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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

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

They Came and Ate Us

Advantages: running jokes, weird characters
Disadvantages: makes you want to buy more of this authors work

This is the second book in the armageddon trilogy, it is fairly typical of the style that has made Robert Rankin so admired loved. The story revolves around Rex Mundi, Jack Doveston, Elvis, Barry and a host of other weird and wonderful characters, in this book Rex gets transported back in time and all kind of weirdness ensues involving the anti christ, legion, some hackers and the controllers of the planet. The usual running jokes are here and regular ...
...and again, just to discover, the things you missed on the first reading and to enjoy the strange running jokes, above all this is a book that should have pride of place in any far fetched fiction fan. If you enjoy books which aren't quite your standard story fiction then you'll enjoy this book as I did. Robert has the ability to create the most remarkable in the most mundane of settings. People who will hate this book are those who don't like the ...

hot_software 23.01.2002 · Read full review
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Review of They Came and Ate Us (Armageddon II: the B-Movie) - Robert Rankin

The greatest comedy writer alive today?

Advantages: Hilarious and topical, even if it is 16 years old
Disadvantages: It's the 4th book in the series, and while you don't need to read the others first, i recommend you start at "The Anitipope"

...be amused and captivated by the adventures of the heroes, Jim Pooley and John O'Malley. Unlike many writers of comedy sci-fi/fantasy books, Rankins characters are real and believable, having more than a facade of charcter. The Sprouts Of Wrath, like many of Robert Rankins books, is based in the borough of brnetford in London, at a time when a secret benefactor is funding a bid for brentford to host the olympics. Underneath it all though is a plot ...
...In steps the regulars of The Flying Swan pub to try to save the day. For anyone interested in conspiracy theories, the X-Files and Forteana (The Fortean Times magazine etc) all of Robert Rankins books are worth reading, but don't forget your sense of humour, becasue he doesn't taken anything too seriously. ...

AlexPaton 04.08.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Sprouts of Wrath - Robert Rankin