Science Fiction Books > R Science Fiction Books

Behind the scenes DW doesn't get much better than this

Advantages: Insightful, sharp witted, easy to read
Disadvantages: Quite heavy and bulky to hold while reading

...is DTChick and I'm a Doctor Who fan. I love it. The stories, the characters, the CGI, the entire concept, everything, and especially David Tennant's performance as the Doctor. I've recently finished reading Russell T Davies' book, The Writer's Tale. Russell has been the Exec Producer on DW since its return to our screens in 2005 and the book follows a year in the life of the writer through a series of emails to Benjamin Cook, journalist and regular ...
...just a passing interest in Doctor Who (like those purchases won't already have been made!) but also for anybody who has aspirations of becoming a writer as it gets down to the nuts and bolts of television production, handling the media, script drafting and just what makes good TV drama. Buy it and buy one for your friend too. You won't regret it ...

DTChick 13.02.2009 · Read Full Review
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Review of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cook

The second book in the Brentford trilogy

Advantages: Well written, good characters, some superb scenes.
Disadvantages: You'll want to collar friends and read bits out to them

...he returns to Brentford, and the characters from the first novel. This time, it's an alien invasion that threatens the peaceful borough - but much more relevent to Pooley and Omally, the brewery has installed a space invaders machine in their beloved local! How can they get rid of it? And incidentally, stop aliens from taking over the planet. The characters from the Antipope are back, stranger and more lovable than ever, and they're joined by a ...
...The ending is superb, set during the local darts championship - the team from the Flying Swan (the good guys) and the one from the Four Horsemen (the bad guys) battle it out, using every dirty trick in the book - and quite a few that aren't - to try to win the coveted trophy. Quite fantastic. ...

andrewsi 15.04.2001 · Read Full Review
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Review of The Brentford Triangle - 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

Armageddon III - The Remake

Advantages: A fun read throughout, the gags come thick and fast
Disadvantages: Previous knowledge of Robert Rankin's work helps but not essential

The third and final book in the Armageddon - The Musical Trilogy once again sees Rex Mundi battling the forces of evil on Earth alongside the legendary Elvis Aaron Presley. The story starts with Rex being abducted from his front garden while building a cess-pit for his wife Christine (twin sister of Jesus Christ) and spirited away in the back of a time travelling Volvo. He soon finds himself back on Earth before the Nuclear Holocaust Event that ...
...throughout history, even appearing in the Bible itself. This book neatly ties up any loose ends hanging around from the previous two books and introduces legendry fictional detective Lazlo Woodbine who only works the four locations, as usual. This book had me laughing throughout thanks to the commonly used running gags and wide ranging number of movie references. Chuck in a blend of magic and fantasy and Rankin takes you through an increasingly ...

morgandr 26.10.2006 · Read Full Review
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Review of The Suburban Book of the Dead - 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