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lanica's review against another edition
1.0
I thought the first book in this series was okay and figured I'd keep reading. I should have quit while I was ahead. This book takes all the whiniest attributes of the main character and makes a whole novel out of them. Oh, and there is no plot. He goes to Hell to search for a woman...and then there is a whole lot of descriptions of all the things and people he meets in hell...the end. Nothing happens. It's page after page of how horrible hell is. Yep. That's it.
spikeanderson1's review against another edition
4.0
Williams is really Amazing at creatingworlds, in this case, Hell. I'm a big Bobby Dollar fan
dhasenkampf's review against another edition
4.0
A good follow up to the first in the series, but man was it a downer. I couldn't read more than 50 pages at a time because Hell sucked. Which seems like an obvious statement, but there was just so much despair, torture, maiming, betrayal, and awfulness that I could only take it for short periods. Can't wait to see how the series concludes.
jmoses's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh, what a let down compared to the first one. 90% of this is a blow by blow description of how awful hell is. Another 5% is about how awful demons are. The rest is actual story. This is a useless book in the series and doesn't further the story at all. Just skip this one.
cameronkc's review against another edition
4.0
bobby dollar. I enjoy Tad Williams as a writer. I like his descriptions, and I like his imagination. From the title one can infer that Hell is possibly written about in these pages. I can confirm it is. Williams describes an interesting place, and raises some interesting thoughts. His descriptions also border on over the top, but I cannot fault him for trying to describe Hell.
My disappointment with this book comes from progression of story line. While a lot happened, there were plenty of questions that were not answered. I wish I could give this 3.75 stars. It is not quite 4, but certainly not 3. Bobby Dollar, Angels, Demons, Hell and lots and lots of interesting creatures.
My disappointment with this book comes from progression of story line. While a lot happened, there were plenty of questions that were not answered. I wish I could give this 3.75 stars. It is not quite 4, but certainly not 3. Bobby Dollar, Angels, Demons, Hell and lots and lots of interesting creatures.
pjwhyman's review against another edition
2.0
I got so bored that I gave up on this one. There was an enthusiasm to the first book that has been lost in this one.
shalot's review against another edition
1.0
I have a feeling like this book will be summarized in one chapter in book #3. I loved the first book, but this one felt so lackadaisical. Bobby has no agency when he heads into hell. He's just going with the flow and has apparently no plan whatsoever. He puts Caz up on a pedestal and whines about her constantly. Cut this book in half and it's about the right length. I only found the last 1/4th of the book to be interesting, where I could sit down and not roll my eyes and actually enjoy reading.
eoghann's review against another edition
4.0
Happy Hour In Hell is the second Bobby Dollar book and it picks up pretty directly from where the second left off, so it's not the best starting point.
The Bobby Dollar books are a sort of noir urban fantasy with a major focus on heaven and hell. In fact this second book doesn't really quite meet the urban fantasy criteria since it's 90% set in Hell.
Tad Williams has a firm grip on the noir character and voice and his vision of hell is most certainly grotesque. He manages to steer clear of most of the stereotypes and creates a multi-leveled hell that really feels like it could be the ultimate torture chamber.
He also doesn't, I'm pleased to say, duck the substantial question of why God would create such a place and doom people to exist there. He doesn't *answer* the question mind you, but at least his characters ask it.
This book isn't going to sit well with people who are sensitive about their religion, because it does fall back on the old notion that Heaven and angels are sort of like a collection of politicians and bureaucrats. So they don't come off very well really. It's not a remotely original idea, but to be fair, for the core conceit of the series to work you really need that sort of set up.
I always enjoy Williams' writing. It's crisp and effective. He doesn't belabor things but he uses descriptions effectively. There are a few problems here though.
The biggest is the "twist" ending which you will see coming a mile off. I guess it sets the stage for book three, but it makes our hero look like and idiot because it's so obvious to the reader what is going on.
But the other problem is more of a nagging one. Hell as presented by Williams is unpleasant. And we spend a *lot* of time in that unpleasant environment. Honestly I have to say it wore on me and I enjoyed the present day city scenes much more.
That said, and with the caveat that Tad Williams does not shy away from the sexually explicit any more than he does from the gore, I do recommend reading this series if you enjoy this sort of urban fantasy material.
The Bobby Dollar books are a sort of noir urban fantasy with a major focus on heaven and hell. In fact this second book doesn't really quite meet the urban fantasy criteria since it's 90% set in Hell.
Tad Williams has a firm grip on the noir character and voice and his vision of hell is most certainly grotesque. He manages to steer clear of most of the stereotypes and creates a multi-leveled hell that really feels like it could be the ultimate torture chamber.
He also doesn't, I'm pleased to say, duck the substantial question of why God would create such a place and doom people to exist there. He doesn't *answer* the question mind you, but at least his characters ask it.
This book isn't going to sit well with people who are sensitive about their religion, because it does fall back on the old notion that Heaven and angels are sort of like a collection of politicians and bureaucrats. So they don't come off very well really. It's not a remotely original idea, but to be fair, for the core conceit of the series to work you really need that sort of set up.
I always enjoy Williams' writing. It's crisp and effective. He doesn't belabor things but he uses descriptions effectively. There are a few problems here though.
The biggest is the "twist" ending which you will see coming a mile off. I guess it sets the stage for book three, but it makes our hero look like and idiot because it's so obvious to the reader what is going on.
But the other problem is more of a nagging one. Hell as presented by Williams is unpleasant. And we spend a *lot* of time in that unpleasant environment. Honestly I have to say it wore on me and I enjoyed the present day city scenes much more.
That said, and with the caveat that Tad Williams does not shy away from the sexually explicit any more than he does from the gore, I do recommend reading this series if you enjoy this sort of urban fantasy material.
katzenkindliest's review against another edition
3.0
Sehr gut gelesen, und mit blühender Phantasie auch gut geschrieben. Trotzdem kommt es von der Story her lange nicht an den ersten Teil.