Portable Door

The Portable Door

So far, I have stuck by Rankin and Terry Pratchett as my two main sources of absurdist fantasy. Until now that is. Recently, I started reading a Tom Holt book called The Portable Door. And I found that while I am not quite ready to join the Holt fan club, this book did convince me to add his works to my book collection.

First of all, there's the story. As part as the plot goes, Holt does his bit for far-out fantasy. He creates a tangled web of seemingly unrelated events that all come together in the end. Seems like just any other story, doesn't it? Well, the plot is more deceptive than you can imagine. So you get the main protagonist, Paul Carpenter, who is sadder and more pathetic than your average guy. Think Adrian Mole without the whining and pimple obsessions. His world is turned upside down when he joins J. W. Wells & Co, a magic firm that houses goblins and stores various magical paraphernalia.

At this point, you're probably thinking that Paul is having the time of his life, right? Access to certain magical artifacts, realizing that the goblins are real and, best of all, coming across a portable door that can take him anywhere in the world … not to mention anywhere back in time! Unfortunately, life is rather mundane for Paul. He has fallen for his office mate (yes, that was quick) who is not only oblivious to his member as a male of the human species, but also insists on talking about her love life with him. Then there is the office bosses who scare both of them with their magic-related demands. Did I mention that one of the goblin creatures has designs on him? Poor Paul has to make sense of his life, try and win over the office buddy, fend off amorous advances from the goblin and not end getting involved in anything crazy at work. My summary is somewhat vague – I hope- and you'll only get what I mean when you dive into the book yourself.

There were a few reasons why I would continue reading Tom Holt books. Actually, given how the theme and narration of this book was handled, I am eager to read more novels involving the same magic firm/main character. Firstly, Holt's sense of humor will make you laugh throughout the book which in itself is a plus point for absurdist fantasy. Some writers try too hard or opt for rather obvious jokes which can bore the reader. Holt makes clever pop culture references which serves as the best description for the current situation. My favorite one was when a bewildered Paul was compared to the least likely suspect in a Poirot-based mystery novel.

Secondly, I have to hand it to Holt in the way he weaved together various elements of the plot. He fleshes out a lot of subplots or characters which are not at all relevant to the main plot but which certainly spices up the given situation (take for instance Paul's annoyingly lovey-dovey friends). At the same time, the writer throws in seemingly unrelated, bizarre little bits which is later revealed to be integral to the plot. I can't give away any examples here, can I? I suppose the goblin who hankered after Paul will do for now. This nasty little one would pop up in the strangest, most unexpected situations. At worst of times, it happens just when poor Paul was finally getting a break from a string of bad luck. So there you are rooting for Paul until you realize it's that goblin stalker; that's when you start yelling at him to run.