Customer Reviews

Borribles Trilogy

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Michael DeLarrabeiti's "Borribles Trilogy" is something of a cult classic, especially among fans of fantasy-fare like "Watership Down" and "Lord of the Rings." For years his "Borribles" books have been out-of-print, leaving fans scrambling to find used copies wherever they could. Now, at long last and after some prodding from fans, they've been re-printed into this single volume.

The fantasy-inspired "heroes" of these stories are the Borribles: rebellious kids with pointy ears who live in London's deserted buildings and steal food to live. They fight with slingshots and have a culture and moral code all their own.

Far from the "goody-goody" stories that children are fed these days, the stories here are sometimes violent and morally ambiguous; definitely not for younger readers. As an example of DeLarrabeiti's condemnation for goody-goody children's stories, take for a start his farcical send-up of the "The Wombles" in the first tale of this trilogy. The Wombles of Wimbledon are re-cast as the "Rumbles of Rumbledom," and the sticks which the Wombles use to pick up litter on Wimbledon Common are actually (in DeLarrabeiti's book) weapons! The Rumbles are the mortal enemy of the Borribles, so our pointy-eared heroes strike out on a quest to murder the 8 most prominent Rumbles (Wombles). DeLarrabeiti is careful to give each Womble a different (and increasingly violent) end. If you're a fan of "The Wombles" (popular with children in the UK, especially in the 70s) you probably won't appreciate this book... but otherwise, I highly recommend it!

Fans of this fantasy-inspired cult classic, rejoice! The Borribles are back!

I was a major Borribles fan back in the mid 80's when I discovered these books in my school library, and they have always stuck in my mind, throughout my adult life. When I heard the books were being released in one volume, I rushed to the bookshop to buy it straight away!!! They are AWESOME!!! Yes, there is violence, but there is also so much bravery and a moral code the characters live by. These are books for anyone interested in a good read and something to think about afterwards too!!!

I ran across The Borribles when I was a street kid back in the late 70's, playing pinball, dumpster diving... I read a lot of fantasy back then. This was something special. It was a straightforward quest fantasy with characters whose lives, while exotic, were still recognizable. The adventures were brilliantly daffy daydreams, the details were as real as asphalt or cold feet. And there's a bit of pleasantly nasty class-war satire as well.

I recently went through a phase of having difficulty reading for pleasure. The Borribles trilogy helped break the ice; while I gritched about the prose for the first few pages, I soon found myself fascinated by the way simple, direct motivations propelled the story as if it were a bullet. These books fall under the heading of Periodic Re-reads; I've probably read 'em ten or twelve times over the years. I'd highly recommend them to anyone who'd appreciate a sublimely grimy gutterpunk noir Iliad.

Much of fantasy these days seem to be a rehash of what has gone before - a middle earth setting with good and evil wizards, gifted or clueless apprentices and varying doses of comedy. In this regard, De Larrabeiti's Borribles are a welcome relief. He has a wonderful imagination. His Borrible world and the three storylines are evidence of that.

Unfortunately he is not a very good storyteller. The Borrible stories are definitely for an adult audience (it is quite violent and morally ambiguous), but the author writes as though he intended it for children. The characters are one-dimensional and the plots are not convincing.

At best, the Borrible trilogy is a passable read. It is not a must-read. It may have a cult following, but it is far from a classic.