Book swop - The Portable Door by Tom Holt

[PanicPants]

When I first received this I was a bit sceptable but after reading it I have to say I loved it.

It's not something I would have chosen to read myself (which I guess is the whole point of the swop!)And I hadn't even heard of the author

It's a light easy read, and very unputdownable. I really liked the main character - Paul Carpenter although he isn't your typical hero in any sense. Just your average bloke down the pub. But have to say I didn't warm to Sophie, the main female character.

I was sceptable about the 'magic' element of the story but soon accepted it an a tongue in cheek sort of way and in the end was believing in it all. It is sort of a cross between a grown up, comic, Enid Blyton and a light hearted, short, easy version of Lord of the Rings (iuswim).

I was interested to see at the back there was a review for the sequal, so I will now have to hunt it down as I'm now hooked!

, if you find the sequel let me know- I keep meaning to get it myself lol!

I've got this knocking about upstairs somewhere... got it from a charity shop :) must get round to reading it.

Valhalla is good, read that eons ago in a previous life before DH. Lots of it was set in Taunton iirc, which was near where we lived and even mentioned the village BIL lived in! So when I saw this book by the same author was . Thought I was the only person on this planet knew of him. You DO need a sense of humour though!

I will have to read some of his others then. Thanks PeachyClair for introducing me to him.

good omens is one of my all-time faves (but then I probably have about 100 all-time faves

I loved this book
It was completely random and unexpected

One of those laugh out loud books. Very light and easy read and was completely unputdownable ( I read it in 2 days, then dp read it as well)
I agree with panicpants, I didn’t warm to Sophie much ,she wasn’t very interesting and bit to grumpy. I love mrs tanner though, what a brilliant and funny character.
Paul Carpenter was just a normal guy in a hilarious chain of events. I really felt for him, he had no idea what was going on except that if he didn’t go along with it Gilbert and Sullivan would come and get him.
It kept me guessing about what J.W.Wells & co actually did and what those endless spread sheets were all about.
I thought the ending was slightly cheesy but some how it got away with it.

I had never heard of this author before but I will defiantly look out for his other books. And I would defiantly recommend it.

And I will never look at a stapler the same way again
:o

couldn't get through Good Omens myself, funny isn't it? books are like that

only things I never fdinisdhed- Good Omens (think it was nicked in the end though so maybe could now) and Treasure Island.

not a lightweight though- fave bok is the silmarillion and love Othello

Glad you liked it Bresha

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just a shortie for now - Ill come back later when babies are in bed - loved this. Likew Bresha, Id never heard of Tom Holt, but would definitely read more of his books. Its totally up my street - a little bit of fantasy is great. Though also agree the Sophie character was a bit crap - never warmed to her at all.

This book was completely bonkers, in a nice way. The only fantasy I have ever read is Enid Blyton BTW.

It was weird, strange but I actually read it right to the end. I did't find it hilarious though Mrs Tanner made me smile once or twice.

I'm now halfway through the next book and have just realised i didn't write a review for this one! I was initially a bit worried at the thought of it looking too sci-fi - I know it's controversial but I really cannot get on with terry pratchett and this looked in a similar vein. Luckily, I gave it a go and I think it's been my favourite of the book swap books so far. I enjoyed the twists in the plot and quite enjoyed the characters (except Sophie of course, maybe she was there to make the others seem more entertaining?!) I'm really tempted to read more of his books, although I'm disappointed that I'll probably not be getting them for 99p now that Ottakers are no more!

Oh, and I was particularly impressed with the presentation of the book - the ribbon looked pretty AND made a useful bookmark!

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I was a bit dubious about this book at first, then I really got into it.I loved all the unexpected twists.