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Retromancer (2010)

by Robert Rankin(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0575078723 (ISBN13: 9780575078727)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Gollancz

series

Brentford

review 1: I tried to make myself read it, I guess because at the time I was focused on wanting to read x number of books. After struggling so long, I reminded myself that I didn't actually HAVE to read this book and that I should actually be attempting to read things that I like/that are useful to me. Maybe I failed because I haven't read anything by Robert Rankin (it is obvious that there are recurring characters in the book) and this wasn't the best book to start with; more likely, I guess it was the writing style. I can never find this kind of approach to humor funny. Finally, I was bothered with the story itself. There is no kind of way to predict what may happen, as the solution to every scenario is ridiculous. What I mean is the author suddenly throws in inventions/circumstanc... morees/characters/information at the very last moment that almost suggests "I can't really be bothered coming up with a good reason why this stuff is happening, so I'm just going to make up some crazy object up out of thin air RIGHT NOW and that will satisfy everyone". I never got far enough through to really get anywhere because I got over this quite quickly.Obviously this is an acquired taste.
review 2: Robert Rankin is an acquired taste - but one I acquired many years ago. In fact I remember being really irritated once because I accidentally picked up a book by a new author, close on the shelves, with very similar covers, some upstart called Terry Pratchett.Rankin write totally bonkers humorous fantasy, and has broadly gone through three phases. He started off with a cracking three books - the Brentford trilogy which were superb. After that he wandered around a bit with books that often had wonderfully mad ideas (try a plot combining Elvis, Jesus's twin sister and an intelligent time sprout called Barry), but didn't work quite as well in terms of narrative thrust. They lacked comprehensible plot. Lately, though, several of his books have returned to his early genius.Retromancer nearly but not quite makes the top ranks. It features Hugo Rune, who initially appeared (Rankin's books have a set of characters who regularly crop up) to be a fraudulant magus, but by this book (and its predecessor the Brightonomicon) had turned out to be genuine, if a scrounger as most of Rankin's good guys are. But the main character is 'Rizla', Rune's young assistant, who turns out to be a younger version of one of the main characters of the Brentford trilogy. Here they are plunged through time to prevent an alternative universe where the Germans won World War 2 taking place. Sounds a hoary old plot? Not in the hands of Rankin.It doesn't get five stars as it does seem to coast just a little occasionally, and the format is lifted straight from Brightonomicon (being Rankin he effectively tells us this). But it is hugely enjoyable if you like a bit of Rankin. less

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