so that Britain can return to being a slop bucket of abysmal showers. Unfortunately, Gordon and Neville give the goldfish to a rabid militia man, who plans to *flood Britain*, invade Tasmania, and colonize the Moon--huh; meanwhile, Gordon and Neville are, themselves, captured by an equally insane whacko who has founded a State religion which worships Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. Strange? Not really... So it's no wonder why a group of hired guns wearing Ray-ban shades and pressed double-breasted suits go and prepare for the second Noah's flood, commissioning a fellow to build an Ark, and attempting to acquire two of every species of animal (yes, even okapis). Holt throws in silly gags with further complications; but the novel seems to wear thin at points, and at other points it drags on. He also seems somewhat short on characters--in previous comic fantasy novels he's offered us up to 24 main characterizations; in "Nothing But Blue Skies", he gives us 10, and most of these aren't all central to the plot (three of them don't even have *names*). If you had a restricted amount of cash in your wallet, you desired a good read, some winsome jokes, some quirky characters, all rolled into a novel published for this year only, than I'd suggest you go purchase Terry Pratchett's "Thief of Time" rather than this. Holt's new fantasy is the consolation prize: he manages to offer us an abundance of perceptive observations, and some new funny highlights, and the plot continues to struggle on through the farce. I'm wondering if he'll ever bring back Kurt Lundqvist, expert assassin, or Danny Bennett, BBC TV executive, his two only recurring characters. In the days of "Odds and Gods" and "Only Human" Holt was sublime. He works a lot of strengths into "Nothing But Blue Skies" but as the adage says: two many cooks spoil the broth.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent book, buy it immediately!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Nothing But Blue Skies (Hardcover)
Comparable to "Flying Dutch" and "Expecting Someone Taller," this book brought back to me why I have read all of Tom Holt's books: marvelous writing. Karen the water-dragon, who turned human to pursue a human (romantically), is a great character, constantly apologizing to all around her as her anger causes Noah-style rains, or her embarrasment creates distortions in the visual perceptions of humans. There are conspiracies, of course, and they all make sense, including the worship of the Queen as deity; hidden from the Queen of course, as they perform sacrifices to her. The weathermen who kidnap a dragon (one on purpose, one not quite on purpose) are themselves captured (along with the dragon) by an Australian media baron determined to lower his communications expenses. Add all that to a computer with a personality straight from Southern California, and this is an excellent book, whether your first taste of Tom Holt, or the latest. Enjoy.
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