The Benevolent Troll

by Tom R. Merchant

"A comic sci-fi adventure that weaves travel, the apocalypse and the hidden truth behind life's smallest mysteries into a wild ride that will leave you smiling for days." It is a well known fact that western civilization's greatest moment was the invention of the Snooze Button. So when intrepid traveller and self-conscious blusher Practice Wells comes up with the only possible improvement, he is dumbfounded when his invention, The Benevolent Troll, is rejected by several manufacturers. He finds himself broke, his ambitious girlfriend dumps him, and his car breaks down in the rain - so could his day get any worse? Well yes, as it turns out, when he is visited by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and informed of his imminent death. An anonymous agent intervenes with an offer to present his invention at the prestigious British Inventors' Guild - but is this invitation as innocent as it seems? Practice arrives in London intent on enjoying a few weeks backpacking before his big presentation. He didn't expect his travels to deliver the girl of his dreams, he didn't expect his invention to come to life as an abusive, chain smoking alien and he certainly didn't expect to be the only thing standing between humanity and complete extinction. It's funny how things work out... ( All author proceeds from this book go towards "FightMND", funding research to find a cure for ALS/MND. The topic of MND is not mentioned in the book.)

Genres: Humor

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

Tom believes maturity is highly over-rated and his writing reflects this. Anyone seeking depth and meaning should leave now and read Ernest Hemingway. The rest of you, bwahahahahaha...

Reviews

[Mark Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellously witty. Very cleverly written. One of my new faves.

[Candra Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what was expected- better

At first I thought I was reading a story about a long time inventor who was finally going to make it big. This story ends up taking an epic fascinated twist in which the fate of the world rests in the hands of The main character.
I won this book thru a goodreads.com giveaway.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to Douglas Adams style of writing, that playful cheek. A way of being witty, funny and absurd about life’s struggles. A fun romp with a beaten down inventor with a passion for travel who is expected to behave more conventionally than he seems interested in. Then a sequence of events takes him on unexpected adventure. If you liked Dirk Gently or Hitchhikers Guide you would enjoy this.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you'll enjoy this book. It was a fun read - a few times I laughed out loud. It's good to read something silly once in a while.

[Luna Petunia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! One of my favourites, i recommend for everyone with a sense of humour.

[Courtney Lake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun read in a very Douglas Adams way. If you don't enjoy bizarre and non-nonsensical storytelling, you won't enjoy this one.

I like the absurdity of it, it does not take itself too seriously. The pacing was a little weird, but not in a story breaking manner. The concept of using the backpacking culture as a basis for the story line was nicely done, the dead-end middle aged male protagonist also is not an uncommon one but it is well done for what is it.

I wish they had done more with the four horsemen, I thought they were very funny!

The non-sense poems were very good, reminiscent of Lewis Carroll. The concept of blaming the Poonies for all life's little inconveniences was a funny thought. That life isn't actually meant to be this hard and frustrating, its all because of Aliens!!!!

Unlike Douglas Adams, this book actually gives the Answer to the huge mysterious Question it spends the whole book building up towards! I won't ruin it for you though.

[Theresa Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not what I expected when I started and finishe the book. I really enjoyed the first few chapters. The rest of the book was okay. I guess I didn't enjoy it like most other peopele.