stupidpiscesguy's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ashtheaudiomancer's review
3.0
This book drew me in just from the cover. Well, that, and Angry Robot Books consistently puts out really unique and engaging stories. Essentially, this is about a man who cuts a deal with nefarious beings to become a superhero, somebody stronger, faster, better--except his attempts to save the day keep going more and more wrong. At the end, he finds a way to help the people he cares about by using the talents he already has. The characters are mostly exaggerated caricatures, and I know this is only the first book in a series, but the way this one wrapped up was more inspiring than I expected.
thenajo's review
4.0
The first 100 pages set up a lot of supernatural plot then seems to shift suddenly. But the elements do start to come together by the end of this first book, and are clearly meant to come together over the course of the series.
While some of the gender dynamics are a little rough, what I was not expecting was such a realistic portrayal of someone with autism. The main character is self-aware he is neuro-atypical, he does not limit himself or his desires. Nor do the majority of characters treat him less-than. For that especially, I give it 4-stars.
While some of the gender dynamics are a little rough, what I was not expecting was such a realistic portrayal of someone with autism. The main character is self-aware he is neuro-atypical, he does not limit himself or his desires. Nor do the majority of characters treat him less-than. For that especially, I give it 4-stars.
adunnells's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
gems_31's review
3.0
Originally posted on Book chick City
After two pretty lacklustre books, I was in need of a change. So to change things up, I decided to read THE DAMNED BUSTERS. From the very first chapter, I knew that I had made the right choice in picking up this book.
The plot could easily have fallen into the cliché of the hero trying to battle hell to put things right, but the author turns the idea on its head from the get go.
Due to the main characters decision that he won’t sell his soul, the demons go on strike. Thus turning the world on its head. At first a world without sin seems to be the ideal dream, but we get to see how sin is the balancing part of life. Without sin there is no pride at going to work, or lust for another person. Moderate sin is what actually gives us motivation to live. This was a thought provoking point and it did make me stop and think. How much do we really need a little bit of the seven deadly sins to live in a balanced world?
Without it the world just stops and only Chesney sees what the world is like by remembering what had happened before. Whether it’s a garden that is usually meticulously tended by its owners now empty, to the fact that public transport is non existent due to people not caring what happens and thus not going to work. Chesney and a few others are simply going through the motions of life.
So in an effort to restore this, without giving up his soul, our hero, Chesney strikes a deal to become a super hero and fight crime with the help of his own demon sidekick. There are a number of clauses which keep it all in check and you begin to see that this childhood dream is not as simple as Chesney first thought.
It was at this point I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the movie Kick-Ass. This is not a negative thing, for both deal with the issue that trying to do the right thing is not necessarily the easiest path to choose.
Obstacles are put in our hero’s way and I began to have a respect for Chesney. You can see that the odds are stacked up against him, not only by Hell but also by Heaven. He is just a pawn used by both sides or to put it in a wonderful example used in the book, God is the author of a book he is writing and we are all just characters. And by all, I mean humans, Demons and angels. If the author didn’t like how things were going, he could do re-writes.
It’s this ‘rumour’ that is destined to result in Chesney’s biggest showdown at the end. Not to give too much away, but one character that Chesney crosses paths with has their own deal with demons and as stated in the contract, Chesney’s sidekick can’t interfere in any other deals that are currently valid.
However, since Chesney’s adversary thinks that his contract won’t be valid as the ’book’ will be rewritten breaks the rules. This results in a game of poker between Chesney and the Devil. For me this scene was very reminiscent of Casino Royal and I really liked how it played out.
Overall, the plot zipped along at a decent speed and you got a feel for what life as an insurance odds analyser by day and a crime fighter by night really was.
The supporting characters to the story are interesting and each add something unique to the story.
My favourite had to be the demon sidekick, Xaphan. He is the comic relief to the story and you can’t help warming to him. I especially liked how he tricked Chesney into allowing him to have alcohol and cigars in their “go-between” room. Without this character the story would be lacking.
My least favourite character had to be Melda. Though Chesney came to her rescue a couple of times, she came across a bit whiney in the end. I never really warmed to her and was a bit perplexed when Chesney ended up with her at the end.
This is not to say that I would have wanted him to end up with the other female character, Poppy Paxton, the local tycoons daughter who Chesney saves from being kidnapped. It’s just when comparing the two, Poppy was the more interesting of the two female characters. You could tell that she was a daddies girl and she was used to getting what she wanted. I had images of her standing in the room, holding her breath, eyes closed and fingers in her ears having a tantrum. Melda, as a character just didn’t pop up in my mind at all, and for the love interest of the main protagonist, it isn’t enough for me.
As for Chesney, he was an endearing sort of guy. He has a clear sense of right and wrong, but it almost in a child like way at times. His wish to be a superhero made me smile, for I know that at times I too wished I could have been a superhero. When he is not the Actionatory, he is almost invisible to everyone. He works at an insurance firm, crunching numbers and figures in order to calculate risks. It’s also hinted that his mother has been an overbearing presence in his life. He is the underdog, and for that reason alone I ended up rooting for him. That out of all this he would succeed.
At the end of the book, it looks like his life is in some sort of order, but that those high above have more plans for our hero.
VERDICT:
An enjoyable book with some very thought provoking themes, with an endearing lead. I’d recommend this book to anyone who liked the film, Kick-Ass, as both deal with the same theme but in very different ways.
After two pretty lacklustre books, I was in need of a change. So to change things up, I decided to read THE DAMNED BUSTERS. From the very first chapter, I knew that I had made the right choice in picking up this book.
The plot could easily have fallen into the cliché of the hero trying to battle hell to put things right, but the author turns the idea on its head from the get go.
Due to the main characters decision that he won’t sell his soul, the demons go on strike. Thus turning the world on its head. At first a world without sin seems to be the ideal dream, but we get to see how sin is the balancing part of life. Without sin there is no pride at going to work, or lust for another person. Moderate sin is what actually gives us motivation to live. This was a thought provoking point and it did make me stop and think. How much do we really need a little bit of the seven deadly sins to live in a balanced world?
Without it the world just stops and only Chesney sees what the world is like by remembering what had happened before. Whether it’s a garden that is usually meticulously tended by its owners now empty, to the fact that public transport is non existent due to people not caring what happens and thus not going to work. Chesney and a few others are simply going through the motions of life.
So in an effort to restore this, without giving up his soul, our hero, Chesney strikes a deal to become a super hero and fight crime with the help of his own demon sidekick. There are a number of clauses which keep it all in check and you begin to see that this childhood dream is not as simple as Chesney first thought.
It was at this point I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the movie Kick-Ass. This is not a negative thing, for both deal with the issue that trying to do the right thing is not necessarily the easiest path to choose.
Obstacles are put in our hero’s way and I began to have a respect for Chesney. You can see that the odds are stacked up against him, not only by Hell but also by Heaven. He is just a pawn used by both sides or to put it in a wonderful example used in the book, God is the author of a book he is writing and we are all just characters. And by all, I mean humans, Demons and angels. If the author didn’t like how things were going, he could do re-writes.
It’s this ‘rumour’ that is destined to result in Chesney’s biggest showdown at the end. Not to give too much away, but one character that Chesney crosses paths with has their own deal with demons and as stated in the contract, Chesney’s sidekick can’t interfere in any other deals that are currently valid.
However, since Chesney’s adversary thinks that his contract won’t be valid as the ’book’ will be rewritten breaks the rules. This results in a game of poker between Chesney and the Devil. For me this scene was very reminiscent of Casino Royal and I really liked how it played out.
Overall, the plot zipped along at a decent speed and you got a feel for what life as an insurance odds analyser by day and a crime fighter by night really was.
The supporting characters to the story are interesting and each add something unique to the story.
My favourite had to be the demon sidekick, Xaphan. He is the comic relief to the story and you can’t help warming to him. I especially liked how he tricked Chesney into allowing him to have alcohol and cigars in their “go-between” room. Without this character the story would be lacking.
My least favourite character had to be Melda. Though Chesney came to her rescue a couple of times, she came across a bit whiney in the end. I never really warmed to her and was a bit perplexed when Chesney ended up with her at the end.
This is not to say that I would have wanted him to end up with the other female character, Poppy Paxton, the local tycoons daughter who Chesney saves from being kidnapped. It’s just when comparing the two, Poppy was the more interesting of the two female characters. You could tell that she was a daddies girl and she was used to getting what she wanted. I had images of her standing in the room, holding her breath, eyes closed and fingers in her ears having a tantrum. Melda, as a character just didn’t pop up in my mind at all, and for the love interest of the main protagonist, it isn’t enough for me.
As for Chesney, he was an endearing sort of guy. He has a clear sense of right and wrong, but it almost in a child like way at times. His wish to be a superhero made me smile, for I know that at times I too wished I could have been a superhero. When he is not the Actionatory, he is almost invisible to everyone. He works at an insurance firm, crunching numbers and figures in order to calculate risks. It’s also hinted that his mother has been an overbearing presence in his life. He is the underdog, and for that reason alone I ended up rooting for him. That out of all this he would succeed.
At the end of the book, it looks like his life is in some sort of order, but that those high above have more plans for our hero.
VERDICT:
An enjoyable book with some very thought provoking themes, with an endearing lead. I’d recommend this book to anyone who liked the film, Kick-Ass, as both deal with the same theme but in very different ways.
seak's review
4.0
An actuary, and one well suited to his job in every way, inadvertently summons a demon while erecting a poker table and hammering his finger. While less than amenable to the idea of selling his soul, especially with incontrovertible proof that there actually is such a thing as eternal damnation, he sets into motion a set of events that has extremely humorous consequences.
To say that the author, Matthew Hughes, can write is like saying...well... I was going to go for some sports analogy, but that just doesn't quite work, this is a fantasy book for crying out loud. Let's say it's like saying an Ogier can build a house or since he's the Jack Vance guy - it's like saying Cudgel is quick on the uptake.
He's a genius and the first third of this book definitely proves it. It's witty, clever, funny, and just plain amazingly well-written. Chesney Arnstruther, the heroic actuary, is not only an oddball, but extremely relatable. The world he's created with heaven and hell and their relationship to our world is not only understandable, but believable and simply hilarious - I would almost say along the line of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
I don't want to give away too much about the world and what makes it comical as it spoils some priceless moments, but essentially Heaven and Hell are sitting on each and every mortal's shoulder. The demons tempt, but stick to what they're told while the angels just say the opposite. Literally, all they do is say the opposite.
With the heights that the opening third of The Damned Busters reached, the final two-thirds in comparison were quite dismal. In reality, I really enjoyed the last two-thirds, they were just not nearly as good as the opening. The superhero part was really entertaining and I really wanted to see how that worked (and you'll see, it's pretty cool), but it just didn't compare and I feel bad that I couldn't get past that.
The best way to explain this book may be with ratings stars. The first third was easily 5 stars. The mid-third was more around 3 stars and the final third about 3.5 stars. Thus, you may see my conundrum when giving an actual rating to the entire book and so I settled on 4. Highly recommended if only for the first part.
4 out of 5 Stars
To say that the author, Matthew Hughes, can write is like saying...well... I was going to go for some sports analogy, but that just doesn't quite work, this is a fantasy book for crying out loud. Let's say it's like saying an Ogier can build a house or since he's the Jack Vance guy - it's like saying Cudgel is quick on the uptake.
He's a genius and the first third of this book definitely proves it. It's witty, clever, funny, and just plain amazingly well-written. Chesney Arnstruther, the heroic actuary, is not only an oddball, but extremely relatable. The world he's created with heaven and hell and their relationship to our world is not only understandable, but believable and simply hilarious - I would almost say along the line of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
I don't want to give away too much about the world and what makes it comical as it spoils some priceless moments, but essentially Heaven and Hell are sitting on each and every mortal's shoulder. The demons tempt, but stick to what they're told while the angels just say the opposite. Literally, all they do is say the opposite.
With the heights that the opening third of The Damned Busters reached, the final two-thirds in comparison were quite dismal. In reality, I really enjoyed the last two-thirds, they were just not nearly as good as the opening. The superhero part was really entertaining and I really wanted to see how that worked (and you'll see, it's pretty cool), but it just didn't compare and I feel bad that I couldn't get past that.
The best way to explain this book may be with ratings stars. The first third was easily 5 stars. The mid-third was more around 3 stars and the final third about 3.5 stars. Thus, you may see my conundrum when giving an actual rating to the entire book and so I settled on 4. Highly recommended if only for the first part.
4 out of 5 Stars
awesomemark's review
4.0
This was a tough review for me. There are parts to this story I REALLY enjoyed and others I'm not so sure about but I do give it a solid 4/5 stars and will do my best to try to elaborate on my grading.
Full disclosure: I actually started reading this a while ago and stopped. I tend to read anywhere from 5 to 8 books at a time. I like to have different stories marinating and to choose which one I continue based on what I feel like reading at the moment so it's not uncommon to have a biography and comedic fiction and a horror story all being read at once. I typically finish them all eventually but this book, initially, got lost and I didn't return until this week at which point, I started over.
I liked the concept behind this story. A rather boring man accidentally performs a ritual designed to summon an emissary from Hell to arrange a contract and creates a major problem when he tries to take it back. Eventually, a deal is struck granting him super powers but, when dealing with Hell, there are always stipulations and someone doing their best to make you fail.
I also liked our protagonist, Chesney. It took me a little while to get there and I think it's because I spent so much time wondering if the author had intended for him to come across as having high-functioning autism. It was settled about half way through the story when Chesney himself addresses the matter. I also liked Chesney's "sidekick." I almost wrote "antagonist" and those who've read the story will understand why.
I did not like the story's true antagonist, the villain. He was introduced late in the story and motives seemed a bit unclear which led to him never really feeling like he posed a true threat.
I think what I liked least though was ultimately revealed in the extras at the end of the book after I'd finished it. There's a section where the author writes about how this story came to be and reveals that it's contracted as three stories with an option for a fourth. Perhaps that's why this story seemed to conclude so abruptly. Was it to save material for a planned second and third part?
All concerns aside, I'm still going to read the second book. The concept and main characters interested me enough to hope the bumps get smoothed out by the sequel.
Full disclosure: I actually started reading this a while ago and stopped. I tend to read anywhere from 5 to 8 books at a time. I like to have different stories marinating and to choose which one I continue based on what I feel like reading at the moment so it's not uncommon to have a biography and comedic fiction and a horror story all being read at once. I typically finish them all eventually but this book, initially, got lost and I didn't return until this week at which point, I started over.
I liked the concept behind this story. A rather boring man accidentally performs a ritual designed to summon an emissary from Hell to arrange a contract and creates a major problem when he tries to take it back. Eventually, a deal is struck granting him super powers but, when dealing with Hell, there are always stipulations and someone doing their best to make you fail.
I also liked our protagonist, Chesney. It took me a little while to get there and I think it's because I spent so much time wondering if the author had intended for him to come across as having high-functioning autism. It was settled about half way through the story when Chesney himself addresses the matter. I also liked Chesney's "sidekick." I almost wrote "antagonist" and those who've read the story will understand why.
I did not like the story's true antagonist, the villain. He was introduced late in the story and motives seemed a bit unclear which led to him never really feeling like he posed a true threat.
I think what I liked least though was ultimately revealed in the extras at the end of the book after I'd finished it. There's a section where the author writes about how this story came to be and reveals that it's contracted as three stories with an option for a fourth. Perhaps that's why this story seemed to conclude so abruptly. Was it to save material for a planned second and third part?
All concerns aside, I'm still going to read the second book. The concept and main characters interested me enough to hope the bumps get smoothed out by the sequel.
melissarochelle's review
3.0
It took me much longer than usual to finish this one, not because I didn't like it but because my brain needed a break from the words. I loved Hughes' writing, but it's very...umm...flowery? Not really the right word, but you get what I'm saying, right? It was a fun read and I might pick up the next in the series. I mean, now that we know the origin story, it's bound to pick up the pace a bit in the next book. I hope.
areyoubibliokay's review
4.0
A quick witty read that has a really wonderful autism representation woven in without it being too in your face. The concept is perfect, because these days I feel like it'd be really possible to accidentally summon a demon y'know? It's fast paced, and a book that I've now read twice. I'm looking forward to finishing off the series.
theartolater's review
5.0
Chesney is a somewhat awkward guy who inadvertently summoned a demon while attempting to not swear. Since he didn't want the demon around, he sent it back to Hell without signing off his soul. This caused a major shift in Hell, and the demons went on strike, disrupting the entirety of the world at large, since there was no longer a temptation of sin. Chensey works out a deal with Hell where he gets his own demon at his beck and call, and he becomes The Actuary, fighting crime and doing good with the powers of evil behind him.
A nutty premise, yes. Works wonderfully, though - the book doesn't take itself terribly seriously, and to its credit. It's fairly silly, but a lot of fun across the board. Definitely worth the time.
A nutty premise, yes. Works wonderfully, though - the book doesn't take itself terribly seriously, and to its credit. It's fairly silly, but a lot of fun across the board. Definitely worth the time.