This is Christopher Moore's debut novel, and now that he has 12 novels out, and I've read some of the later ones, I can see that this one is not quite as good, but still fun.
The books are funny, creative, and have a reasonable plot progression. Sometimes they are a little bit predictable, but you stick with it just to see what happens. They vary from light fare to tougher stuff.
I would say they are irreverent at times, but other times right down the middle of the strike zone, if you know what I mean. Perhaps the old observation is true that you see in a book what you bring to it.
For me, these books are fun, inventive, irreverent, sometimes unpredictable, wry, amusing, and sometimes inexorably predictable in a perplexing kind of way.
I commented to a friend recently that part of why I write book reviews is because I read them, and want to make the most of my limited opportunity to read books. I want to know if a book is worth slogging through for 600 pages. Sometimes you can't really tell early in a book.
I read a book many years ago by Robert Silverberg called "Dying Inside" that really illustrates this point. I had tried to read it several times. I didn't enjoy the book each time I tried, although I could somehow sense that the author was really good. Finally I made it to the last 7 pages, and the payoff was there.
I would not read "Dying Inside" again because only that last 7 pages was worth it, and the book was so impactful that I'll never need to read it again - I won't forget the lesson.
In a different way, I am glad that I read "Practical Demonkeeping", but I am equally sure that I won't read it again. Other books by Moore are better, so if I read some of his books again, it will be other selections.
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