Robert Fleming Rankin
Robert Fleming Rankin (born July 23, 1949 in Parsons Green, London ) is a British author of humorous novels .
Life
He started writing in the late 1970s. His books are a mixture of science fiction , fantasy , the occult , city myths , running gags and extraordinary characters. Many of Robert Rankin's books are bestsellers in England. In Germany he is far less well known, although a number of his books have been translated into German. Rankin has been publishing his books independently in limited and signed hardcover editions on the Internet and as eBooks for several years.
His stories mostly take place in our time and space, but are mixed with ancient myths and modern stories of aliens . There aren't many taboos for him about his subjects, least of all that of religion. He finds most of the inspiration for his books in pubs, where the people he meets or the stories these people tell him are the seeds for his stories. His humor is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett . Robert Rankin has managed to pursue 39 different professions in his life so far, ranging from concert pianist to gogo dancer , Tupperware seller, illustrator , Shakespeare actor to rock singer and garden gnome seller . At least that's what he says of himself; he admitted that he loves to lie about what he does.
In 1980 his career hit rock bottom, but after Terry Pratchett became famous and successful, Rankin's books began to sell again.
He studied graphics at Ealing Art School , is married and now lives in Sussex .
According to his own statements, his talent for telling stories comes from his father, who served up tales of lies all his life and eventually even on his deathbed. The well-known fictional character "Hugo Rune" is essentially inspired by Rankin's father, mixed with the person of probably the greatest English magician Aleister Crowley . Robert Rankin also gets further inspiration from the many questions his son has to answer, to which he then has to come up with an answer.
On the afternoon of December 18, he finally married his girlfriend Rachel Hayward in Las Vegas (at least according to the Sproutlore fan club).
Occasionally he still performs live with his band “The rock gods”.
Works
The Brentford Trilogy
- 1981 Der Antipapst ISBN 3-404-24246-7 (The Antipope) B F
- 1982 The Brentford File ISBN 3-404-24247-5 (The Brentford Triangle) B F
- 1984 Beyond Ealing ISBN 3-404-24255-6 (East of Ealing) B F
- 1988 Kohl des Zorns ISBN 3-404-24264-5 (The Sprouts of Wrath) B F
- 1997 The chain store massacre ISBN 3-404-24271-8 (The Brentford Chainstore Massacre) B F
- 1997 Nostradamus Ate My Hamster ISBN 0-552-14355-3 F
- 1999 Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls ISBN 0-552-14741-9 B.
- 2001 Web Site Story ISBN 3-404-24313-7 (Web Site Story)
- 2003 Knees up Mother Earth ISBN 0-575-07649-6 (also the second volume of the Chiswick trilogy) B F
- 2005 The Brightonomicon ISBN 0-575-07668-2 (strictly speaking also part of the Hugo Rune cycle) F
- 2017 The Lord of the Ring Roads (first book of the very last Brentford trilogy)
- 1988 Brentford Trilogy ISBN 0-349-10028-4 (contains the first three English Brentford volumes)
The number and, in some cases, the order of the books belonging to the Brentford trilogy fluctuates depending on the bibliography, two examples: B after the “Brightonomicon” blurb; F after fantasticfiction. But since the books are all (more or less) set in Brentford, you can actually count them all together, although the exact order remains unclear.
In addition, "The Sprouts of wrath" was published by Abacus in a first edition with an alternative ending and an artwork by Josh Kirby (who drew numerous illustrations for Terry Pratchett), but is hardly available
The Armageddon Quartet
- 1988 Armageddon, Das Musical ISBN 3-404-24278-5 (Armageddon: The Musical)
- 1991 Armageddon, Das Menu ISBN 3-404-24285-8 (They Came and Ate Us: Armageddon II: The B Movie)
- 1992 Armageddon, Das Remake ISBN 3-404-24292-0 (The Suburban Book of the Dead: Armageddon III: The Remake)
The Hugo rune cycle
- 1993 The Book of Ultimate Truths ISBN 3-404-24201-7 (The Book of Ultimate Truths)
- 1994 Raiders of the Lost parking ISBN 3-404-24204-1 (Raiders of the Lost Carpark)
- 1994 The Greatest Show Beyond the World ISBN 3-404-24210-6 (The Greatest Show Off Earth)
- 1995 The most wonderful man who ever lived ISBN 3-404-24216-5 (The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived)
- 2009 Retromancer ISBN 978-0575078727
The Witches of Chiswick trilogy
- 2003 The Witches of Chiswick ISBN 0-575-07545-7
- 2003 Knees up Mother Earth ISBN 0-575-07315-2 (also the seventh volume of the Brentford trilogy)
Individual works
- 1995 Unearthly The garden cravings ISBN 3-404-24225-4 (The Garden of Unearthly Delights)
- 1996 A Dog Called Demolition ISBN 0-552-14213-1
- 1998 Apocalypso ISBN 3-404-24299-8 (Apocalypso)
- 1999 Starker Tobak ISBN 3-404-24324-2 (Snuff Fiction)
- 2001 Web Site Story ISBN 3-404-24313-7 (Web Site Story)
- 2001 Fandom of the Operator ISBN 0-385-60256-1
- 2002 Die apokalyptischen Schokohasen ISBN 3-404-24336-6 (Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse)
- 2006 The Toyminator ISBN 0-575-07010-2 (continuation of the apocalyptic chocolate bunnies)
- 2006 The Da-da-di-da-da Code ISBN 0-575-07990-8
- 2008 Necrophenia ISBN 978-0575078710
- 2011 Empires (comic)
- 2013 Alice on Mars
- 2014 The Divine Commodore
- 2015 I, Robert - The Far-Fetched Autobiography of Robert Rankin
The trilogy that dare not speak its name trilogy
- 1997 Sprout Mask Replica ISBN 0-552-14356-1
- 1998 The Dance of the Voodoo pocket ISBN 3-404-24307-2 (The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag)
- 2000 Waiting for Oho! ISBN 3-404-24318-8 (Waiting for Godalming)
The Victorian Steampunk Series
- 2010 The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions
- 2011 The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age
- 2012 The Educated Ape and Other Wonders of the Worlds
- 2013 The Cickens of Atlantis and Other Foul and Filthy Fiends
- 2015 The Abominable Showman
Audio books
- 2003 The Antipope ISBN 1-903362-24-5 (read by Robert Rankin)
- 200? Nostradamus ate my hamster ISBN 1-84197-368-8 (read by Robert Rankin)
- 2003 Waiting for Oho ISBN 3-7857-1406-8 (Waiting for Godalming / read by Oliver Rohrbeck)
- 200? Fandom of the operator ISBN 1-84197-475-7 (read by Robert Rankin)
- 2005 The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse ISBN 0-7528-7308-3 (read by Robert Rankin)
- 200? Witches of Chiswick ISBN 1-84197-823-X (read by Robert Rankin)
- 2003 Knees up mother earth ISBN 1-84197-825-6 (read by Robert Rankin)
Awards
- British Fantasy Society The Brentford Chainstore Massacre was nominated for Best Novel in 1997.
- In SFX magazine , Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse won the 2003 award for best novel.
literature
- Neal Tringham: Rankin, Robert. In: John Clute , Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated August 12, 2018.
Web links
- Literature by and about Robert Fleming Rankin in the catalog of the German National Library
- Robert Rankin in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
- Works by and about Robert Fleming Rankin at Open Library
- Robert Rankin in Fantastic Fiction (English)
- Robert Rankin in Fancyclopedia 3 (English)
- Interview on Zone-sf
- Interview with Robert Rankin in Alien Contact No. 56
- Author presentation on Funny-Fantasy
- Far Fetched Books - The Robert Rankin eBook Collection
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Rankin, Robert Fleming |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British author of humorous novels |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 23, 1949 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Parsons Green, London |