Robert Rankin

Last updated

Robert Rankin
Born (1949-07-27) 27 July 1949 (age 74)
Parsons Green, London, England
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Period1981–present
GenreFar fetched fiction

Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with Snuff Fiction in 1999, by which time his previous eighteen books had sold around one million copies. [1] [2] His books are a mix of science fiction, fantasy, the occult, urban legends, running gags, metafiction, steampunk and outrageous characters. According to the (largely fictional) biography printed in some Corgi editions of his books, Rankin refers to his style as 'Far Fetched Fiction' in the hope that bookshops will let him have a section to himself. Many of Rankin's books are bestsellers.

Contents

Most of Rankin's books are set in Brentford, a suburb of London where the author grew up, and which, in his novels, is usually infested with alien conspiracies and ancient evil.

In addition to his novels, Rankin held a position as the Writer in Residence of Brentford's Watermans Arts Centre during the 1980s, [3] and organised a regular poetry event there which he claims was the largest in Britain. [4] He also has performed on stage with bands.

Rankin's fan club, The Order of the Golden Sprout (named after Rankin's fixation with the vegetable), maintain a website and arrange events, many around Brentford. [5] In 2009 he was created the first Fellow of The Victorian Steampunk Society in recognition of his contribution to the genre. [6] He lives in Brighton with his wife, Dr. Rachel Hayward-Rankin.

During 2012, Rankin published his first 23 novels (up to and including Fandom of the Operator) on Kindle through his own publishing enterprise, Far Fetched Books, with new cover artwork, making them available to a wider audience, despite many of them being out of print.

Bibliography

Anthologies containing stories by Robert Rankin

Short stories

Illustrated works

Awards

Other media

In 2008, The Brightonomicon was adapted into a 13-part full-cast audio drama by Hokus Bloke Productions and BBC Audiobooks starring David Warner, Andy Serkis, Jason Isaacs, Ben Miller, Rupert Degas, Mark Wing-Davey, Martin Jarvis and Sarah Douglas. Initially released as a 7-CD boxset and as a digital download, the series has now been re-edited for radio transmission, and Robert's first ever radio series aired on BBC7 from 23 August to 15 November 2008. Rankin has also had his novel The Antipope dramatised for audio, and has also read unabridged versions of many of his novels as audiobooks. He recorded eleven of his titles for Audible. His free, full colour webcomic called Robert Rankin's Empires for Beyond Reality Media in New Zealand, can be viewed online, and illustrated work Alice on Mars will also be released via the same website.

Art and illustration

Rankin studied at Ealing School of Art, where he was a contemporary of Freddie Mercury and Alan Lee. He worked for Playboy magazine and illustrated a book about The Beatles before his portfolio was stolen and he abandoned the idea of working as a professional illustrator. [10] However he created many of the sculptures which feature on his book covers, many of which were on display at The Collection, a gallery in Lincoln during September 2010. [11] Some of these works were previously exhibited in Waterstones, Brighton, and at Gunnersbury Park Museum in 2007-8. [12] In 2009 Rankin was commissioned by his publisher to provide a series of new illustrations for his back catalogue of books (from The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse to the present), he also created new internal illustrations for The Brightonomicon , Retromancer and The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions. A cartoon by Rankin "The Robot and the Elongated Author" was published in Issue 13 of Murky Depths , and 2010 also saw the publication of his first illustrated book, written by Neil Gardner, The Bumper Book of Ficts, which was launched on 18 September 2010 in Brentford. [13] A limited hard-back edition of Empires was launched in the UK mid-2012 which is now sold out. In July 2013 Rankin's own publishing house Far-Fetched Books launched Alice on Mars, in a limited edition of 3000; this book is being made into a full-length feature film by award-winning independent film-maker Martin Gooch. [14] July 2014 saw the release of his next illustrated book, The Divine Commodore, also published by Far-Fetched Books in a limitied run of 3000. [15] He has recently completed writing his memoirs which were published in the autumn of 2015 under the title I,Robert.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Moorcock</span> English writer, editor, critic (born 1939)

Michael John Moorcock is an English–American writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, which were a seminal influence on the field of fantasy in the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steampunk</span> Science fiction genre inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American "Wild West", where steam power remains in mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.

The Brentford Trilogy is a series of twelve novels by writer Robert Rankin. They humorously chronicle the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of West London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff VanderMeer</span> American writer (born 1968)

Jeff VanderMeer is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. The trilogy's first novel, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, and was adapted into a Hollywood film by director Alex Garland. Among VanderMeer's other novels are Shriek: An Afterword and Borne. He has also edited with his wife Ann VanderMeer such influential and award-winning anthologies as The New Weird, The Weird, and The Big Book of Science Fiction.

Ian Irvine is an Australian fantasy and eco-thriller author and marine scientist. To date Irvine has written 27 novels, including fantasy, eco-thrillers and books for children. He has had books published in at least 12 countries and continues to write full-time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Stroud</span> British author

Jonathan Anthony Stroud is a British writer of fantasy fiction, best known for the Bartimaeus young adult sequence and Lockwood & Co. children's series. His books are typically set in an alternative history London with fantasy elements, and have received note for his satire, and use of magic to reflect themes of class struggle. The Bartimaeus sequence is the recipient of the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards. Stroud's works have also been featured on ALA Notable lists of books for children and young adults. In 2020, Netflix announced a TV series based on Lockwood & Co., with filming initiated in July 2021.

Mel Odom is an American writer known primarily for science fiction and fantasy novels set in existing properties.

<i>The Brightonomicon</i> 2005 novel by Robert Rankin

The Brightonomicon is a novel by British fantasy author Robert Rankin. The title parodies that of the fictional grimoire Necronomicon from the Cthulhu Mythos. The author lives in Brighton, England, and the book is set in an accurate fictional depiction of the town. The book is based on "The Brighton Zodiac", a map consisting of carriageway constellations found in the city of Brighton and Hove, similar to the purported landscape zodiacs of Glastonbury and Kingston. The 2010 edition features a new cover design and internal illustrations by Rankin himself, who studied at the Ealing School of Art and worked briefly as an illustrator in the 1970s.

<i>The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse</i>

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is Rankin's 24th novel and his first for new publishers Gollancz. It is set in Toy City, a place where toys are alive and the characters from nursery rhymes are local celebrities. It is followed by a sequel, "The Toyminator". The novel is expanded from a throwaway line in Rankin's previous novel The Fandom of the Operator, which refers to recurring character Lazlo Woodbine investigating the murder of nursery rhyme characters in Toy City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Holdstock</span> British fantasy and science fiction author (1948–2009)

Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.

<i>The Antipope</i> Novel by Robert Rankin

The Antipope is a comic fantasy novel by the British author Robert Rankin. It is Rankin's first novel, and the first book in the Brentford Trilogy which, as of 2020, consists of 10 novels. The book was first published in 1981 by Pan Books, and from 1991 by Corgi books, an imprint of Transworld Publishers. Although typically found in the science fiction section of bookshops, it is a difficult novel to categorise; Rankin himself joked that he wanted to create a new genre of fiction, called "Far Fetched Fiction", so that he would have his own bookshelf in Smiths.

Lazlo Woodbine is a fictional character in some of Robert Rankin's novels. He is generally portrayed as a metafictional character, being in the novels themselves the creation of mystery writer P.P. Penrose and described by himself as the last of the nineteen-fifties private detectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Harland</span> Australian writer

Richard Harland is an Australian fantasy and science fiction writer, academic, and performance artist, living in New South Wales, Australia. He was born in Huddersfield, United Kingdom and migrated to Australia in 1970. Throughout his authorship career, he has published 17 full-length works of fiction, three academic books, short stories and poems.

<i>Safehold</i> Fictional world by David Weber

Safehold is a science fiction book series by David Weber, currently consisting of ten titles, the latest released in January 2019. The series is mostly set around the 31st century, on a distant world dubbed "Safehold" where a group of humans are in hiding from the Gbaba, an alien enemy responsible for the end of all other human civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Sullivan (author)</span> American novelist

Michael J. Sullivan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling American writer of epic fantasy and science fiction, best known for his debut series The Riyria Revelations, which has been translated into fourteen languages. In 2012 io9 named him one of the "Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors". His books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Czech, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian, Japanese, Georgian, Bulgarian, Russian, Portuguese, Italian and Turkish.

Lian Tanner is an Australian children's author who lives in southern Tasmania.

Jonathan Green is a freelance writer. He has written for various science fiction and fantasy franchises, including Doctor Who, Fighting Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 game universes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Broaddus</span> American novelist

Maurice Broaddus is an American author who has published fiction across a number of genres including young adult, horror, fantasy and science fiction. Among his books are The Knights of Breton Court urban fantasy trilogy from Angry Robot, the steampunk novel Pimp My Airship from Apex Publications, and the young adult novel The Usual Suspects from HarperCollins. His Afrofuturist space trilogy Astra Black will be released by Tor Books beginning in March, 2022. He has also published dozens of short stories in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Black Static, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Weird Tales along with anthologies including Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy and Sunspot Jungle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Maxey</span> American author

James Maxey is an American author best known for his work in the fields of science fiction and fantasy. He has won the Phobos Award, been nominated for the WSFA Small Press Award, is a 2015 Piedmont Laureate, and reprinted in the Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. In addition to writing fiction, Maxey has also reviewed novels for the online magazine InterGalactic Medicine Show (IGMS), and appeared on panels and taught workshops at numerous conventions on the east coast. He currently lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife, Cheryl.

Craig Odell, better known by his pen name Craig Alanson, is an American author and audio playwright of science fiction and fantasy works, most notably the New York Times best-selling Expeditionary Force series.

References

  1. James Shields (1 January 1970). "Robert Rankin Interview". Sproutlore. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  2. Australian dollar (25 July 2006). "The Witches of Chiswick (Gollancz S.F.), Robert Rankin". Fishpond.com.au. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  3. Watermans | About :: Our Approach History Archived 29 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Birminghan Science Fiction Group to host Robert Rankin 8th April". Birmingham Writers’ Group. Birmingham Writers’ Group. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. "Order of the Golden Sprout". Thegoldensprout.com. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Fellows of the Victorian Steampunk Society". VSS. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. "Normanghast". The Rankins. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Robert Rankin". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  9. "The Hub Awards, 2008". Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  10. Bizarre Magazine, September 2010
  11. [ dead link ]
  12. "Robert Rankin, The Brentford Triangle". Hounslow Chronicle. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  13. "Robert Rankin". Ja-jp.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  14. "Alice on Mars | Far Fetched Books". Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  15. "The Divine Commodore | Far Fetched Books". www.farfetchedbooks.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2022.