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Customer Reviews (4)

Terry Pratchett he ain't!
A smile now & then, the odd good turn of phrase, but, see the title.

We should all be more like WOK BOY (!)
If I had a penny for every time I giggled, sniggered or experienced any form of emotion whilst reading this book, I would have....I think. Rankin has written (another) fantastic peice here. All the characters are great (especially Wok Boy with his ideas agout ladies underwear. ahem) andall come together in the end in a grand finale involving an alienvegetable, Nelson's Column (and indeed all of Trafalgar Sq.), Magic and abloody big explotion!

The Truth IS Out There (deep under Morningstar Crescent)
Great paranoid romp through the bowels of governmental and alien conspiracies. Why for God's sake is Douglas Adams published in the States and not Rankin. Only the men under Morningstar Crescent know for sure.

Brilliant, Porrig, Ripplington, and Wok-boy are great
Apocalipso took me a while to get into but when the Ministery of Sependery (MoS) Plan to nuke Dilbert Norris (An alien evolved from a vegetable) Things get interesting. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

My favorite Rankin
This is hilarious. A very good first book to read if you're considering joining the cult of Rankin.
Also, for some reason, it gave me fantastic dreams and I felt that Rankin's prose was singing through me for days and days. It was quite a good thing to have happen, if odd. I then went and bought dozens of Rankin books so perhaps I was hypnotized...

always a treat
It is always a treat to read a Rankin novel because you never know what to expect. I loved this one because it was full of Rune i love that guy. If your not a fan of running gags or the talking of toot best to avoid this and all other Rankin but if you are looking for fun times and a few tips on the finer talking of toot then read this book.

Disappointing
I have read most of Rankin's stuff and have usually really enjoyed it.He missed the mark on this one.It isn't particularly funny. It is disjointed. It repeats itself constantly, and just isn't very interesting.It might be a bit more interesting if you are familiar with town he sets this in, but just a bit. They can't all be winners. Try something else by him instead. His Brentford stuff, and Bunny stuff are far better choices.

... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Not the best Rankin
Being an avid Rankin reader, I was a bit disappointed about this follow-upto the excellent original. Armageddon II contains the trademark humour ofall Rankin books, but has a poorly-planned, confused plot and an endingwhich ultimately makes the entire tome pointless. Worth a read but if youare new to Rankin "Sprout Mask Replica", the original Armageddonor even "Nostradamus Ate My Hamster" would be better to beginwith.

A note to all Hugo Rune fans: If you didn't know, he plays anactive role in "The Book of Ultimate Truths". Read that NOW!

Even funnier than the brilliant original!
The continuing adventures of Rex Mundi, Elvis and Barry the Time Sprout amongst others, which surpasses even the original which was hysterical. This is the funniest book of its type since The Hitchhiker's Guide to theGalaxy. The best parts of the book are the introductions to each chapterwhich seem to be totally unrelated to the story but gain more relevance asthe book goes on; the best one with the two wildly differing accounts ofHugo Rune turning himself invisible.A must read if you like that sort ofthing.

the funniest ever!!!
This was one of the wittiest, and most comical books I have ever read.It made me laugh continuously from beginning to end.Much in the vein of Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett.Make sure to pick up the other twobooks in the series.

Strange
Kind of a strang book. Or should I say very strange.This is for very young kids. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Not awesome, not bad either.You got a couple of hours?
Robert Rankin's books are kind of like a really good BBC television show.Superficially, they don't take a lot of brainpower to comprehend, they're hysterically funny, and there are really only like, six characters in the whole series.

Conversely, the real reason they're so funny is because there's a core of intelligence and education to them that one rarely sees in American media.I've actually learned quite a few interesting things in researching offhand jokes about obscure historical characters, for instance.

All in all, I'd never call any of his novels life-changing gems of intellectualism, but I'm always pretty glad that I've read them.

Try the Audiobook!
I borrowed this from the library as an audiobook before a roadtrip and loved it. I think though, being an American and prone to reading things with an American's timing, rather than a Brit's, that I would have missed the humor had I not heard it read by the author. This book is funny, but exponentially more funny read aloud by Rankin. Reading it to myself, I would have likely rated it much lower, as I think I'd have mistimed the delivery.

Sorta funny
I read Fandom of the Operator because of ONE blurb on the back: Terry Prachett, author of the Discworld series, wrote "One of the rare guys who can always make me laugh."Well, that, and the fact that I picked it up cheap at a used booksale for charity.I won't go into the plot too much--suffice it to say that the ludicrous plot is the source of most of the humor, and alien mind control and raising the dead play a big part.It's a very silly book with more twists than an anaconda committing suicide, and nobody can rightly say they figured it out in advance.But for me it wasn't terribly satisfying.It's basically light entertainment, with a tiny touch of sex and a bit of disgusting stuff for fun.Discworld's much richer textured and funnier.I can't see it being worth the price asked here at Amazon--I think that's cause it's a UK book, and I'll bet you can get it in paperback from amazon.uk much cheaper.If you're someone who roars at the humor of the title, you'll go for it big.But the cover blurb, from the Daily Express, says it all for me, "Everybody should read at least one Robert Rankin book in their life."Well, now I have. ... Read more

Book Description
Raymond's had a rough couple of days. Snatched from his allotment by a flying starfish from Uranus and sold as a delicacy in a Venusian food market, it seems like his luck has changed when he is rescued by the travelling circus.

But then this isn't an ordinary circus; this is the circus of Professor Merlin, which drifts between the planets in a Victorian steamship, a circus whose artistes perform the feats that simply can't be done. And the professor has a little job for Raymond. Release the two hundred people held captive on Saturn and save Planet Earth from extinction by Friday.

Raymond's best friend Simon has been having a rough time too. Hunted by the men in grey, Simon is falsely accused of being a serial killer and is thrown into the clutches of the sinister B.E.A.S.T. (an End Times cult that worships the demonic half-man half-chicken, Sate-Hen).

Even with the book from the future and those villagers with the flaming torches to help them out, getting things sorted by Friday could be cutting it fine... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

666 the number of the chicken!
Robert Rankin has without doubt the most bizarre sense of humour that I've run across. This isn't a bad thing, but it is a character trait I enjoy in a writer. I enjoy almost all I read by him, and this book is just as good as his others. People in danger on worlds far away, the cult of the daemon chicken Sate-Hen, an abomination of nature and of err... nature too, if you take my meaning and I'm sure that you do, and an abduction by astro starfish! What more could you wish for, cept a pint n a nice seat to sit on while you read. Make mine a large!

I like your new hat !
I stumbled upon this second hand book in a little store in Egypt (of all places) and read the whole thing through in less then two days. Not that it's this short, it's this good ! It completely obliterated all interest I had in pharao's and pyramids, i just couldn't put it down.

If you like Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchet, you're gonna love this.

It's the first book of Robert Rankin i read and here I am, coming back for more.. ;-)

Superb
I will never tire of this book. In the three years since I first discovered it, I have read it well over ten times. Excellent value for money. A lot of Rankin's fans treat this as his worst bok, I say it is hisbest. It is superbly off-the-wall, with likeable, funny characters, andmoments that continue to make me laugh out loud every time. Should beretitled The Greatest Book on Earth.

Typical Rankin - Brilliant
When you read a Rankin you have a good idea what your in for: wacky characters, daft running gags,a completely over-the-top plot and hours ofhumourous entertainment. 'The Greatest Show Off Earth' delivers this andmore. If you are struggling to find good humour since the demise of DouglasAdams' Hitchhikers and Dirk Gently series then look no further than Rankin. ... Read more

Book Description
Word count: 2066. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Robert P(arks) Rankin, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 375 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
Robert A. Rankin, one of the world's foremost authorities on modular forms and a founding editor of The Ramanujan Journal, died on January 27, 2001, at the age of 85. Rankin had broad interests and contributed fundamental papers in a wide variety of areas within number theory, geometry, analysis, and algebra. To commemorate Rankin's life and work, the editors have collected together 25 papers by several eminent mathematicians reflecting Rankin's extensive range of interests within number theory. Many of these papers reflect Rankin's primary focus in modular forms. It is the editors' fervent hope that mathematicians will be stimulated by these papers and gain a greater appreciation for Rankin's contributions to mathematics.
This volume would be an inspiration to students and researchers in the areas of number theory and modular forms. ... Read more

Book Description
THE EPIC TALE OF A FAMILY OF GOD-BOTHERERS

His great-great-grandfather died at the Battle of Little Big Horn.He wasn't with custer though.He was holding a sprout-bake and tent meeting and went over to complain.His great-grandfather (also a sprout farmer and man of the cloth) always wore weighted shoes while in the pulpit to avoid any embarrassing levitations during moments of extreme rapture.His great-grandfather (also a sprout farmer and man of the cloth) always wore weighted shoes while in the pulpit to avoid any embarrassing levitations during moments of extreme rapture. his grandfather (lay preacher, taste for sprouts) spoke only in rhyming couplets and owned a pig called Belshazzar.His father (an elder in the Sacred Order of the Golden Sprout) practised body-modification in an attempt to win a bet with his brother (a monk). And then there was him.

Can this be Robert Rankin's autobiography?He swears that it isn't, but as a self-confessed teller of tall tales, whoever is going to believe him? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

sprout mask replica
genius!!!! i love this book, the way characters seem to know they are inside a book and reply to each others thoughts!!!!! pure comedy!!!

Rankin at his best
This is the best Rankin book - and one of the best humour books around. Hecombines his excellent jokes with a short piece at the beginning of thebook that is one of the funniest things ever written - yes, you heard it.The overall standard of the book is high, however the plot is not too farabove his average (if humourous) standards. Especially worthwhile forRankin veterans, as large parts of the Sprout mythology are revealedX-Files style at the end of the book.

Truly, one of the best books ever
This is truly a marvelous book. It is full of the running gags, stupid puns, deranged descriptions and confused characters that are the hallmark of Mr. Rankin. In this book, Mr. Rankin takes over the world in a verynervous manner, with the help of his holy guardian sprout, Barry, who getshim in more trouble than he's worth.

Truly, one of the best books ever
This is truly a marvelous book. It is full of the running gags, stupid puns, deranged descriptions and confused characters that is the hallmark of Mr. Rankin. In this book, Mr. Rankin takes over the world in a very nervousmanner, with the help of his holy guardian sprout, Barry, who gets him inmore trouble than he's worth. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A comic masterpiece!
This book had me laughing from cover to cover thanks to the exploits of Pooley, Omally and Co.Never before has such a humourous alien conspiracy story been told and with the unlikeliest of heroes too!!A compeling read! ... Read more

Book Description
ON THE VERY LAST DAY EVER, EVERYTHING WILL HAPPEN The symptoms have been studied, the diagnosis is confirmed, the prognosis is bleak. The universe will cease to exist in just twelve hours - just twelve hours, during which time all of the loose ends must be tied up, all of the Big Questions answered and all of the Ultimate Truths revealed.It promises to be a somewhat hectic twelve hours.During which . . . a Brentford shopkeeper will complete a sitting room for God. A Chiswick woman will uncover the Metaphenomena of the Multiverse. An aging Supervillain will put the finishing touches to his plans for trans-dimensional domination. Serious trouble will break out at the New Messiah's Convention in Acton. And a Far-Fetched Fiction author will receive Divine Enlightenment.In TICK TO0CK KILL THE CLOCK, the world's leading exponent of Far-Fetched Fiction pulls out all the literary stops to produce a truly epic work of imagination: twelve interlocking tales, one for each hour left on the clock. Will the universe end with a bang or a whimper - or something else entirely, possibly involving a time-travelling Elvis Presley with a sprout in his head? ... Read more

Book Description
Society's plug is about to be pulled, big time. At the stroke of midnight on 31 December 1999, computer systems all over the world will crash and plunge us into chaos.

But so what if it's the downfall of civilization? These things happen. We'll just have to take it on the chin. Or at least up the nose. Because rejoice and give thanks, snuff is making a comeback. And who do we thank for this? Who is the man who brings joy to the nostrils of the nation? The tender blender with the blinder grinder? The master blaster with the louder powder? The geezer with the sneezer that's a real crowd pleaser? Mr Doveston, that's who, and this is his story.

So forget about impending doom and enter the glamorous world of snuff-snorting. Oh, and don't forget to bring a hankie. Things could get a little messy later. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Big AH-CHOO
Fantastic stuff!If only Rankin had a U.S. publisher the prices of his hysterical books would be a little more tolerable. "Snuff Fiction" is one of his best, a pseudo-memoir written in 2008 about the life of the Doveston, purveyor of the world's bestest tobacco & explosives.

While all Rankin's books are funny, this one's plot lifts it above the rest.All too often Rankin drops plot threads and writes in (intentionally) dense prose."Snuff Fiction" has his trademark hyper-kinetic writing style while, for once, admirably wrapping everything up at the end.It's a great balance of clever storytelling, some effectively disturbing passages, and overall a lot of laughs.

Buy this book! ... Read more