# Tom Holt's "Blond Bombshell" - weirdly good

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 22, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715 "2014-04-22T20:46:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715/1 "2014-04-22T20:46:10Z")

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I found myself out and about this weekend without a book (something that never happens) and a friend tossed me this book saying he knew nothing about it, but that it might keep me busy, and I really enjoyed this very strange science-fiction novel with super-evolved dogs, self-aware bombs who fall in love, alcoholic mathematicians and the like. I know Holt has other novels out there, but how do they compare to this one?

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715/2 "2014-04-22T21:27:25Z")

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I don’t recall ever reading anything by this guy, but I admit I’m intrigued by the description offered in the OP.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715/3 "2014-04-22T22:46:32Z")

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I’ve liked Holt – **Expecting Someone Taller** was a hoot. But, for some reason, he’s nowhere near as good as A. Lee Martinez, Jasper fforde, or Christopher Moore, who go over similar ground.

His stuff is all funny, in a P.G. Wodehouse sort of way

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715/4 "2014-04-22T23:03:40Z")

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Early Holt is better than later Holt, IMO. **Expecting Someone Taller** , **Flying Dutch** and **Who’s Afraid of Beowulf** are all pretty good, for example. After that I find him erratic but always worth a read.

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**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-holts-blond-bombshell-weirdly-good/686715/5 "2014-04-23T09:27:39Z")

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I’m a big fan of Tom Holt. He can get carried away with this ideas and try to cram too much into a given book, but he’s got a good turn of phrase and a knack for using fantasy to highlight the minor aggravations of modern life.

I agree with Silenus that early is best, but he hit a strong streak with the Portable Door series set at J W Wells, Sorcerers. Barking is another recent one well worth a read.

He also writes historical fiction set in the ancient world. These are much more realistic and serious, and interesting, well-researched and well-written to boot. (I think he did Classics at Oxford.) The Walled Orchard introduces the Eupolis family, although if you want to be chronological about it Olympiad comes “first”.