This story uncovers suburbia's darkest secrets—mostly in The Flying Swan, where Neville the barman and Archroy, owner of five magic beans, do battle with beasts of the occult—and in particular the rather unpleasant Pope Alexander VI, the last of the Borgias.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
'Wonderful ... a heady mix of Flann O'brien, Douglas Adams, Tom Sharpe and Ken Campbell, but with an inbuilt irreverence and indelicacy that is unique - and makes it the long-awaited, heavy smoker's answer to The Lord of the Rings' - Time Out
'Wonderfully entertaining ... reads like a Flann O'brien rewrite of Close Encounters' - City Limits
About the Author
Magus to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Sprout, 12th Dan Master of Dimac, poet, adventurer, swordsman and concert pianist; big game hunter, Best dressed Man of 1933; mountaineer, lone yachtsman, Shakespearian actor and topless go-go dancer; Robert Rankin's hobbies include passive smoking, communicating with the dead and lying about his achievements. He lives in Sussex with his wife and family.
Robert Rankin is the author of Sprout Mask Replica, Nostradamus Ate My Hamster, A Dog Called Demolition, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived, The Greatest Show Off Earth, Raiders of the Lost Car Park, The Book of Ultimate Truths, Armageddon The Musical, They Came and Ate Us: Armageddon II The B-Movie, The Suburban Book of the Dead: Armageddon III Tile Remake and the Brentford quartet; The Antipope, The Brentford Triangle, East of Ealing and Vie Sprouts of Wrath, which are all published by Corgi Books.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ode to the drinking man,
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This review is from: The Antipope (Brentford Trilogy) (Paperback)
If you are unacquainted with Rankin's bizarre books, this may well be a good start. It's not his best book, but it's his first. Part of the fun reading Rankin is in the repetitions: Rankin quotes himself constantly, so you won't miss any of that when you start off from here."The Antipope" is the first novel in the Brentford series, in which an ordinary London suburb is the scene of grotesque battles between Good and Evil. It's up to Jim Pooley and John Omally, two bums with an insatiable appetite for beer, to save the world, with the help of a mysterious professor and some other highly improbable characters. In this book, the adversary is an evil tramp posessed with formidable powers, who is about to take control of the world as the Pope of some dark new Church. Two things distinguish Robert Rankin from other comic SF/Fantasy writers like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett: his profound knowledge of the occult, and the sheer outlandishness and pomp of his stories. Rankin calls himself a tall-tale teller and his books far-fetched fiction. Some scenes in this particular book, like the disastrous cowboy night, and the vain attempts to open a mysterious parcel, just project themselves before your eyes, as if you were watching a movie. And make you laugh aloud.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Persistently amusing.,
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This review is from: The Antipope (Brentford Trilogy) (Paperback)
This is one of my favorite books. It's the first of the Brentford series. I find the whole series to be comfortable, likable and highly amusing. It helps to have a taste for the surreal. I found the characters to be very likable. They have the carefree attitudes of the characters from Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat or Cannery Row, but they are intelligent and educated. They are not the type one would expect to be called upon to save the world. Essentially Brentford is the world. Should any character temporarily wander out of Brentford, Brentford would still be the reference point. The pub is the core essence of this world. Nothing is really serious unless if effects the pub. To this little world comes every silly notion that ever landed on the front page of the most bizarre tabloids. The Antipope is the place to start. It's one of the best, and will introduce you to the Brentford perspective. I found after reading a few pages, I wanted to take a break and wait for the smile on my face to ease up a little before I dared to proceed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not my taste,
By
This review is from: The Antipope (Brentford Trilogy) (Paperback)
About a year ago I read my first Robert Rankin book 'The Witches of Chiswick' after seeing it in the library and just being attracted to the title. I absolutely loved it. I never laughed aloud so much from reading a book. I was surprised because I am not usually into this genre. My husband read it after me and fell in love too. I then decided that I wanted to read every single book by R. Rankin.I bought 'Anti-Pope' and neither me or my husband liked it. He gave up 1/4 through and I had to force myself to finish it. I'm not saying it is bad... it is just not my type of thing. The story was pointless to me and not exciting at all. The writing and posh language of the characters was too surreal and the wit, puns, and silly footnotes from the author that I found in 'Witches of Chiswick' were missing completely. I'm not giving up on R. Rankin all together, but I wouldn't recommend 'The Anti-Pope' at all.
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