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Bring Me The Head Of The Taskmaster: 101 next-level tasks (and clues) that will lead one ordinary person to some extraordinary Taskmaster treasure
Fastest wins. Your adventure starts now ...This is a race.It is not a race against the clock, because that would be a far easier race. Clocks can be fast, but clocks never win races. It's nearly always humans, sometimes horses and occasionally dogs.This is a race against your fellow Taskmaster players.You are competing against everyone else who is reading this book. All you've got to do is find The Taskmaster's Head first. This is a race with many twists and turns, that requires very little running, much sideways thinking and quite a lot of patience.Thankfully, there will be a shedload of tasks along the way to distract you. There are tasks to do on your own, tasks to do with your family and friends, and tasks for bigger groups too. Some of these distractions may slow you down, but some may help you get where you need to go. As always, enjoy them, do your best, make good choices.So get going. Take on the tasks. All the information you need is in the book...Alex Horne,Taskmaster's Assistant
- GenresHumorNonfiction
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 16, 2021
12 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Alex Horne
15 books116 followersAlex Horne (born 10 September 1978) is a British comedian. He is the host of "The Horne Section", a live music variety show which has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Horne was educated at Lancing College (Fields House, 1991–1996) and the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights.
He made his first appearance at the Edinburgh festival in 2000 with his show, "How To Avoid Huge Ships". His 2003 Edinburgh show, "Making Fish Laugh" was nominated for a Perrier newcomer award. In 2004 he won a Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act. His shows with Tim Key have been "Every Body Talks" and "When In Rome", both of which featured unusually extensive use of Microsoft PowerPoint for a comic act. Horne toured Roman towns of the UK with the "When In Rome" show in early 2006.
More recently he has worked alongside fellow comedian Owen Powell, in the attempt to find a person from every nationality living in London. After a year's search, they finally managed to meet people from 189 of the UN's 192 countries whilst satisfactorily proving that there is nobody in the capital from Tuvalu, Palau or the Marshall Islands.
As a solo performer, Horne then wrote and performed "Birdwatching" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and "Wordwatching" at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. He has signed a two-book deal with Virgin Publishing to write up both of these stories as books. The first, entitled Birdwatchingwatching, came out early in 2009. The second came out in early 2010.
On January 18, 2007, Horne became the first ever comedian to perform in Second Life for a feature on Sky News.
As of April 2010, Horne is attempting to become the oldest man in the world with the Long Live Alex project.
In 2011 he compered "The Horne Section", a comedy variety show with live music which was later broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Horne was educated at Lancing College (Fields House, 1991–1996) and the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights.
He made his first appearance at the Edinburgh festival in 2000 with his show, "How To Avoid Huge Ships". His 2003 Edinburgh show, "Making Fish Laugh" was nominated for a Perrier newcomer award. In 2004 he won a Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act. His shows with Tim Key have been "Every Body Talks" and "When In Rome", both of which featured unusually extensive use of Microsoft PowerPoint for a comic act. Horne toured Roman towns of the UK with the "When In Rome" show in early 2006.
More recently he has worked alongside fellow comedian Owen Powell, in the attempt to find a person from every nationality living in London. After a year's search, they finally managed to meet people from 189 of the UN's 192 countries whilst satisfactorily proving that there is nobody in the capital from Tuvalu, Palau or the Marshall Islands.
As a solo performer, Horne then wrote and performed "Birdwatching" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and "Wordwatching" at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. He has signed a two-book deal with Virgin Publishing to write up both of these stories as books. The first, entitled Birdwatchingwatching, came out early in 2009. The second came out in early 2010.
On January 18, 2007, Horne became the first ever comedian to perform in Second Life for a feature on Sky News.
As of April 2010, Horne is attempting to become the oldest man in the world with the Long Live Alex project.
In 2011 he compered "The Horne Section", a comedy variety show with live music which was later broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 18, 2021
Of COURSE it's excellent. And the fact that my copy is signed by Little Alex Horne only makes it better!
January 24, 2022
Not so much a book as a list of fun challenges to try at home, and riddles as part of a large contest. Enjoyable, but the riddles will drive me mad.
August 16, 2024
The treasure hunt is composed of 101 clues that either require you to have seen/read everything Alex Horne has ever worked on (one clue requires the reader to have read his book about birdwatching, for example, another requires you to track down a Countdown appearence around the time of his 30th birthday), or are poorly written as is the case for the majority.
Clue 19, for example, shows four emojis. 🦖 = 😲🦆🔨 . The answer is 'pterodactyl' but phonetically duck is very different to dac, so there's no satisfaction to the solution. It feels like a cheat. Even the best answers feel like groaners.
I'm a huge fan of puzzle books. Puzzle books that are worth their salt usually come with an answer section, in which the author can explain the solutions to each problem and how to get there. 3 years after publication, no such answers exist for this book. What does exist is a small section on the taskmaster website where you can check whether your answers are right or wrong, which is far less satisfying and almost completely disconnected with the book you are holding. I understand the motive of being innovative and more interactive, but it feels scatterbrained and unsatisfying.
Since the hardback publication, Horne has added additional hints in the paperback edition for 10 of the puzzles readers struggled with the most, almost in acknowledgement that the puzzles weren't well written in the first instance.
Despite being a huge fan of the show and having solved the first 25 clues, I decided that the book wasn't worth the effort it was demanding, and I abandoned the treasure hunt. I would not recommend this book.
Clue 19, for example, shows four emojis. 🦖 = 😲🦆🔨 . The answer is 'pterodactyl' but phonetically duck is very different to dac, so there's no satisfaction to the solution. It feels like a cheat. Even the best answers feel like groaners.
I'm a huge fan of puzzle books. Puzzle books that are worth their salt usually come with an answer section, in which the author can explain the solutions to each problem and how to get there. 3 years after publication, no such answers exist for this book. What does exist is a small section on the taskmaster website where you can check whether your answers are right or wrong, which is far less satisfying and almost completely disconnected with the book you are holding. I understand the motive of being innovative and more interactive, but it feels scatterbrained and unsatisfying.
Since the hardback publication, Horne has added additional hints in the paperback edition for 10 of the puzzles readers struggled with the most, almost in acknowledgement that the puzzles weren't well written in the first instance.
Despite being a huge fan of the show and having solved the first 25 clues, I decided that the book wasn't worth the effort it was demanding, and I abandoned the treasure hunt. I would not recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2024
Didn’t enjoy as much as the first book as it consisted more on riddles than tasks. The riddles were often UK centric - understandable but still didn’t make it all that enjoyable for the rest of us. And the tasks often veered into the undoable ie so absurd and impractical that I think they were just put in as a joke.
November 26, 2021
Two months down the line I'm still diligently working on the treasure hunt, the end is definitely not in sight and the winner could be anyone, but it's been good fun in the meantime... With the exception of the bridge, not a fan of that bridge...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2022
Loving the treasure hunt from the comfort of my sofa. Alex's mind is a horrifying labyrinthine nightmare and being offered just a little peek inside it is a true honour. It's been genuinely nice so far and not at all stressful. Looking forward to more and more and more.
September 19, 2021
Addictive. So much fun, Alex Horne is a genius!
September 27, 2021
Still working through the clues, but the tasks make for fun reading - looking forward to trying them out with friends/family!
November 16, 2021
There are parts of this book that are forever seared into my memory in the most delightful way.
December 5, 2021
Wonderful, maddening, hysterical, romp of a challenge that's guaranteeing I won't be putting this gem of a book down anytime soon. Love it!
February 9, 2022
A quick.read but a long study. The clues are good, some easy, some in still scratching my head at. There's a lot of fun to be had with this book yet
May 29, 2022
I want to attend task 100 hopefully I can
October 20, 2022
Alex's mind is just a huge Triwizard Tournament maze and it's amazing
December 10, 2023
The tasks are a lot of fun for all ages
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews