Review: The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Tom Holt

August 8, 2014 4 stars, Book Review 30 ★★★★

Review: The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Tom HoltThe Outsorcerer's Apprentice by Tom Holt
Series: YouSpace #3
Published by Orbit Books on July 15, 2014
Genres: Adult SFF, Comedy
Pages: 400
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
My Reviews in this series: Doughnut

*This book was provided by the Publisher for review. No compensation was provided and all opinions are strictly my own.

A happy workforce, it is said, is a productive workforce. 

Mmmm.

Try telling that to an army of belligerent goblins. Or the Big Bad Wolf. Or a professional dragonslayer. Who is looking after their well-being? Who gives a damn about their intolerable working conditions, lack of adequate health insurance, and terrible coffee in the canteen?

Thankfully, with access to an astonishingly diverse workforce and limitless natural resources, maximizing revenue and improving operating profit has never really been an issue for the one they call "the Wizard." Until now. 

Because now a perfectly good business model -- based on sound fiscal planning, entrepreneurial flair, and only one or two of the infinite parallel worlds that make up our universe -- is about to be disrupted by a young man not entirely aware of what's going on. 

There's also a slight risk that the fabric of reality will be torn to shreds. You really do have to be awfully careful with these things

four-stars

OH WOW!

Where to start? The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice was a snort loudly sort of read. I mean that in a good way! I will go over a little of the ridiculousness here, the rest… well you’ll just have to read it for that.

It’s the third in the series

I can’t say much about this because, well… I didn’t know. I haven’t read any other Tom Holt books, but you can be sure I will be soon. I give him a HUGE gold star for not making me feel like I was dropped into the middle of a story. He did a hell of a job here. Can’t give him enough gold stars on this one. Maybe even a brownie badge. Obviously, you can totally enjoy this one as a stand alone… beware though, it will make you want to read more!

It’s SILLY, and I still LOVE it.

It’s the MOST RIDICULOUS thing I have ever read and still manages to be WITTY at the same time! The entire book is full of snark which is just fabulous, but also smarts. The fact that in the fantasy realm of things there is an amazingly strong societal taboo against food with holes in the middle cracks me up. They make it seem dirty, like something sexual in our reality. For example:

“Doing that. With an onion. Oh my God. And those other things he’d talked about, the ones she’d never even heard of. If he was into even weirder stuff than onion rings, she really didn’t want to know…” (Pg. 111)

This was said of the prince who is from our reality, he travels to the fantasy realm where he is a prince by the use of a doughnut and when he looses that doughnut which is his road home, he’s trying to convince locals to cook him a food with a hole in the middle. He’s treated like he’s really kinky for wanting something with a hole…

More Silliness!

The elves are slaving away playing music that keeps repeating over and over again… turns out, they are playing HOLD MUSIC for our reality! For no pay! This is just craziness and it’s hilarious. I just loved all the silliness. I am not even going to ruin it by talking about it. If you like this type of book then you will love this one. I felt as though the whole book was making fun of the way we do things and how we treat our workers and in general the silliness of society which was interesting and I wish I would have had a little more time and brain power to dissect the deeper meanings, but it was done tastefully and nothing gets beat into the ground or forced down your throat which just made it more awesome.

It’s a wrap!

If you love silly witty humor mixed with Fantasy and a dash of hidden deeper meaning then The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice is a great book for you!

Tina

Tina

Gamer girl extraordinaire, law student, mother of twin boys and one lil girl. I can often be found taking care of my family, working on home renovation projects, reading, gaming, and all the while text warring with Tabitha.
Tina

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30 Responses to “Review: The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Tom Holt”

    • Tina

      As Tabitha said, I didn’t realize it was a series until I was done reading it. I think I am glad I didn’t though because I probably would have gone back and tried to read the first two first. I loved this one but three in a row with the same levels of ridiculous and I probably would have been writing a different review. I think these (unless this is the genre you LOVE) are probably best enjoyed in between reading other things. I LOVED it, and I do want to read more of his works but I’d like to have some time before snorting my coffee through my nose again!
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    • Tina

      Yes, exactly that. I just actually read that he Tom Holt (The author) attended law school as well, which makes his sense of humor fit. This is an author I would probably like to meet lol. Tabs, can we make that happen? 😛
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  6. Kirsty-Marie

    Well, if nothing else it sounds like a fun one you can just relax with and read through quickly. It does sound hilarious though, maybe verging on ridiculous, but not the type that’s annoying, so yay! And since it’s the third in a series and it doesn’t feel like you’re missing something, I’m up for it. 🙂
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    • Tina

      You know, I thought it was going to be a really fast read, but I found myself looking a little deeper to the message the author was getting at. By picking at the way we do things in society, like our taboos and what not. This one had me snorting and thinking.
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    • Tina

      It’s kinda bad when you snort coffee out your nose! It hurts! But yeah this is the MOST ridiculous thing I have read… and I read Color of Her Panties years ago 😛 Feels a bit like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy!
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  9. Molly Mortensen

    I’ve been trying to find a Tom Holt book for a while now because I heard his books were funny. Sounds like I should try harder. I love a sequel that doesn’t feel like one. Nice review! 🙂
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    • Tina

      I am thinking that I would space his books out a bit. I love series but to many of this type of book in general and it wouldn’t strike me as quite so ridiculous and would probably loose a lot of it’s charm. I’m with you on it growing old.
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  15. Kel (Booked til Tuesday)

    I’m a little worried I’ll get sucked into the “underlying issues commentary” and not enjoy the ride as much, but…it sounds so silly and ridiculous! I knew no human would record hold music of his/her own free will. Great review!
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