CompleteMartialArts.com - Snow White and the Seven Samurai
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Manufacturer: Little, Brown Book Group
Average Customer Rating:
Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9781857239881 ISBN: 1857239881 Label: Little, Brown Book Group Manufacturer: Little, Brown Book Group Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: 2004-12-01 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group Studio: Little, Brown Book Group
Once upon a time, everything was fine. Humpty Dumpty sat on his wall, Jack and Jill went about their lawful business, the Big Bad Wolf did what big bad wolves do, and the wicked queen plotted murder most foul. But the humans hacked, cried havoc, shut down the wicked queen's system, and corrupted her database—and suddenly everything was not fine at all. But at least we know that they'll all live happily ever after. Don't we? Computers and fairy tales collide to hilarious effect in the latest sparkling cocktail of mayhem, wit, and wonder from the master of comic fantasy.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: It'll Pass an Afternoon Comment: I won't get into the plot because others have already touched on it. I will say, it's an okay read but don't expect anything that you'll be wanting to tell all your friends about. There are many interesting ideas in the book and it starts off well enough - but the conclusion feels contrived, even trite. It felt like Holt either wrote himself into a corner or got bored of working on the book.
I still recommend it if you enjoy fairy tales with a new spin on them, but there are other books that have done the same thing better. Customer Rating: Summary: i hated this book Comment: Bought this book just outside Sir Walter Scott's tower in Edinburgh as a travel book. Though I made it to the end, I consider that a major accomplishment that I survived the effort.
I loved fantasy books, but this book caused considerable agony to read. And I'm at pains to describe just why. Mr Holt is a highly skilled writer so I can't put it down to the work of a bad writer.
I want to say it's because the book violates its internal logic. By that I mean that any novel that works has a framework of rules that it follows. This book seems to take the tack that anything can happen as it's just a story. In doing that, I felt I had no ledge to rest on.
Holt definitely isn't a writer for me. I'd run in fear if anyone tried to push another of his books in my hands. However, I acknowledge the skill of the writer and am sure he has an audience as long as they can be find with an anything goes environment. Customer Rating: Summary: Fantasy With Fun Comment: This is my first shot at Tom Holt's work, and I have to say that "Snow White and the Seven Samurai" certainly entertained and delivered on the promised laughs. Also, having an interest in Japanese literature, Holt got my curiosity going in how the heck one can put the Seven Samurai and Snow White in the same story. He did. Rather well, I might add.
In the fantasy dream dimension where so many creatures we all know and love live, 3 teen hackers manage to crash the Wicked Queen's MIrrors 3.1 system. This plunges the whole dimension into chaos, with the Big Bag Wolf changing into frogs, and other things. The Three Little Pigs end up with nothing to do, and Snow White turns out to be a scammer who is taking the Seven Samurai for a ride. This is in addition to the rest of the zany people and creatures one finds in Holt's world.
Holt is a great writer with a gift for great descriptions and puns. Greatly enjoyed the sardonic wit of many of the characters, such as the Wicked Queen, Dumpy the Dwarf and Julian, Desmond and Eugene, (the 3 Little Pigs). There was a lot of humour, and while most was of the "sniggering" variety, there were occassions when tears came to the eyes.
For comic fantasy, and that being an unknown quantity for me, I was impressed with this book from Tom Holt. I will certainly be looking into more of his work. Customer Rating: Summary: A truly enjoyable read, brush up on your children's stories Comment: I have read several of Holt's book prior to reading this (Nothing But Blue Skies, Wish You Were Here, Odds and Gods, and Little People) but this has to be his best. It has just so much going on that you can only read this in small doses. It is just so clever. And funny. Don't forget funny. This guy must be fun to chat with after a few drinks. He just goes here and there and is always looking to make any situation funny. C'mon, Mirrors instead of Windows computer program, Snow White an actual dominatrix type, and don't forget the 3 little pigs. The Big Bad Wolf. Rumplestiltskin. Jack and Jill. Humpty Dumpty. The 3 blind mice. No one is sacred and left alone. The brothers Grimm visiting this land to steal stories, he just covers almost every well known children's story and just has fun with it. I had just as much fun reading this, maybe more. I have bought 2 or 3 copies and given them as gifts. I want others to find humor and laugh like I did. I want whoever is reading this to do the same. Customer Rating: Summary: Industrial-strength goofiness, just what I wanted Comment: Good stories stay good, even when told a different way. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," for example, we have the fantastical realm, the powerful but fallible beings who transform others, and of course, the ones transformed. And, the steady stream of hilarious asides.
Okay, Holt isn't Shakespeare, but he does a good job with the same story elements. Yes, we wake up at the end and find that it was all a dream, or something like that, except that some people don't wake up and just dream on.
Not heavy reading, by any means, but it does a nice job filling the gap between Pratchett's releases.
