[Book Review] Here Comes the Sun by Tom Holt

If anything, Tom Holt has really funny premises. In this case, the world isn’t governed by physics. Rather, there are angels and demons working behind the scenes to make sure that the world runs smoothly (which includes making the sure the sun rises at dawn and it sets at sunset). Except now they’re understaffed, and working overtime isn’t enough to do the job right.

Here Comes the Sun had a slow start for me. Mainly because of the snippets of the would-be main characters, whose true identities aren’t revealed until the very end. You just know that there’s an inevitable collision course between all of them. It’s just a matter of getting there. Once you reach that point, all’s set to go.

Of course whereas Pratchett will insert something philosophical, something wise despite the abundance of satire in his stories, Holt is just plain being funny. No great epiphanies here folks, just plain old comedy and spoofs. Well, at least he’s good in that. Holt can cause a good laugh. It’s better than his earlier work, Flying Dutch, but there are also lull times during Holt’s writing. He also resorts to the occasional footnote in this book to get readers to laugh, which I think is a good sign that he’s not a Pratchett copycat (who footnotes often). Still, it’s not the best Holt read I’ve had so far, although it is pretty decent.

Here Comes the Sun is mediocre Holt. Good enough for laughs, but it’s honestly not that impressive. The premise though is great, but some of the tropes in the book have been done before. Still a good read nonetheless, and it’s something that a lot of people can really get into.