The Toyminator [Paperback]

Robert Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2010

Somewhere over the rainbow and just off the Yellow Brick Road stands Toy City, and things are not going well for the city's inhabitants. There have been outbreaks of STC—Spontaneous Toy Combustion—and there are strange portents in the Heavens. The 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. With the body count rising and the forces of law and order baffled, it is time for a heroic duo to step forward and save the day. Eddie Bear, Toy City Private Eye, and his loyal sidekick Jack must face their biggest challenge yet: to save not only toykind, but the world of mankind too.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gleefully mad collision between self-referential movie script and gumshoe noir/alien-abduction parody . . . Inspired lunacy that will be relished by anyone with a taste for humor in the bawdy, irreverent, smart-alecky, wisecracking British style."  —Kirkus Reviews

"What you're getting is vintage Rankin. Booze sodden private dick private Eddie Bear is a marvellous creation."  —Starburst

"Wacky and slightly peverse. If the title makes you smile, play spot-the-film references."  —Times

"The Toyminator has enough running jokes, crazy footnotes, and toilet humor to keep even the hardcore fans happy—and keep the new reader chuckling with delight too. It's mad, but wonderfully funny. A typically entertaining, rude, and quite bizarre Robert Rankin novel."  —SFX

About the Author

Robert Rankin is the author of The Brightnomicon, The Da-Da-De-Da-Da Code, Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, Knees Up Mother Earth, Necrophenia, and The Witches of Chiswick.

Product Details

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (March 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575085479
• ISBN-13: 978-0575085473
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, January 3, 2007

By 

K. Winters "Kati" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Toyminator (Hardcover)

If you liked Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse then you'll love the sequel, but make sure you read Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse first or you wont know what the hell is going on!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rankin's books are as strange as., March 3, 2007

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Toyminator (Hardcover)

The cover copy says this is the "longed-for sequel to The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse." That's a bit of publisher's hyperbole, but after four years, Rankin has indeed produced a sequel. Eddie Bear, Toytown PI (he used to be the bear of the late Bill Winkie), has been removed from the position of Mayor by the kindly, white-haired old toymaker who put him in that job at the end of the first book. Eddie, it appears, is a reformer and his efforts didn't go over too well. So he gets back together with Jack, his human partner (or, possibly, his "comedy sidekick"), who has been washing dishes in a diner (part of Nadine Sprat's franchise operation). At this point, you can see where Rankin's peculiarly English sense of humor is going, if you didn't already know. Anyway, the two get caught up in the investigation of the simultaneous murder of every cymbal-playing wind-up monkey in Toytown, followed by the abduction by chicken-aliens of a club band and the opera's orchestra, followed by an incursion into the meat-head world Beyond the Second Big O. Frankly, Rankin's idiosyncratic narrative style is more fun than the plot itself. (He not infrequently tries too hard.) Myself, I still prefer Terry Pratchett, but this isn't bad.

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed sequel, December 9, 2010

By 

Danielle Ackerman (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Toyminator (Paperback)

If you are a fan of shamelessly laughing out loud while reading a book (and you've already read Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse), then you will most likely thoroughly enjoy this book. I have to admit that I would be content in reading just the day to day lives and banter of Eddie Bear and Jack. Robert Rankin's writing style infuses this book with colorful and strange language and humor that I never grow tired of. I think a third book in the series is a necessity.