2005; 404 pages. The eighth book in the "Brentford Trilogy" series. Yeah, I know; that's an oxymoron. Awards : Nominated for the British Fantasy Society's "Best Novel" in 2006. Genre : Humor, Fantasy. Overall Rating : 9*/10.
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Young Rizla, who is suffering from amnesia after being tossed off a pier and drowning, signs on with his deliverer, one Hugo Rune; a.k.a. the Logos of the Aeon, The Guru's Guru, The Mumbo Gumshoe, The Hocus Bloke, and (perhaps most notably) The Reinventor of the Ocarina.
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Their quest - to locate and retrieve the Chronovision, a device that resembles a television set, with which it is possible, when tuned to someone's personal frequency, to witness any events that happened in the past through the eyes of that person.
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To do this, they need to solve 12 cases in and around Brighton, among which are retrieving a lost spaniel, thwarting the nefarious plans of alien space crabs, and finding the last descendant of Jesus Christ at a Heavy Metal concert.
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What's To Like...
Rizla plays Dr. Watson to Rune's Sherlock Holmes, spoofing that duo's case-solving talents. There are cool side characters to meet, such as Count Otto Black (the UE), and Fangio, who inexplicably is the bartender at every pub and restaurant our heroes stop at. Indeed, Fangio is just one of many "running gags" that Rankin uses throughout his books. You can see a more complete list of these at Wikipedia's article on Rankin here, where you can also see the titles of the rest of his books, which are cleverly hilarious.
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There are cool literary tips-of-the-hat, such as a minor character named Kilgore Sprout (hello, Kurt Vonnegut). And of course, the title itself references H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon.
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But what makes this book so good is the dialogue and the countless anecdotal asides, which will have you reading the book slowly so you don't miss any of the subtleties.
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You should know the book is written in "English", not "American", and that there are a lot of British references that may leave you stymied. I had a hard time figuring out what a Blue Peter presenter is, who Kathleen Maltwood was (and how she figures into this story), and where to find a Fortnum's Hamper.
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Kewl New Words...
Some of these are Britishisms. Hob : A kitchen shelf on which to keep kettles, etc. Raddling : Unkempt or rundown in appearance. Bonce : Slang for one's head. Insalubrious : Unhealthful; unwholesome. Toff : Slang for a member of the Upper Class; a fop. Charabanc : a sight-seeing bus. Amanuensis : An assistant who takes dictation. Remonstrate : To argue in protest or opposition. Salubrious : Opposite of insalubrious (see above).
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Excerpts...
"That's what we fought for," said Fangio. "That and the silk stockings, of course. Not to mention the powdered egg."
"The powdered egg?" I queried.
"I told you not to mention that. Kindly get out of my bar." (pg. 45)
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I did not have to travel far to find the rooms of Professor Nestor. He occupied those that were above the rooms that Mr. Rune and I occupied, which were below his, which were, in turn, above ours. (pg. 126)
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The lounge was long and low and lost in a dream that was forever yesterday. The chrome shone like oil beads on a Chevy's tail fin and the guy who stood behind the counter copped me a glance like he was whistling 'Dixie' through the wrong end of a clarinet. I crossed the bar with more aplomb than a pagan pedal-pusher at a podophiliac's picnic and acquainted myself with my favourite barstool. (pg 151).
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The worm of time turns not for the cuckoo of circumstance. (pg. 93).
Despite being part of a series, this is a stand-alone book. Robert Rankin is a great new author to get acquainted with, but it's hard to find his books. He's well-liked in Great Britain, but somehow hasn't "jumped the pond" just yet. I give The Brightonomicon nine stars, only because the cases themselves got a bit repetitive after a while. The other book of his that I've found is The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. How can you go wrong with a title like that?
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