Science Fiction Books > R Science Fiction Books

Terry Pratchett lied to me!

Advantages: Terry Pratchett's childish younger borther?
Disadvantages: Poor central character, broken writing style.

While waiting for the next Terry Pratchett instalment I had a look around for someone with a similar style. On the back of this book Pratchett himself claims Rankin to be "One of the rare guys who can always make me laugh" so what more recommendation does a Pratchett fan need? Cornelius Murphy is the stuff of epics; he is rather annoyed that no one else seems to realise this. As such he is the only one not surprised when he becomes employed by a ...
...screws left after you put the toaster back together? And how does the thermos flask know whether to keep something hot or cold? Good old-fashioned British comedy is what this novel aspires to be. Full of comedy sketches it reads like a Monty Python show and as such is somewhat hit and miss. Cornelius's epic journey seems to be an excuse by Rankin to place him into sitcom situations such as a street riot, a hostage situation and a Monastery. Amusing ...

dididave 25.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Book of Ultimate Truths - Robert Rankin

The sweet smell of success

Advantages: Not too many running jokes, clever use of themes
Disadvantages: The end is fairly inevitable

Knees Up Mother Earth is a well-produced insight into the sort of writing Robert Rankin is able to produce when he's on form. Continuing well with a set of characters who came to fruition seven-or-so books previously, the author manages to weave a plot not devoid of nonsensical calamity, but also ripe with good humour and clever story-telling. Although Rankin can have a tendancy to run with an over-abundance of obvious running gags, getting lost ...
...hilarious happenings along the way, Knees Up Mother Earth lodges itself firmly amongst the higher echelon of Rankin-produced humour, in this writer's opinion. Whether you've read the rest of the series or not, this is as good a place as any to start, or just to join in again. ...

robcauson 26.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Knees Up Mother Earth - Robert Rankin

It's the closest thing to having Russell T Davies in your house.

Advantages: Really honest and insightful
Disadvantages: None

Originally posted on dooyoo. Before buying this I read the write ups and they all said something like "Any aspiring writer should read this book" or "Any Who fan should read this book" And yes, they should, but The Writers Tale is just as relevent for anyone who has ever wondered what goes on in TV, or is simply interested in the way other people think. This is one of those all too rare books where you get true insight into not just a person but ...
...I have ever read being as it is just a collection of emails sent between Ben Cook and Russell T Davies. Davies pulls no punches when talking about the processes of writing, admitting that there is no right way to write, and expressing his dislike of those who say that there is. It is fascinating to see TV royalty struggle with the same doubts that we all have, and wrestle with his perpetual procrastination, and google himself to be met with spirit-sapping ...

rhiannonalwen 05.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cook

He's Not Selling Any Alibis

Advantages: A decent, entertaining piece of fiction
Disadvantages: None really, but a little strange -ooooooooh

...sure it’s very nice. Certainly the picture Robert Rankin paints of it in his novel, “The Antipope”, depicts an extremely interesting place to visit - full of places of interest and colourful (to put it mildly) local characters. I’m guessing the book is set in the very early seventies, the only clue we get is that two pints of “Large”, the preferred local draught, costs 10/6 (10 shillings and sixpence – ask ...
...that one of the central characters has been dead for a few hundred years the exact timing of the novel's “present day” seems a trifle irrelevant. Much of the action takes place in The Flying Swan, a local pub run by Neville, the part-time barman. Although never actually stated, we are left with the impression that Neville has been, and will be, a fixture in the bar for many years. Two of his work shy regulars, John O’Mally, a drunken ...

Thamisgith 18.02.2003 · Read full review
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Review of The Antipope - Robert Rankin

The Hatchet-job of Wimbledon

Advantages: Easy reading
Disadvantages: But so's 'Where's Spot?' and I won't recommend that to you either

...lied to and that all the fantasy fiction of the Victorian era was in fact true. That 19th Century England was in fact full of airships and automata, where Oscar Wilde was a notorious ladies' man and Queen Victoria was the Empire Bike. Airships and automata are familiar enough to any reader of alternative histories. They crop up in anything where Rome didn't fall or the Nazis weren't defeated. To combine this kind of earnest but far-fetched academic ...
...people getting him confused with the man who created Rebus, Rankin is the slow-thinking man's Terry Pratchett. The author of a string of 'comedy' novels set around the London borough of Brentford, these books lure you in with admittedly brilliant punning titles such as '101 Damnations' and things. The contents are generally (I've read three or four over the years, hopefully I've learned my lesson now) meandering tales full of one-note characters, ...

Olly_Plimsoll 26.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Witches of Chiswick - Robert Rankin