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patti_pinguin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
tandemjon's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, it's such fun and so silly. It doesn't bother sticking to rules for books and just throws in characters from the real world for fun, making up adventures for them and generally having a fabulous time name dropping and planting loads of in jokes that I'm sure I only managed to half find. it's almost a book equivalent of a Carry On Film
branch_c's review
3.0
Yeah, like I said in my review of Year Zero, sense of humor is a tricky thing, so it might not be fair to criticize this book just because I didn't find it nearly as hilarious as I should have. Sure, it was mildly amusing, but never laugh-out-loud funny to me.
My three stars, then, are really for the story, a wild adventure of an alternate British Empire and aliens that reminded me of Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman, and for the characters, who are interesting and eccentric. I especially liked the portrayal of Ada Lovelace as a steampunk "girl adventurer" and also the way Professor Coffin's true nature is only subtly obvious at first.
But clearly Rankin's popularity and following are based largely on his humor, and as I said, this kind of fell flat for me. It's not so much that he writes humorous situations, but rather that the writing itself is supposed to amuse us, mostly with repeated stylistic quirks - but I'm afraid these were more irritating to me than funny.
This was the first I've read by him, so I might be open to trying one of his others at some point, but I won't be actively seeking them out.
My three stars, then, are really for the story, a wild adventure of an alternate British Empire and aliens that reminded me of Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman, and for the characters, who are interesting and eccentric. I especially liked the portrayal of Ada Lovelace as a steampunk "girl adventurer" and also the way Professor Coffin's true nature is only subtly obvious at first.
But clearly Rankin's popularity and following are based largely on his humor, and as I said, this kind of fell flat for me. It's not so much that he writes humorous situations, but rather that the writing itself is supposed to amuse us, mostly with repeated stylistic quirks - but I'm afraid these were more irritating to me than funny.
This was the first I've read by him, so I might be open to trying one of his others at some point, but I won't be actively seeking them out.
nadyaduck's review against another edition
3.0
I always love a bit of Robert Rankin, and I got the honour of purchasing this title directly from the man himself.
I enjoyed this tale of adventure and romance and monkeys and planet wars.
I want to dress up as Ada.
I enjoyed this tale of adventure and romance and monkeys and planet wars.
I want to dress up as Ada.
woolfardis's review against another edition
3.0
molokov's review against another edition
4.0
Robert Rankin is usually very hit and miss, and his narration style is so haphazard that it can be rather disconcerting in many of his books. That being said, this book is actually much more linear and conventional in narrational style which makes it surprisingly readable! At least the first half of it had me wanting to read more, and the latter half makes for a rather over the top, fun complication and climax. Although definitely resolved with a /literal/ deus ex machina (even acknowledged within in the text itself), this is one of Rankin's better works (in terms of style).
science_fiction_al's review
4.0
Frolicking through Victorian London with the whimsy of a monkey butler and little regard for historical accuracy. A steampunk gem that will have you guffawing at every turn.
brandur's review
3.0
Great steampunk story with one of the most well-imagined backstories of all time -- H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds narrated a real event. A little heavy on the deus ex machina, but a great read all the same.
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