This book is supposed to be the sequel to the Paul Carpenter trilogy (The Portable Door, In Your Dreams & Earth, Air, Fire and Custard), although the majority of the characters of the previous books don't appear here. From the other reviews I've read, it seems that most people were disappointed by this book, mainly because they thought the series ended with the previous instalment. Well, having read only The Portable Door, this didn't bother me that much, it was basically a sequel in terms of the setting: J.W. Wells & Co, Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants. The fact that the book is only loosely related to the previous instalments is actually a plus since it means it stands alone and you don't have to read the previous books to enjoy this one. I actually enjoyed reading this book more than I did The Portable Door. I loved the characters (they're much more likeable than in the previous books), the setting of the story, obviously, and the general wackiness of it all. I particularly enjoyed the conversations & scenes involving a certain character named Oscar -I won't say more;) A very good Tom Holt!

Synopsis:
Colin Hollinghead is a young man going nowhere fast. Working for his dad might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but starting at the bottom in the widget-making industry has somehow lost its appeal. And now the business is in trouble. At least his father has a plan to turn things round - a new work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future for eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil is in the detail - and the old rogue certainly seems to be involved in some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells & Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants) can help. Sparkling with wit and oozing charm, Tom Holt's new comic caper will delight his readers and prove once and for all that going to work can actually be hell.

Startinf a BookRay, PM me if you want to join!

Shipping order:
1) dodau, UK, can ship anywhere
2) RowanneM, Scotland, can ship anywhere.
3) RonOren, UK, UK shipping preferred.
4) Aubriel, UK, can ship anywhere.
5) KT-J, UK, can ship anywhere.
6) kobie03, Canada (Newfoundland & Labrador), can ship anywhere.
7) cosmicflurk, US (California).
8) >colebear, US (Florida), can ship anywhere. --> asked to be skipped
9) CaterinaAnna, UK, UK shipping preferred.
10) froggirlwendy, Australia (Queensland), Australia shipping.
11) lmn60, Australia, can ship anywhere.
12) esq228, US (New Jersey), US shipping.
13) prollacct, US (PA), US shipping. **current location**
14) sunfi, US (OH), can ship anywhere.
15) Moriquen, Belgium, EU shipping.

...you?



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BookRay Recommendations:
• make a journal entry when you receive the book so everyone knows it has safely arrived
• try to read it within a month
• ask the next on the list for his/her address
• make a journal entry when finished, telling us what you thought - did you like it? Did you think it was well-written?
• wrap it up well and send it to on

Please PM me in case of any problems/unforseen delay. If you are experiencing an RBC (Reading Backlog Crisis) or no longer wish to read the book, let me know and I will move/remove you down/off the list.

Hint: Ask for the address of the next on the list before you have finished reading; sometimes it takes a while before you get a reply. Some people don't get PM's. You may want to look for an e-mail address on their profile, or leave an ISO message on the forum. If the person doesn't respond within 7-10 days (use your judgement), please PM the next person, and then me, so I can update the bookring list.

**Cheapest postage rate is fine**

Happy reading everyone!

Here we go!

Book sent to dodau today, enjoy!

Arrived five minutes ago. Next to be read

Another great book from Tom Holt. This one uses settings from a previous book and carries them across well.

RELEASE NOTES:

I could have sworn I'd journalled this when I got it but apparently not?? Anyway... I was a little disapointed by this book, it was really difficult to get into and as a result I've given up on it after chapter 7. I found it really slow paced and not nearly as funny as some of the other Tom Holt books I've read (Valhalla, Snow White and the Seven Samuri, Nothing but Blue Skies).

Perhaps the next person in the ring will have better luck with it. I've PM'd them for their address and I'll get this shipped as soon as I hear back from them...

Happy Reading!

I could have sworn I'd journalled this when I got it but apparently not?? Anyway... I was a little disapointed by this book, it was really difficult to get into and as a result I've given up on it after chapter 7. I found it really slow paced and not nearly as funny as some of the other Tom Holt books I've read (Valhalla, Snow White and the Seven Samuri, Nothing but Blue Skies).

Perhaps the next person in the ring will have better luck with it. I've PM'd them for their address and I'll get this shipped as soon as I hear back from them...

Happy Reading!

This arrived yesterday. As I'm off on a weekend away on Friday anyway, I'm sure I'll be able to finish it soon :-)

I quite enjoyed this book! The story itself is mostly silly (not the worst thing I could say about a book, I must say); but what I liked most was the myriad of one-liners hidden in the text. I'm not sure I could repeat even one of them now, but they had me chuckling every time, and even got me laughing out loud once or twice.

I haven't read too much of Tom Holt yet, but so far I'm very much enjoying his style. Thanks for letting me read this, chich!

Sorry for the long wait, but it''s now finally on its way to Aubriel. Hope you''ll enjoy it!

arrived safely. Many thanks

This wasn't entirely what I was expecting, though I'm not sure what that was either! Nevertheless I did enjoy this and found it a easy light-hearted read.

Many apologies for the delay in posting on this book and hopefully it should be arriving soon as it was posted last week.

Received safe! Thanks aubriel for sending this to me and thanks chich for letting me join this, I'm really looking forward to reading it! I've got a few bookrings ahead of this one but have a lot of travelling with work in the next couple of weeks so hopefully will be getting onto this shortly!

This is my first Tom Holt novel and I really enjoyed it! I liked the general randomness and bizarreness of the characters and events and enjoyed the way the story evolved throughout the book. A really good light-hearted read.

Thanks again chich for letting me join this bookring. I've PMd kobie03 so will get this in the post once I get an address.

Edit: This was posted on 7/12/07

Book Arrived today. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas!

edited to correct spelling error

Strange characters, silly story, a light easy read.

In the mail to cosmicflurk. thanks for sharing this book.

Ta-da! Arrived today.

Sort of like Good Omens meets Harry Potter. I wasn't expecting that to be the setting, but I rather like the way that it was revealed a bit gradually over several chapters rather than being declared in the first sentence of the book. Although I personally find the idea of institutionalized sorcery in the modern setting a bit cutesy and daft, I did enjoy this book.

RELEASE NOTES:

Finally on its way again. Sorry for letting it stall!
Next stop: CaterinaAnna.

Arrived safely in Coventry. Thank you cosmicflurk.

I second RonOren!

I'm really enjoying Tom Holt, although I can imagine that reading a lot of them in one go would be like eating too many Twiglets at once: each individual one is great, but you really don't want that many at once. I've been terribly bad with JEs of late, so I can't pick out specifics from this book to comment on as I finished it some weeks ago.

However, in my defence, I have already PM'd froggirlwendy and, having not yet had a reply, I've just pinged her again. Thank you chich for setting up the ray and all of you who have got it round this far.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Finally on its way to froggirlwendy via the Royal Snail.

Safe & sound in Brisbane, Australia. Thanks for including me in this bookring. I will try to keep this moving ASAP. Hugs :o)

I haven't read any Tom Holt before this. Not a bad read - some funny bizarre characters. A fun light-hearted read. Huge apologies to chich & other readers for holding this up for so long. On it's way to lmn60.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Finally on it's way to lmn60. I hope you enjoy this one :o)

Arrived safely in Melbourne! To be honest this one may take me a little more time than usual... given the 'silly season' and all! But I'll get to it ASAP.

Oh dear... I'm really mortified! I actually finished this book over a week ago... dutifully PMed esq228.. got their address and only just now noticed it sitting on my desk in the study! Rest assured it will be posted off post haste!

That said... I really enjoyed this book. It's not 'deep literature' by any stretch of the imagination - and as such was absolutely perfect reading for a rather stressful 'silly season' over Christmas and New Year.

I actually found myself chuckling a few times while reading it, and though I found the ending a little confusing, just sat myself down, held on and enjoyed the ride! Sometimes you read the right book at the right time... and this piece of fluff was timed perfectly for me!

I've never read a Tom Holt novel before but I will definitely watch out for his other works in the future.

Thanks for sharing this one, chich. You always have the best bookrings/rays!

Now to run to the Post Office and get this one moving again!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off on a slow boat to the US!

Arrived safe & sound here in NJ. Thanks to chich for sharing in the first place and to lmn60 for passing it along. I'll be starting on it tonight.

Holy Wow! What a fantastic book. This is my first Tom Holt novel but I am now a HUGE fan. Can't wait to get my hands on another. The only reason I gave it a 9 and not a 10 is because I felt the end dragged a bit.

Oh, and btw, its true that you need not have read any of his prior books to get this one.

I've already contacted prollacct for contact info and will send this on ASAP.

Thanks for sharing!!!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to prollacct today via media mail. Enjoy!

Received yesterday afternoon. One book ahead of it. Thanks for including me.

I typically force myself to try to get into a book even if it can't hold my attention for very long, but this time I think I'd rather pass it on rather than hold the ray up any longer. Pming sunfi for an address. Thanks for including me chich.