Oddjobs

By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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.

Controlled eldrich terror

Came for the eldrich horror, stayed for the N'DYRIAN and all the other deeply world building quirks

The name pronunciation.

This book was extremely amusing to listen to, but dear god... In the event Davies pronounces an alien name... numerous times... It gets very annoying.

Lovecraft Meets Jasper fforde

The apocalyse is coming and a government group is trying to make sure it happens as smoothly as possible. The Elder Gods have set up Court in Birmingham UK. One of the human agents has died and a new agent has been sent from Scotland. The problem is though that the new agent has killed the Sacred Handmaid of one of the Elder Gods so it is likely they are going to want to kill her. Meanwhile a human incursion into the Birmingham Library has the team wandering exactly if something was stolen or added to the collection. Representatives of human religions are squabbling with one another . And the Elder Gods are suitably squamous, rugulose and horrific.

I'm not sure how the narrator managed to make the sounds of the language of the Elder Gods, but it is an extremely impressive piece of narratiion.

Office organized Lovecraftian Horror

A book that mixes the black comedy beauracracy with lovecraftian horror, with a side of primetime CSI shows.

This book is hard to understand

This book is somewhat hard to follow. With all Aline names and who we are following. Not worth the listen.

meh

couldn't even finish, story is slow and constantly interrupted with yelling alien language that is distracting and jarring.

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.