Review: May Contain Traces of Magic
May Contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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, his life falls to pieces. He has no idea who he can trust, whether they be human beings or magical beings.
Transdimensional travel is commonplace, which complicates matters enormously, and confuses Chris at every turn, even when guided by the imp in his mysterious magical SatNav.
To cap it all, his girlfriend, Karen, is hardly speaking to him and he is lumbered with a freshly graduated, objectionable apprentice, Angela, for his sales rounds.
There is so much imaginative creativity in this story, that you can’t help but enjoy it. Watch out for subtle little twists, like the reference to the copra mines of Kiribati. There is always loads of copra falling with the coconuts onto the beaches of Kiribati, but I have never heard of it being mined before!
Read it and you will have a lot of fun.
