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Robert Rankin
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Book
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Publisher | Gollancz | ||
ISBN | 978-057507951 | ||
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Reviewer
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Steve
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Synopsis
Somewhere over the rainbow and just off the Yellow Brick Road stands Toy City, formerly known as Toy Town. And things are not going well for the city's inhabitants. There have been outbreaks of STC - Spontaneous Toy Combustion - and there are strange signs and portents in the Heavens. Preachers of Toy City's many religions are predicting that the End Times are approaching and that a Toy City Apocalypse will soon come to pass. But can this possibly be true, or is there a simple explanation - an alien invasion, for instance. With the body count rising and the forces of law and order baffled, it is the time for a hero to step forward and attempt to save the day. Well, two heroes actually, Eddie Bear, Toy City Private Eye and his loyal sidekick, Jack: our courageous twosome are about to face their biggest challenge yet, to save not only toykind, but the world of mankind too. Which should keep them out of the pub for a while.
Review
This book is easier to describe in relation to the films it parodies than trying to fit it into a single book genre. It is set in an alternate reality of Toy City; peopled by old-fashioned toys and nursery rhyme characters, comparable to ‘Who Killed Roger Rabbit'. The main characters Eddy Bear and Jack (a displaced human) become private detectives to solve a series of murders before disaster ensues. As the title indicates, science fiction film plots like the Terminator contribute elements to the story along with Humphrey Bogart style detective setting. There are several twists as new film parodies are drawn in to the plot and things get stranger for the main characters.
If you enjoy the way Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett write, you'll probably enjoy the strange and amusing asides to the reader (as footnotes or in the main text) that this author often uses. Sometimes it is almost as though a dialogue is being attempted with the reader... There are also some parts which could almost fit into the act of one of the more ‘rambling' stand-up comics.
The film references give this book a different trans-Atlantic feel compared to the particularly English feel of earlier Rankin books I've read. This is the follow up to The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, and having enjoyed this I'd like to read the prequel too.
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