Life, the universe, everything – it was just plain ridiculous.
T.J. Brown's "The Unhappy Medium 2: Tom Fool: A Supernatural Comedy" is yet another hilarious, bone-dry British gigglefest that will satisfy even the most morose of readers trying to pass their limited mortal existence away by avoiding the general public with a good book! Oddly enough, having said that, I will have to confess that I think I liked the first book in this soon-to-be-some-unknown-integer-long series ever-so-slightly better. As to why, I honestly have no idea and would instead ask you to allow me to jam myself into a corner, babbling incoherently instead. Look, we'll call this a solid 4.71 star rating and let the bloody punters (British or American definition) work it out.
If I had to make a guess, I would say that someone is up to something!
"Tom Fool*" - who as a player himself does not actually appear in that much of the book (that's a spoiler so don't read it) - once again features everyone's favourite intellectual, Newton Barlow, the quote, "one-time scourge of the superstitious, the nemesis of the charlatan, and the curse of the spoon-bender." Well, despite his rise and fall and re-rise in terms of his previous career(s), our boy finds himself once again in the deep end of the first stage of the sewage recycling pool. Not only is our staunch defender of logic and all things proveable find that he can do anything but in his current job, but his new-found career still doesn't afford him the kind of money he needs to house simultaneously a swarm (a pride?) of monstrosities which has sadly put a damper on his budding love-life with Viv.
I’m getting paid to be an idiot. I’m not having you doing it for free.
Speaking of Viv, Brown does a very good job of continuing to up her so-called ante in this game, making her more than just an accidental contributor to the success of the Purgatorian cause. She is definitely one of the highlights of the entire book - along with the more-rounded and tolerable Gabby. Viv's final battle scene against our old professional nemesis, Peter Carnatt (cue robust booing and hissing) is truly one for the ages. We are also treated to more bravery from any manner of church loyalists as well as more than a subtle amount of avian avengers. Trust me, this all falls under the same heading as the first book, namely, don't introduce all of your heroic figures until the book is nearly done. But well-done to dear Jessica - Jess to her friends - who managed to hold onto her sanity long enough to put her zoology degree to good use for all of man- and avian-kind!
Because shit happens. The shit is pretty much non-stop. It’s twenty-four hour poo, as far as I can tell.
One character that struck me as a little off, um, character was Reverend Bennet. In the last tome, he was surely as close to a Rambo-esque figure as one could expect to find in the English countryside. This time, though, he often seemed more than a bit milquetoast-ish when the going got particular rough. True, he held his own and managed to quote just about everyone from Winston Churchill to President Thomas J. Whitmore from "Independence Day", but I truly expected him to buck up a little more than he did and not always defer to Newton when it came time to actually using his gray matter. Plus, as a driver, his skills are very much below par (shame he's still not able to rely on his usual moped for transport). But I guess everyone learns and grows as time passes and he still manages to pack a good wallop when it's required.
Poor man thinks he’s in charge, but he’s only spouting the garbage we put in his ghastly orange head.
So again, there was a lot of wildness that came together - or was necessary as part of the coming together process - that was quite enjoyable. I was though perhaps less thrilled this time as there was a rather significant plethora (yes, I counted) of editing mishaps, mostly in the form of a few score worth of missing commas or even some random parts where it seemed like the printer just wanted to leave early on a Friday. There was also the regrettable examples of the most egregious of sins, namely: "‘Reverend Bennet!,’ came the frantic voice. ‘Their nearly on top of us.’" Needless to say, aware of Purgatorial regulations of not, this calls for at least a few dozen Hail Mary's (is that what they're called? Sorry, I'm "none of the above" in all this).
Fight with your hearts, your souls, and whatever you are able to find in the gift shop.
And finally, please let me get this out of my system. I will try to be polite, succinct and clear…. However, WHO THE FUDGE IS ISSAC (sic sic, bloody sick!) NEWTON??? May a thousand apples fall upon your head in shame… But all kidding aside (though with still somewhat balled fists and ancient guns filled with chutney aimed at your naughty bits): an extremely fun book, do enjoy! Let's hope our wait for Book 3 is not for very much longer! Tata!
*The jester, or fool, is typically seen as a brightly coloured, bell-ridden twit, paid by noble households to jump around (in order to) stop everyone getting depressed about the lack of antibiotics and the never-ending warfare.