Nostrodamus Ate My Hamster

I’ve been musing about another book to write about but I’m unable to chose just the one from this author. So I’m going to write about him instead! I always remember reading a comment in, I think, The Time Literary Supplement which suggested that everyone should at least read one of his books in their life time. My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen I give you from the Order of the Golden Sprout Mr Robert Rankin.

(the orignal image and other great images can be found here)

Whilst living in the East End of London a chap by the name of Tony, who attended the same martial arts class, recommended a trilogy of books in a sci-fi/fantasy/humour genre worth reading. These were The Antipope, The Brentford Triangle, East of Ealing and the Sprouts of Wrath. Yes, there are now more books in what is known as The Brentford Trilogy but these were the first ones I read. The stories are based around the London Borough of Brentford (over to the west) and the home of Robert Rankin. The main participants in the various odd goings on are two anti-heroes, John Omally and Jim Pooley, who seem to spend most of their time in the bar of the Flying Swan. It’s tough to describe in a short(ish) blog post the bizarre situations that the two seem to find themselves in.

These books set the scene for the ones that follow. They are a heady mix of insane characters from Hugo Rune, a Guru’s Guru through to Neville, the full time part time barman of the Flying Swan via Elvis and Barry, a time-travelling sprout who lives in Elvis’ head. The tales themselves using urban tales, conspiracies and bizarre locations to drive the reader onwards wondering who on Earth he’s going to pull an ending together! There are many, many running gags that extend across the tales as though they are a tradition or an old charter or something and an obsession with the small green vegetable, the Brussels Sprout. He also uses the art and style of steampunk in some of his novels. Steampunk being that “alternate” reality where steam is still king. The machines are reminiscent of something that would have been built during the Victorian era (and you would probably find in the writings of H G Wells or Jules Verne).

I certainly think the first books are the place to start but amongst the others I particularly like are the Armageddon series (Armageddon: The Musical, They Came and Ate Us (Armageddon II: The B Movie), and The Suburban Book of the Dead (Armageddon III: The Remake), Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls and A Dog Called Demolition.

The great man himself is celebrated by his fanclub – The Order of the Golden Sprout. His biographies on the book covers as humorous (and ludicrous) as the stories themselves. He describes the style of writing as “Far Fetched Fiction” in the hope of getting his own section in the book shops. I live in hope that Robert’s work shall eventually be spoken of in the same circles as his contemporary author (and resident man of wackiness) Terry Pratchett. However, I suspect that his works are never going to grab the general public quite like the novels of the Discworld.