The Portable Door
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Review
hugely inventive and highly amusing ...His sharply observed dialogue and the desire to think round corners and u-bends distinguish Holt's books. He has the ability to make the reader laugh out loud and should be treasured. COMPUTERCROWSNEST A definite must for all fans of comic fantasy ENIGMA The jokes are delicious SFX The best similes since Douglas Adams. Buy it for heaven's sake SFX
Review
hugely inventive and highly amusing ...His sharply observed dialogue and the desire to think round corners and u-bends distinguish Holt's books. He has the ability to make the reader laugh out loud and should be treasured. (COMPUTERCROWSNEST )
A definite must for all fans of comic fantasy (ENIGMA )
The jokes are delicious (SFX )
The best similes since Douglas Adams. Buy it for heaven's sake (SFX )
A definite must for all fans of comic fantasy (ENIGMA )
The jokes are delicious (SFX )
The best similes since Douglas Adams. Buy it for heaven's sake (SFX )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a brilliant book from a writer I enjoy but find rather hit and miss. Like others have mentioned, this is Tom Holt very much 'on form', with a well-written story full of wonderful wit and likeable characters. Paul Carpenter is the typical Holt pathetic main character, who starts a very strange office job with a sour-faced girl, who he happens to falls for and refrains from quitting his insane job to stay with. Together they tackle the insanely boring tasks they're set and eventually become friends as they try to discover the true meaning behind the company. Their relationship is enjoyable to watch as it unfolds, beginning, as always, with what seems to be mutual contempt. The characters are well designed and the tension between them creates a lot of touching 'moments', all of which are amusingly noted by Paul himself. I found the story came together very well, with lots of very strange things happening near the beginning all being explained at the end. More than one of the revelations that occurred made me smile and say out loud 'Of course!', which I'd say was the mark of a good book. Topped with some insane characters (just wait 'til Mr Tanner's mum appears) and Holt's token observational wit, this is a madcap read that I highly enjoyed. Good stuff.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Imagine yourself beeing twenty-something, a total nerd with absolutely no future involving women in any way. welcome to Pauls world. suddenly he finds himself stuck with a job he didn't really want in the first place, spending all day with a woman that he doesn't like (but nevertheless falls in love with, by old habit) doing utterly meaningless things. And then strange things start to happen.
Mr Holt is a captivating writer. he steals your time so effortlessly you don't even notice it until it's 4 o'clock in the morning and you know your alarmclock is going off at 6...
Mr Holt is a captivating writer. he steals your time so effortlessly you don't even notice it until it's 4 o'clock in the morning and you know your alarmclock is going off at 6...
while reading this book my husband constantly had to ask me what's so funny, cause i kept laughing load, and calling mr Holt a sick person. his writing combined with my own vivid fantasy and vizualisation made reading 'the portable door' an experience. I'm looking forward to reading 'in your dreams' once i get hold of a copy...
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Holt is back on form! After a couple of books which are good by normal standards, but not up to the author in full flight, we get a story which feels planned. It opens a bit like a re-hash of his previous book (Little People) and reads as if you could never have sympathy with the hero, but persevere, because it turns round into a wonderful comic tale.
The story twists and turns as you would expect from Mr. Holt and some of the throw-aways are beautiful. Try and count the references to other fantasy/comic fantasy books.
Overall a great read but only gets 4 stars because he has written better - see "Who's Afraid of Beowulf" and "Valhalla" or my own favourite "Flying Dutch"
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I'm a Pratchett fan and...
I don't like this bloke at all - gave it 100 pages as you have to but then gave up.... I don't knwo why I didnt like it - other than it is generally weak - tries too hard to... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Andy
A fun but imperfect novel
The Portable Door by Tom Holt was recommended to me by several followers on my Twitter account as a good fun fantasy novel, and a good introduction to Holt himself a writer these... Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
Slow, unoriginal, cliched
I was looking for authors similar to Jasper Fforde and found this, but was very disappointed. The main character has all the stereotypical features of a classic young nerd but... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Anna Sharman
a fun read
I really enjoyed this book and the others in the trilogy. It's not taxing but it's a great book to relax with. The characters are strong and hold the story together. Read more
Published 17 months ago by campingkate
Twice as long as it needs to be
This is the first Tom Holt I have read and I have ended up quite disappointed. It is so drawn out. The Portable Door itself doesn't make an appearance for the first 238 pages! Read more
Published 22 months ago by Paul Cook
Wildly entertaining
I've come late to the Tom Holt party, but I'm glad I finally made it. This is the first book of his that I have read and I definitely intend to try more. Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. L. Rutter
Initialy didn't grip, but overall enjoyed
I was actually attracted to Tom Holt's novels when Amazon recommended me 'May Contain Traces of Magic', but as that appears to be the latest novel in a series, I decided to start... Read more
Published on 6 May 2010 by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
EE, THAT TOM HOLT...
...He does tell a good yarn
I haven't read as much of his stuff as, say, Robert Rankin, or Pratchett, and I was pleasantly surprised. Read more
I haven't read as much of his stuff as, say, Robert Rankin, or Pratchett, and I was pleasantly surprised. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Beau Nidle
A relaxing read
The book reads well if you want something to relax with during holidays or a vacation. Characters are original, story has its twists and background is well put together. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2009 by Ivan Vazov
Clever and fun.
I feel that I should nail my colours to the mast at the start - I like Terry Pratchett and find that most humourists don't compare. Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2009 by Nicholas Connolly
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