Status Updates From May Contain Traces of Magic...

The first half of this was excellent, 8/10. The middle struggled, trying to cram a lot of new plot and twists on, 6/10, ending felt rushed (4/10).

I did like that the story was essentially about a man, and the magical world he lives in. He finds himself in a situation, in a strange world. The fantastical things about the story comes from magic in the world, not from the characters themselves.

At the end of all things, when the sky folds up and the walls close in and all the lights go out, there is still chocolate.

"But if you're not prepared to sort out the mess at least stop whining about it."

I'm convinced; Holt's writing is complex, but also a page - turner maker. Not many authors can manage both.

But it was rather in the manner of President Bush announcing progress in the war against terror; absolutely nobody was going to believe it.

'I do not know who that is,' he said. It was all right to admit stuff like that, in the dream. In real life, of course, women expect you to be bloody telepathic.

Yet another book in the world around JW Wells & Co., and at least one character I can relate to or at least grow slightly attached to.