Robert Fleming Rankin

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Robert Rankin 2004

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

  • 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

The Witches of Chiswick trilogy

Individual works

The trilogy that dare not speak its name trilogy

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

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

Web links

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