Oddjobs

By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

It's the end of the world as we know it, but someone still needs to do the paperwork.

Incomprehensible horrors from beyond are going to devour our world, but that’s no excuse to get all emotional about it.

Morag Murray works for the secret government organization responsible for making sure the apocalypse goes as smoothly and as quietly as possible. In her first week on the job, Morag has to hunt down a man-eating starfish, solve a supernatural murder, and, if she's got time, prevent her own inevitable death.

Oddjobs is a sideswipe at the world of work and a fantastical adventure featuring amphibian wannabe gangstas, mad old cat ladies, ancient gods, apocalyptic scrabble, fish porn, telepathic curry, and, possibly, the end of the world before the weekend.

©2016 Heide Goody and Iain Grant (P)2018 Heide Goody and Iain Grant

Good fun

A silly sci-fi romp. Nothing is genius, but it is fun overall. Think of it, perhaps, as beach reading with fewer sweaty bodies.

one major obnoxious flaw.

Good story reasonably good narration, except for some reason it was thought to be a good idea to gratingly shout all of the foriegn words.

Bad sound quality

Liked the story and the performance. I think the audio is poor, relatively speaking. Just a bit too much echo, and too much boom when pronouncing the Venislan words.

Quirky and fun

This was a quirky and fun read with quite a few quotable one liners. I'm so glad I listened to the audiobook as I wouldn't have been able to imagine the pronunciation of some of the names and words. This was a very refreshing take on the end of the world.

A Grab Bag Of Nihilism and Delight

A secret branch of a government working quietly with hidden aliens/otherworldly/other dimensional beings isn’t a new concept. However, it’s often the execution that makes the difference between cliché and congratulation. In this book, I found myself torn between enjoyment and disgust at the story.

The world will be invaded/overrun/consumed by alien gods already extant on earth. When the soul gate closes, the entire human population on earth will be consumed in everlasting torment and not even death will release doomed humanity. This is known to governments worldwide. They do not fight it. They do not plan ways to avoid doom. They placate the alien overlords and they do not plan ways to mitigate the inrushing doom. Instead, they run around keeping the populace calm ignorant as doomsday approaches.

This nihilistic acceptance of doom quite soured me on the book. While I enjoyed the character interaction, I found their acceptance of and kowtowing to the alien doomsday to be severely off putting. It definitely robbed me of the enjoyment I’d normally have found being placed in their milieu. Even the eventual vanquishing of the (low-level) villain of the piece took place as almost a fait accompli and mostly off camera. A bit of a let down.

The one standout was the performance. The narrator provided an astonishing experience. Having to provide frequent forays into alien verbiage, the harsh gutturals and gargles showcased the narrator’s hard work and dedication to the craft. Very well done.

If you can get past the theme’s inherent nihilism, you might enjoy this piece. You’ll definitely be astounded by the performance. With a few caveats (as noted above), I think it could be worth your time and money.