Tom Holt; sequel to The Portable Door. Seems to be open for a third part, too.

Very entertaining. Paul Carpenter is such a prat, he is an incredibly funny guy to follow… I think it quotes somewhere that urban legend of some army dude’s soldiers saying they would follow him anywhere, but only out of curiosity, in relation to him.

Holt has a gift for turning normal things – whether everyday minutae, or legends/fairy tales – completely on their heads and making them quite odd and sometimes rather sinister. I like it. His characters are often so completely over-drawn they’re hilarious, and the plots are insane, with the sorts of ridiculous get-me-outs that anywhere else would be ludicrously implausible, but here just add to the general hilarity.

Blah blah. I like Tom Holt. He’s a legend.