It's 1969 and teenager Tyler wants to be a rock 'n roll superstar. He and his mates sign up with a Mr. Ishmael as The Sumerian Kynges, and they buy a whole heap of gear. When it's all stolen, Tyler's brother Andy leads him to Hanwell Cemetery, where the undead arise from their graves.Later on, ...
The key thing that I have taken away from reading this book is that Titles cannot be trusted. Certainly the title of this book is brilliant; I even love the little chocolate bunnies on the cover, glaring at me as they plot. The concept presented on the back of the book is intriguing and will forc...
This is one of the absolute craziest books I've ever read in my life! The author is clearly insane. Or British. He's British and has that British sense of humor, sort of a Terry Pratchett meets Monty Python on acid. This book is nuts.Will Starling lives in a London suburb with his parents in the ...
The pun in the title will probably say more about whether you want to read a book like this or not, but here we go anyway....This is the sequel to The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, the bestest funny book you could read. Jack, a human, came to Toy Town--where toys are alive and peopl...
Originally published on my blog here in February 2001.The AntipopeMany fantasy authors attempt to mingle the familiar and the exotic in their writing; the familiar enables the reader to grasp what is going on, while the exotic is what defines the genre and what is sought by its fans. The familiar...
The FrightenomiconThis was only my second Rankin.I don't know whether I'll try any more. I'm too frightened.It cast me into some weird existentialist quandary, possibly not even of its own creation.I thought I would love the sense of humour and the music references (and I did enjoy a few guffaws)...
My first taste of Robert Rankin's work was the BBC radio adaptation of The Brightonomicon. I found it to be hilarious, so, of course, I went on to read the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was pleased to find that it was the eighth book in a "trilogy" of nine, and promptly began buying the res...
I really enjoy Robert Rankin's work. He's a very funny and charismatic man; I've met him at book signings at least twice. The first time was when he sold me a copy of Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and said if I was only pretending to be a fan to get a signed copy, I could sell it on ...
A farcical underdog sporting novel with time travellers, demons and assorted mystical fantasy elements. Have you ever read such a beast? I just finished Knees Up Mother Earth, and whilst I appreciated the craft of the author and the novelty of the concept, including footnoting which I've never se...
Yuk. Sigh. Look, this book should have been funny, or at least enjoyable, on paper. An absurd post apocalyptic story involving a time traveling elvis presley with a sprout in his head, a standard I’m just a normal person, why is this happening to me type hero, etc, etc, you can read the plot abov...
Even being an avid fan of Robert Rankin, I think this is probably my favourite that I have read so far.Rankin is the self-proclaimed grandfather of far fetched fiction, and has been likened to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett - but in my opinion, I would say Rankin writes far more far fetched, a...
The blurb about Jesus and his brother Colin on the Goodreads page for this book has to be the most misleading blurb I've ever read. It's all mostly true, but it has a much, much smaller role to play in the novel than you would expect. Colin has about five lines and Jesus only comes in at the end....
'And the lights upon the allotment,' said Soap, 'what would you take those to be?' [return]'The work of the council,' said Omally firmly, 'another plot to confound honest golfers.' [return]Soap burst into a paroxysm of laughter. Tears rolled down his pale cheeks and he clutched at his stomach. [r...
The good Mr Rankin kindly gave away a kindle version of this for free, in celebration of his 65th birthday. I couldn't remember whether I had already read it, and it wasn't until about 1/4 of the way through that I realised I had - there is something about his books that seem to mess with your me...
In Cold Comfort Farm, there is a preacher who warns his audience that there is ‘no butter in hell’. Just to warm them up, so to speak. Robert Rankin’s dead protagonist in this novel doesn’t even have the fortune to go to Hell, because that place has been closed down aeons before by a kindly God w...