Robert Rankin
Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with ''Snuff Fiction'' in 1999, by which time his previous eighteen books had sold around one million copies. His books are a mix of science fiction, fantasy, the occult, urban legends, running gags, metafiction, steampunk and outrageous characters. According to the (largely fictional) biography printed in some Corgi editions of his books, Rankin refers to his style as 'Far Fetched Fiction' in the hope that bookshops will let him have a section to himself. Many of Rankin's books are bestsellers. Most of Rankin's books are set in Brentford, a suburb of London where the author grew up, and which, in his novels, is usually infested with alien conspiracies and ancient evil. In addition to his novels, Rankin held a position as the Writer in Residence of Brentford's Waterma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Antipope
''The Antipope'' is a comic fantasy novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is Rankin's first novel, and the first book in the Brentford Trilogy which, , consists of 10 novels. The book was first published in 1981 by Pan Books, and from 1991 by Corgi books, an imprint of Transworld Publishers. Although typically found in the science fiction section of bookshops, it is a difficult novel to categorise; Rankin himself joked that he wanted to create a new genre of fiction, called "Far Fetched Fiction", so that he would have his own bookshelf in Smiths.A quote from an interview at the Octocon conference in 1999, a transcript of which is availablhere/ref> Plot ''The Antipope'' charts Brentford's anti-heroes' (Jim Pooley and John Omally) drinking, work avoidance, womanising, and further drinking as they try to foil the eponymous antipope in his demonic attempt to establish a new Holy See. Characters in "''The Antipope''" *John Omally *Jim Pooley * Pope Alexander VI The An ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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East Of Ealing
''East of Ealing'' is a novel by Robert Rankin published in 1984. It is the third novel in Rankin's Brentford Trilogy. Plot summary ''East of Ealing'' is a novel in which Pooley and Omally contend with perpetual motion, robots, time travel, Merlin, Sherlock Holmes and an Antichrist fond of microchips. Reception Dave Langford reviewed ''East of Ealing'' for ''White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...'' #54, and stated that "its best feature is the very funny dialogue of heroes Pooley and Omally and I laughed like a drain at (eg) their appalled discovery that Eden was in Brentford, Babylon in Chiswick, and the Virgin Mary's birthplace in Penge." Reviews *Review by Lynne Bispham (1993) in Vector (magazine), Vector 172https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?9386 *R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Knees Up Mother Earth
''Knees Up Mother Earth'' is the seventh book by Robert Rankin in the Brentford Trilogy, as well as the second book in '' The Witches of Chiswick'' trilogy. The plot centers on the efforts of Jim Pooley and John Omalley to save Brentford F.C.'s football ground from demolition as part of a satanic conspiracy to awake the serpent from the Garden of Eden. Many of the events in the book are based on a real campaign, in which Rankin himself was involved, to save the ground from being purchased by property developers. The title is taken from the first album by Knights Of The Occasional Table, released in 1993. It is also a take off of the famous song "Knees Up Mother Brown "Knees Up Mother Brown" is a pub song, believed to date back as early as the 1800s, but first published in 1938, and with origins in the East End of London. With its origins in public houses of East London, it was associated with Cockney culture. ...". Novels by Robert Rankin 2004 British novels Novels set i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Witches Of Chiswick
''The Witches Of Chiswick'' is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin, the title parodying that of ''The Witches of Eastwick'' by John Updike. Plot Working in a dystopian 23rd century, William Starling finds a painting, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd from the 19th Century with the image of a digital watch hidden within it. William takes a drug which confers the ability to tap into ancestral memories. After learning of events occurring in the 19th century, William and Tim are attacked by a Babbage robot sent from the past, and William escapes to the past via the robot's time machine. Stuck in the 19th century in Victorian London, William is greeted by Hugo Rune, who explains to Will that he is his direct descendant. Will learns that 19th Century history is a lie: Charles Babbage's difference engine was a huge success, providing the growing British Empire with robots, digital watches, airships, and even the first rocket to the moon. After returning to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse
''The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse'' is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is Rankin's 24th novel and his first for new publishers Gollancz. It is set in Toy City (formerly Toy Town), a place where toys are alive and the characters from nursery rhymes are local celebrities. It is followed by a sequel, " The Toyminator". The novel is expanded from a throwaway line in Rankin's previous novel The Fandom of the Operator, which refers to recurring character Lazlo Woodbine investigating the murder of nursery rhyme characters in Toy City. Plot summary Jack is all set to discover the city beyond his small town. He meets a farmer on his way who warns him against going to the city. Jack however turns a deaf ear and continues his journey. The farmer tries to kill him for his meal, but Jack eventually escapes with his horse, leaving the hungry farmer in the pit. When he reaches the city he realises that it is populated by toys. He meets a wooden chef at a bar, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waiting For Godalming
''Waiting for Godalming'' (2000) is the 22nd book by Robert Rankin. Its title parodies that of Samuel Beckett's play Waiting For Godot. ''Waiting for Godalming'' tells the story of the ultimate murder case: God himself has been killed in a dark alley. Lazlo Woodbine, famous fifties private eye sets out to solve the case. The prime suspects are Colin, God's other son who has been left out of the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ... and Eartha, His wife - who hired Lazlo in the first place to solve the case. The second plot line is about Icarus Smith, who is trying to find out why demons are walking the earth. As might be expected, these lines knot together in a surprising way. External links * Novels by Robert Rankin 2000 British novels British fantasy nov ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sex And Drugs And Sausage Rolls
''Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls'' is a 1999 novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is set in Brentford and features John Omally and Jim Pooley. Plot introduction John Omally's ambition to be a rock star leads him to manage an odd rock group called Gandhi's Hairdryer. Characters in "''Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls''" *John Omally *Jim Pooley Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * Jim (comics), ... *Soap Distant *Neville, the part-time barman *Norman Hartnell *Zorro the PaperBoy *Small Dave *Dr Vincent Trillby *A lady in a straw hat and many more Literary significance & criticism Cover art Other media References {{Reflist, 2 External links Sproutlore the "now official" Robert Rankin fan club. 1999 British novels Novels by Robert Rankin Doubleday (publ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Apocalypso (novel)
''Apocalypso'' is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with ''Snuff Fiction'' in 1999, by .... A crack team of paranormal investigators are dispatched to recover a crashed spaceship from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. According to his autobiography, I, Robert,I, Robert (2015) Far Fetched Fiction Rankin was unhappy with how he portrayed certain characters within this story. Before releasing the book on his own E-imprint, he edited out numerous jokes which he felt to be unsavory. References Novels by Robert Rankin 1998 British novels British horror novels Doubleday (publisher) books {{1990s-fantasy-novel-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Dance Of The Voodoo Handbag
''The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag'' is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin that incorporates elements of fantasy and science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive .... References Novels by Robert Rankin 1998 British novels British fantasy novels Doubleday (publisher) books {{1990s-fantasy-novel-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Brentford Chainstore Massacre
The Brentford Trilogy is a series of eleven novels by writer Robert Rankin. They humorously chronicle the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of West London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan. Novels The novels in this series are as follows: # ''The Antipope'' (1981) – Pooley and Omally take on the resurrected Pope Alexander VI, the last Borgia pope. # ''The Brentford Triangle'' (1982) – Pooley and Omally thwart an alien invasion of Earth when the natives of Ceres (the fifth planet in the solar system before it exploded and became the asteroid belt) come back to the system and seek a new home. # ''East of Ealing'' (1984) – Pooley and Omally are forced to deal with a high-tech Satanic takeover of Earth by way of barcoding the entire population, aided by a temporally-relocated version of Sherlock Holmes. # ''T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster
''Nostradamus Ate My Hamster'' is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Rankin. In it, several seemingly unconnected and nonsensical events come together to make perfect clarity at the end; these include time travel and an attempted alien invasion vaguely orchestrated by Hitler. The plot centers on the aptly named Russell Nice, stuck in a dead-end job at a movie prop selling business, discovering holographic equipment from the future that allows the holder to create lifelike holograms of any movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ... they want. Eventually, he becomes entangled in a mass of deceit, lies, and betrayal, all of which centers on a demon-god with an insect face, and Hitler, who is stuck in the present time with his SS bodyguards, intending to mak ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |