1994;
292 pages. New Author? : No. Genre : Mythopoeia; Humorous Fantasy. Overall Rating : 7*/10.
“Lucky” George Faustus has done something
unprecedented. He’s escaped from
Hell. They want him back, but because of
his deal with the minions there, they can’t touch him.
Ah, but the Devil’s in the details.
He may be off limits to the fiendish hordes, but there’s nothing
stopping them from posting a reward and letting bounty hunters do their work
for them.
Kurt “Mad Dog” Lundqvist is the best bounty hunter ever. He does it for the money, he does it for the
thrill of the chase, and he does it cuz he’s mean. And once he decides to go after George, there
is going to be Hell to pay.
What’s To Like...
Faust Among Equals is Tom Holt’s light-hearted
musings on what might have happened to the character in German legends after
his soul has been confined to Hell. This
is not to be confused with Goethe’s (version of) Faust, who has a happier fate.
It
has the usual Holt zaniness, as Lundqvist chases George hither, thither, and
yon. Along the way, we meet a host of
secondary characters. Some are famous –
Sitting Bull, “Lenny” da Vinci, Helen of Troy, Don Juan. Some are not – Links Jotapian, the three
Spectral Warriors, and Larry & Mike.
The latter are a hoot. Well actually, they’re more of a squawk.
The chase is global, including the Australian Outback, which also
figured significantly in a recent book I read (the review is here). But the geographical highlight is a Theme Park
called EuroBosch, designed and built by one Hieronymus “Ronnie” Bosch. Hey, I’d pay good money to gain entry into
that amusement park.
The
characters aren’t deep, but they are certainly interesting. For all his ruthlessness, I kind of warmed up
to Lundqvist. He doesn’t have access to
magic like George does, so he has to rely on his own wits and meanness. I inherently root for the underdog.
Kewlest New Word. . .
Boffin (n.) : a
person engaged in scientific or technical research. (a Britishism)
Excerpts...
Engineers are
like mountain-climbers; not in the sense of having bushy beards and no toes
because of frostbite, but because the one thing they really can’t resist is a
challenge. Ask an engineer to change the
washer on a leaking tap and he’ll tell you to get lost. Show him a design for making water roll
uphill without pressure and drive a flywheel and ask him if he thinks it might
work, and before you know it he’s reaching for his Vernier calipers and his
slide rule, and all you’ve got to do is decide whether you want the flywheel in
pale fawn or avocado. (pg. 189)
“You do realize,”
she said huffily, “that this is a gun
I’m-“
“Yeah,” Lundqvist
sighed, “sure. To be precise, it’s a .25
Bauer, chrome finish, early seventies at a guess, pearl grips and machine
engraving on the rear of the slide. I
imagine you chose it to go with your earrings.”
Helen was
impressed. “You can tell all that from
feeling it in your ear?”
“Lady,” Lundqvist
replied with dignity, “I’ve had more pieces shoved up my ear than you’ve had
men. The difference is, I can tell them
apart in the dark.”
“Pig.” (pg.
278)
Idiots rush in where demons
fear to tread. (pg.
254)
For
all of its plusses – good writing, humor, thrills and spills, Faust Among Equals lacks one critical thing – a
compelling plotline. At its heart, FAE is really just a book-long chase. Now I admit, if I have to read a 300-page
chase, I want the author to be Tom Holt.
But without a good story to accompany it, you can’t really call it a
masterpiece. Remember the old Steve
McQueen movie, Bullitt? With that fantastic chase scene up and down
the hills of San Francisco. But what was
the movie’s plotline? Yeah, I don’t remember either.
Don’t
get me wrong, Faust Among Equals was
still an entertaining read. But when I
think back on my favorite Tom Holt books, this isn’t going to jump to the
forefront.
7 Stars. Add 1 star if
you think storylines just get in the way of the exciting parts of a book. Add another ½ star
if you actually do remember the plotline to Bullitt.
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