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Pandaemonium
  
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Pandaemonium [Audiobook] (Audio CD)

by Christopher Brookmyre (Author), Kenny Blyth (Reader)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Price: £53.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Pandaemonium + A Snowball in Hell + Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks
Total RRP: £69.48
Price For All Three: £62.49

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  • This item: Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre

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  • Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre

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Product details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: ISIS Audio Books (1 Dec 2009)
  • ISBN-10: 0753145731
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753145739
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

What kind of a writer is Christopher Brookmyre? He’s markedly – and bloody-mindedly -- unlike any other current purveyor of crime fiction. A darkly comic writer, perhaps? Yes, the work is fiercely, bitingly funny – but that term doesn't really sum him up. Perhaps a kind of strange venturer into the realms of the supra-normal, then? His new book, Pandaemonium, certainly suggests the latter, with its eye-opening use of elements of the fantastic and SF. But none of these terms really does him justice – and perhaps it’s a good thing that he can’t be pinned down to any one genre.

Pandaemonium bids fair to be Brookmyre’s most extreme entertainment yet – and (as usual with this author) it’s not for the faint-hearted. St Peter’s High School has a problem with its senior pupils – how to help them deal with death of a fellow pupil? The answer (it’s decided) is to be a cloistered retreat at an outdoor activity centre – it will be there, through the aid of programmes of counselling, discussion groups and (of course) prayer – St Peter is a religious school -- that the pupils will be able to adjust. Needless to say, the pupils themselves have other ideas – sex and general misbehaviour being their primary aims. But near the retreat, a highly secret military operations is in train -- one, unusually, that has the services of a religious adviser (and an eccentric one at that). Appropriate, as the experiment involves nothing less than the untrammelling of the forces of the netherworld. The pupils will find themselves fighting for their lives.

Does all of this sound outrageous? For many readers, perhaps – but Brookmyre fans will be rubbing their hands. The bloody chaos on offer is not, perhaps, vintage Brookmyre, but aficionados have no need to hesitate. Satisfyingly (as usual), the forces of the establishment (the Military, The Church) are given an enthusiastic going-over. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Pandaemonium
74% buy the item featured on this page:
Pandaemonium 3.4 out of 5 stars (34)
£53.50
A Snowball in Hell
10% buy
A Snowball in Hell 3.8 out of 5 stars (32)
£5.00
Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks
7% buy
Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks 3.9 out of 5 stars (31)
£3.99
The Day of the Jack Russell
5% buy
The Day of the Jack Russell 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£8.95
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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars This one is going to split the vote..., 17 Aug 2009
By G. J. Oxley "Gaz" (Tyne & Wear, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Pandaemonium (Hardcover)
Previous reviewers have summed-up this book pretty well, but I'd still like to add my own thoughts.

The depiction of an entire class of sixth formers is brilliantly done, and I can live with the occasional dense blocks of text where Christopher ruminates on religion, quantum physics and science in general. But the denouement is pretty weak and the plot too fantastical to be credible. 'Pandaemonium' calls for a bigger suspension of disbelief than usual for such a grounded author, but it does have plenty of other points in its favour.

It's not as satire-heavy as usual - Brookmyre is normally the literary equivalent of the hilariously non-PC Frankie Boyle - although he does lace up his Doc Marten's to give the Catholic Church a good kicking. But, and it's a HUGE but, there are still some superbly-handled intellectual ideas in here, some scenes of real excitement, and I really must once again mention the characterisation. In 'Pandaemonium he gives thirty 17-year-olds their own distinct personalities and thanks, in part, to his helpful list at the start of the book, we're never confused about who is who. I love the sections where he's simply describing their thoughts and actions: we have the class clowns and show-offs, the geeks, the hard men, the self-centred, good-looking ones etc. I can't emphasise how well-written and beautifully observed these passages are.

It is an atypical novel from this very clever writer, yet despite its shortcomings - remember he's never dabbled in quite this type of fantasy before - I still greatly enjoyed the vast majority of it. However, more than any of his previous novels, I suspect there'll be a few long-term fans who won't buy the whole premise of the book.

Brookmyre is one of a kind: ambitious, acerbic, offensively violent and pumped full of bile. He writes like no other British writer, which is why, despite its major weakness - that it stretches credulity to the limit - I feel there are still enough plusses in here to make it worthy of my four-star rating. It's just a pity about the ending...
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars High octane, laddish, intellectual, 17 Aug 2009
This review is from: Pandaemonium (Hardcover)
I love Brookmyre's books. This isn't my favourite but is nonetheless excellent. It is full of action but also very funny. There is lots of blood and gore but not horror. The surprising thing is how much well-informed discussion of philosophy and quantum physics is wound into a fast-moving and still very easy-to-read book. The plot is certainly quite different form any other novel I've read before.
I found it difficult to follow some of the scene-setting chapters at the start of the book, and to work out what was actually going on. Descriptions of the scientific facility and its staff weren't successful. But the book was a page-turner for the last two-thirds.
So some brilliant bits. Thought provoking. Very glad I read it. Can't wait for the next one!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Auld Nick and Max Planck?, 11 Aug 2009
By H. meiehofer "haroldm" (glasgow, scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Pandaemonium (Hardcover)
This is certainly the strangest book ever written by Christopher Brookmyre, and given what has gone before that is really saying something.

Best known as a comic crime writer he extends his range here into science fantasy and horror.

The story to some extent touches on areas he has explored before; a bunch of townie kids in a rural setting where really bizarre things start happening. Having said that he does as ever come up with original and ingenious new twists. All of the usual Brookmyre hallmarks are here; bizarre events resulting from a perfectly logical set of steps, very funny wit and the most amusing foul language you'll find this side of the number 9 bus to Linwood.

As some of his books have had in the past, this book has an underlying polemic, although it does take some time to discern what this actually is (I won't be more explicit as this might be a plot spoiler). The book does take a long time to get going with the first third or so essentially devoted to explaining the science and theology on which the story appears to depend. Some of this is pretty hard going. At times it seemed a bit like "The Da Vinci Code" meets "A Beginner's Guide to Stephen Hawking". There is no doubt that Brookmyre is a very clever man and that his eclectic intellect informs his writing. A reasonably good knowledge of the history of science (particularly quantum mechanics) and the Church (especially the Inquisition) would do no harm to the reader, although it's not essential. Certainly I found myself having to read certain passages more than once, and I'm not sure I "got" it all in the end. He does appear to wear that intellect on his sleeve a bit too much in this book and it could have done with a bit of judicious editing.

Having made this criticism I should emphasise that this is an excellent book nonetheless. As well as his trademark comedy this is a great rip-roaring adventure which engages the reader as well. It is almost like a "Boy's Own" (Although to be fair much of the adventure is down to the distaff side of the cast) adventure, with added gore, sex, violence, bad language, particle physics and ecclesiastical history. A bit like a night out in Paisley.

I would advise anyone new to Brookmyre to start elsewhere. For fans of old, I'd say persist with this coz it is definitely worth it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars ...a departure from the norm...but still gets to the heart of things!
As a fan of Brookmyre's work this is a big departure in terms of the setting for his characters and one that intially made me feel uncomfortable as I wasn't sure how the "tale"... Read more
Published 10 days ago by G. Maguire

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor delivery
Delivery to Canada took over three weeks when approx five days was estimated by Amazon. It was intended as a birthday present and was way overdue. I would check your carriers.
Published 2 months ago by B. Moore

4.0 out of 5 stars Dry humour but funny
If there's one thing you can say about Brookmyre is that he's not only got a very dry sense of humour but he seems to know exactly how to pace a tale to keep the reader not only... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Gareth Wilson

1.0 out of 5 stars big disappointment
I usually find Christopher Brookmyre's books vastly entertaining - well plotted, funny with great characterisation. However, his latest was a huge disappointment. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Susan Aitken

3.0 out of 5 stars Unsatisfying
I love Christopher Brookmyre, I go to airports just to get the early copies of every one of his books as soon as they are released. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michelle Levrier

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hell of a book
Demonic and bloodily funny, CB's new novel is also, as one would expect, savagely philosophical. Brookmyre has his finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist - the trouble is it's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Biffo

5.0 out of 5 stars Good - albeit not his usual fare!!
For those who have read them this is a mash-up of "One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night" , "A Tale Etched in Hard Black Pencil" and "The Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks"... Read more
Published 3 months ago by pikeman

2.0 out of 5 stars I love Brookmyre, but...
...this is just not up to his usual standard. I find that when he writes about children in this book and A Tale Etched... Read more
Published 4 months ago by K. M. Woodhouse

5.0 out of 5 stars laughed, cried was horrified
What a wonderful book. I travelled 9 times with a coach load of teenagers to Alton Towers and I swear Christopher Brookmyre was on those coach trips. Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. Welham

4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new but I still loved it.
I've read and enjoyed all of Christopher Brookmyre's books and he's on the small list of authors I automatically buy in hardback... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Peter Symonds

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