Review A light read from the prolific humorist; a romp round the multiverse―SFXRewriting the classic gods for comic effect is a Tom Holt speciality, and Valhalla returns to Odin the Skyfather, much mistreated in Holt's first funny fantasy Expecting Someone Taller 1987). Valhalla is the afterlife where warriors forever feast, get drunk, laugh at each other and are reborn the next day--the Viking idea of fun. But Odin, a devious bastard, has made changes ... For Howard the pretend Viking, who joined the War-Band of Sigurd Bloodtooth (Smethwick chapter) in hope of pulling girls, Valhalla is a gory shoot-up with modern weapons. For older killers like Attila, Napoleon and Hitler it's like the thrilling suspense of watching paint dry. For Lin Kortright, theatrical agent to the gods, it's endless gruelling auditions for the part of Lin Kortright--every time, he "dies" on stage. Carol the cocktail waitress lands in a similar dead-end job as a serving wench in the traditional Valhalla, where there's a special briefing for Americans:―Skyfather, his message: You in Kansas any more are not.Indeed Odin gives everyone personalised Valhallas that nastily twist their own wish-fulfilment dreams. Clever one-liners and bizarre ideas come thick and fast as ever--few people suspected that the "voices" heard by Joan of Arc included police radios and―David Langford, AMAZON.CO.UK Read more From the Publisher As everyone knows, when great warriors die, their reward is eternal life in Odin’s bijou little residence known as Valhalla. But Valhalla has just changed. It has grown. It has diversified. Just like any corporation, the Valhalla Group has had to adapt to survive. Unfortunately, not even an omniscient Norse god could have prepared Valhalla for the arrival of Carol Kortright, one–time cocktail waitress, last seen dead, and not at all happy. Valhalla is the sparkling new comic fantasy from a writer who can turn misery into joy, darkness into light, and water into a very pleasant lime cordial. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
S**S
Huh?
This book was so confusing I still have no idea what happened or why. Good writing. But I truly don't get the point of it. Wish I'd spent my money on something else.
C**F
unrewarding
A whole book of characters wandering around asking "why is this happening and how do I make it stop". And we the reader don't have any more insight than them. Makes for an unrewarding read, especially when you're finally given some scant information at the end for why it was happening.
D**N
Meh.
Not up to some of his others. "Flying Dutch" comes to mind, or even "Whose Afraid of Beowulf?".But not bad.
E**N
Subtly hysterical
This book has many threads seemingly all going in different directions. You find yourself waiting for Holt to tie them together in the bizarre unforseeable way that only he can. And he delivers.The cast is a fabulous mix of modern day Joe's with issues, Joan of Arc who hears soap commercials between messages from the angels, a sleazy Hollywood-style agent finding gigs for gods, et al.There is a great deal of humor in this book that can easily be overlooked. A character meets a headhunter (the executive recruiting kind): "the way he'd said headhunter . . . brought to . . . mind a mental image of a violin-maker rattling a spoon against a saucer and calling out 'Here, kitty, kitty!'" If that doesn't make you laugh, and/or you don't know squat about mythology you're probably going to miss a lot.If you're up for a book that's totally ridiculous and whose punch lines you may not catch 'till you're three sentences past, check this one out. Be careful where you read it though. I laughed out loud . . . often.
W**D
Junk food for the mind
I really like Holt's writing - his best is hilarious. I can't say that Valhalla is his best. It has its moments, such as the predatory agent auditioning to be himself. I found it uneven, though, and slack about following its own internal illogic.Still, it's a fun read, and better than going without any Holt at all. If you already like Holt, go ahead. If you're new to Holt, though, another title might make a better first impression.
A**R
Valhella
I read this entire book, and I can honestly say that the most interesting part of the entire thing was watching paint dry. I'm serious on both counts; there's over a chapter on people watching paint dry, and it's the best part of the entire book.If that didn't scare you off.. The main characters are people you couldn't care less about, the flow of the story's broken up too much by there being way too many characters, who never quite come off as being even half human because we're barely even introduced to any of them, and the author seems more interested in name-dropping than giving us a decent story. (I'd say plot, but that would be giving him too much credit. Every time we get to a point where it seems like something's finally going to happen, and we'll actually see something real in the main characters, the author pulls another god out of the closet to write himself out of that corner.) Overall, the best thing I can say about it is that it comes off feeling like a very bad Star Trek: Voyager rerun.The only reason I'm giving this book two stars, rather than one, is because of the scene involving watching paint dry.In summary? Look elsewhere for your mythological fantasy fix.
F**F
Perfection
Best book I've read in a long time. Perfect mix of comedy, adventure and action.Just a great, great book.
Trustpilot
3 days ago
1 month ago
