Fast-paced events, swift yet meandering dialogue, and hilarious wit combine with a convoluted yet wonderfully wacky plot in Simon Carr’s Khaos Has Come. The next book in the Apocalypse Blockers series, this science-fiction book can be read independently without feeling too lost—the nature of the plot and the dialogue ensures that.
The entertaining book is reminiscent of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Terry Pratchett’s universe-building. Rick Toenail, leader of a small group of people known as the Apocalypse Blockers, and his team are desperate to stop Khaos from taking over Earth in all its versions and simulations. To do this, they must stop Khaos from crossing over from the realm of information into the material realm. The team comprises various characters (two priests, a Goth girl, a vampire, a blob, and a seventeenth-century English scientist, to name a few). It picks up several others along the way, not restricted to humans (Evil Mouse, the kangaroo being one such). The directness of the writing, along with the sometimes deliberate repetitions and humorous stating-of-the-obvious, certainly puts the reader in mind of Adams’ writing, and the side-splitting laughter on account of the Pratchett-esque wit of subtlety and ribaldry makes this book utterly gripping.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Khaos Has Come. The characters were well-drawn, the dialogue was rambling and delightful, and it juxtaposed nicely with the fast-moving plot. I also especially liked how the author breaks the fourth wall and makes known his feigned exasperation with readers who pick up the nineteenth book in a series and expect to understand all references. I’d most definitely go back to read the previous nineteen books!
Khaos Has Come is a rousing dark humor science fiction novel that will have readers laughing and also asking, “what just happened here” as the characters take them on a journey they will not forget. This addition to the Apocalypse Blocker series is sure to keep readers of the series coming back for more.
LITERARY TITAN
5.0 out of 5 stars Apocalypse Blockers are coming in for a crash landing
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2022
First let me state a bit of a disclaimer: I love this author’s books and IMHO if you are a breathing human with two brain cells to rub together you will too.
This book finds many characters from previous books by the author. It’s sort of the Avenger’s Endgame with two flat tires and a bad exhaust pipe. Not to say it’s lacking in heroes or a really scary villain because those roles are filled with ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary situation which happens to be hilarious. The world building has gone wild with a full multiverse for a stage filled with unique individuals of all stripes. I highly recommend this book to mature readers. I do recommend that reading the author’s earlier works will not only help the reader grasp the plot but leave the reader gasping for air for all the giggles and laughs.
F. F. Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars Insane
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2022
The madcap hurtle through Simon Carr's Apocalypse Blockers stream-of-consciousness makes its epic conclusion in Book 20 of the series. We follow Space Sheriff, Rick Toenail, and his assorted crew as they banter their way through a mission to Save The Multiverse Of Matter by destroying Khaos before he reaches The Information Multiverse and lives forever. Now that's clear, we can put our feet up on the console of The Olive Rudge and get underway.
A gifted writer, Carr's superpowers are his endless imagination and his dialogue. More, the prose sings along at times, drawing us into the pace and urgency of our absurd journey, peppered with cultural references and laugh-out-loud moments. I'm still chuckling over spaceship The Russell Grant, "an ancient science ship with two manually operated cannons either side". It's not that different to real life in fact, and part of Carr's cleverness is the bedrock of social commentary and hard science supporting the insane surface layer. Carr breaks the fourth wall at times and addresses the reader directly, a bold move, but it fits. Fans of The Red Dwarf, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett will enjoy these space opera sci-fi books.
5.0 out of 5 stars Hang on to the edge of your seat! You just won't know what is going to happen next!
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2022
This is one for the books. Hold on - you will not be able to set this one down! The horror is there but the underlying story is even worse. You have got to read it to believe it!
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
© 2020 simon carr
