Retromancer / Robert Rankin

Retromancer

category: fantasy, author:

Robert Rankin

a sequel? to... ??(*)
published by Gollancz,
original copyright 2009, read in September 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

There's a lot of good humour in this -- I mean, it's funny -- but the plot just drifts. Then it drops into self-reference.

There's an interesting style of writing, it strikes me as a variant of the Scarlet Pimpernel style of Gadzooks, old chap! Occasionally interrupts the flow of reading but it's unique. And adds to the fun of the book.

The characters are overdrawn -- for humour. The humour is generally funny, nothing cruel. There are puns and situational jokes and humorous references to reality. Including some slightly pointed comments on society. All very entertaining. But not -- to me -- uproariously, laugh-out-loud funny.

There is not so much a "plot", as a loosely linked series of comic sketches. The heroes must tackle a dozen cases... It's a mystical requirement, apparently. Or, rather, a way in which the author can simplify his writing: twelve short adventures rather than one major story.

Yes, there is a loose link between most of the adventures. I was pleased to see that the apparently casual discovery in chapter one was put to good use at the end of the book. As far as solving puzzles, however... the know-all character simply knows the solution. Which would be fine -- if there were a bit more explanation of how he knew.

Then there's the self-reference.

Is that idea any good for a running gag? asks the first-person narrator. Is the beer-name running gag wearing thin? he wonders. Is this poor writing technique? Or is the author afraid that we missed the gag...

Retromancer is easy to read. I would be happy to read more of Rankin's books. Retromancer is easy to read. The humour is often very clever. The book is just not all that good.

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(*) Rankin's humour appears to extend to his "Also by Robert Rankin" list... There's every indication -- within Retromancer itself -- that it is a sequel to (or possibly a completion of) the adventure begun in The Brightonomicon. I'm just not sure where truth ends and humour begins!

..o0o..

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