My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
May Contain Traces of Magic (J. W. Wells & Co.)
by
Tom Holt
There are all kinds of products. The good ones. The bad ones. The ones that stay in thecan't return.
Hardcover, 339 pages
Published
August 1st 2009
by Little, Brown Book Group
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
249)
Meet Chris Popham, a salesman miserable with his lot. He's been in a long term relationship with Karen, a girl he knew from school he went on the rebound with that never ended when Karen's best mate Jill turned him down. Still in love with her, Chris meets up with Jill once a week, and wishes things were different. He's not too happy with his job either, trying his hardest to sell magical products such a portable parking space, powdered water, and instaglamour cream, and not having the best of l...more
This is the second Tom Holt novel I've read and they both started out intriguing me, but in the end were ultimately disappointing.
There are certainly a few laughs in this book, but they are too far and few between the narrator's constant analysis of what-if's as a means of pushing forward the plot. I sometimes felt I was trapped in the mind of a guy on amphetamines as he contemplated and analyzed what might happen next in HIS life, and the lives of the other characters. It wore ...more
There are certainly a few laughs in this book, but they are too far and few between the narrator's constant analysis of what-if's as a means of pushing forward the plot. I sometimes felt I was trapped in the mind of a guy on amphetamines as he contemplated and analyzed what might happen next in HIS life, and the lives of the other characters. It wore ...more
Henrik Andersson
added it
Yet another Tom Holt book set in the JWW universe, and honestly, it's getting old. Yet another antagonist with troublesome relations with the opposite sex, a hapless chap who's always gotten the wrong end of the stick, but turns out to have been involved with big, magical mysteries all along, and in the end he Grows As A Person and takes care of business in a most uncharacteristic manner.
The story is much too convoluted, and by the end I found myself not even caring about who sent the...more
The story is much too convoluted, and by the end I found myself not even caring about who sent the...more
Hen-pecked and stuck in a dead end job selling magical artefacts that only sort of work, Chris Popham is snoozing through his dull life. So why are demons suddenly trying to torture information out of him, why is a retired Norse god helping them and is he falling for the trapped spirit powering his sat nav?
Tom Holt specialises in taking magic and sitting it alongside the mundane and the ridiculous rituals of British life. He completes my trio of favourite comic fantasy writers, which...more
Tom Holt specialises in taking magic and sitting it alongside the mundane and the ridiculous rituals of British life. He completes my trio of favourite comic fantasy writers, which...more
OMG
If I was inclined to say "Oh my God!", which I am not, I would have said it over a hundred times whilst reading this book.
The story is about Chris, a salesman of magical good such as fold-away parking spaces and instant water. From the moment that he walks into the shop of one of his clients and finds the shopkeeper lying on the floor with his head mostly hacked off by a horrible demon, who is still scarily present and sitting on the top shelf observing Chris...more
If I was inclined to say "Oh my God!", which I am not, I would have said it over a hundred times whilst reading this book.
The story is about Chris, a salesman of magical good such as fold-away parking spaces and instant water. From the moment that he walks into the shop of one of his clients and finds the shopkeeper lying on the floor with his head mostly hacked off by a horrible demon, who is still scarily present and sitting on the top shelf observing Chris...more
Chris, our friendly magic-goods salesman, lives in an England where magic, time travel and demons are the norm.
I enjoyed the read overall: humorous, interesting, puzzling. Though, too much retrospection and wondering what was going on for my taste. A little more action and a little less thoughtful pondering would have added another star, in my view.
Update: my 18 year old son read it and loved it.
I enjoyed the read overall: humorous, interesting, puzzling. Though, too much retrospection and wondering what was going on for my taste. A little more action and a little less thoughtful pondering would have added another star, in my view.
Update: my 18 year old son read it and loved it.
Set in a slightly different universe where magic exists and is part of the everyday world of buying and selling, but the existence of demons is still kept secret from the genereal populace.
As always with Holt, you have to keep your wits about you - an intelligent plot with twists and turns and red herrings keeps you on your toes for the whole book. Funny and clever. Highly recommended.
As always with Holt, you have to keep your wits about you - an intelligent plot with twists and turns and red herrings keeps you on your toes for the whole book. Funny and clever. Highly recommended.
Ilsabe
added it
I found this particular book seriously boring. I just couldn't quite click with the characters or the premise. Since I have liked the other books I have read by Tom Holt I kept reading, thinking things would improve. Not until I finished the last page did I suddenly realize that I wanted the time I had spent reading it back.
Entertaining as always but while reading I just had this sense of being rushed - the writing being rushed, the reader being jumbled through the plot... at times I also felt that the writing was a little sloppy - certain jokes were squeezed in and yet weren't strictly necessary (James Blunt for example). A teeny bit disappointing really.
David Grieve
added it
Started off very funny funny, clever and imaginative until about half way through. Then became far to convoluted with more and more tists and turns that really didn't add anything to it. By the end it felt a bit too self indulgent. Having said that, it was very funny in parts.
Not as good as The Better Mousetrap, but still fun. The protagonist gets into and out of and back into trouble faster, and more often, than two cats left alone for a long weekend.
Laugh out loud funny in places. Like a cross between Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin.
For the number of miles I drive I wish my GPS was sentient like in here.
For the number of miles I drive I wish my GPS was sentient like in here.
Was leaning toward 4 stars till the last 1/4 of the book. I get that it's wacky fantasy... but I still like to have some idea what's real, who's who, what's reversible and what's permanent.
I keep trying Tom Holt. I want him to be Douglas Adams. He isn't. Good up until the ending which falls apart.
A good fantasy book. Partly really enjoyed it, but the events got out of reality completely which annoyed me a bit.
Holt takes some getting used to with his writing approach. Now that I am reading his second book, I am beginning to enjoy him more, but I think Holt is an acquired taste.
Hum...stoped reading it at page 220/300.
For those who like Christopher Lamb, you'll like this one.
For those who like Christopher Lamb, you'll like this one.
I think Holt put a lot more book around the story than it really needed.
Another book in the magical world of JW Wells & Co, and while the connection is only secondhand (the main character, for example, sells products developed by JWW through another retail outfit), it helps fill the void that was created when the Paul Carpenter story line was killed off. Perhaps, though, Mr. Holt could find some new initials to use? This time it was CP instead of PC as the main character...
All the loose ends are cleaned up at the end, and most of the characters are giv...more
All the loose ends are cleaned up at the end, and most of the characters are giv...more
Not as good as "You Don't Have to Be Evil" but still pretty damn amusing.
Fascinating and full of twists and turns. It gave me a bit of a "Hitchhikker's Guide to the Galaxy" feel.
whacky and enjoyable
This is a decent book, it just that it is not Tom Holt at the top of his form.
Very different from anything I've ever read. But, I couldn't stop.
Will update later.
Heather Hamelin
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Tom Holt (Thomas Charles Louis Holt; born September 13, 1961) is a British novelist.
He was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London.
Holt's works include mythopoeic novels which parody or take as their theme various aspects of mythology, history or literature and develop them in new and...more
More about Tom Holt...
He was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London.
Holt's works include mythopoeic novels which parody or take as their theme various aspects of mythology, history or literature and develop them in new and...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
