The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt
| The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt | |
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| Category: Fantasy | |
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Reviewer: Linda Lawlor
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| Summary: Sharply witty commentary on religion, business and power, wrapped in a thoroughly zany plot. It makes even today's political excesses look humdrum! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: June 2017 |
| Publisher: Orbit | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780356506692 | |
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Imagine, if you will, that the local deity and his well-beloved son Jay decide to retire from the god business and go fishing instead. After all, they've been working on, and for, the planet for millennia, and it is really is time they took a break. And the Venturi brothers, who already manage several other planets, have made them a very generous bid for the franchise.
True, there are a few teensy little snags, like having to close the gates of Hell so no one else is sent there, and that eccentric old being up at the North Pole, but he's no trouble these days, is he? And then of course there's Kevin, Jay's younger brother. He's never shown any aptitude for the business (or for anything else, come to that) so really, everything should go smoothly. Sure, there'll be changes: bound to be, with new bosses. For a start, Snib and Ab Venturi don't hold with the notion of blind faith: they manifest themselves the minute they take over, and make it quite clear all that old-fashioned nonsense about good and evil is out the window. Sin as much as you like, in any way you like, on condition you have the funds to pay the fine, price list available on request.
The astonishing thing about Tom Holt is how he manages to cram so many references to popular culture and twenty-first-century life into one book. Once you've read it (and had a lie-down so your poor ribs can recover from all that laughing) you'll want to watch the whole Indiana Jones series again, check over your knowledge of religions ancient and modern, and look into the major points in current politics and business practice, before you spend a bit of time on some of the more well-known tropes of fantasy and science fiction, just to make sure you got at least half the jokes. You'll probably want to read the book again, just to be sure.
If you enjoy books which combine searing social commentary with hefty dollops of fantasy and a generous bucketful of laugh-out-loud silliness, you're in luck: there are several more excellent Holts to read. Bookbag particularly liked Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages, May Contain Traces of Magic and The Good, the Bad and the Smug. Then there's the whole Jasper Fforde canon – for example, Shades of Grey - plus all those brilliant books by the late lamented Sir Terry Pratchett, like Mort, and . . . well, that should be enough to keep you giggling for quite some time! But if you need something else, try The Edge of Reason (The Edge Series) by Melinda Snodgrass.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt at Amazon.com.
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