Product Description

They wrote it off as a scare story. The Millennium Bug was the non-event of the 20th century. But they were wrong, because the bug was real. It's a computer virus and it's about to do a deadly species cross-over, from machine to mankind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #251715 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 380 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Robert Rankin claims he's invented a whole new literary genre, "Far-Fetched Fiction", and his latest novel Web Site Story certainly fits the description. Again science fiction, fantasy and low comedy collide in that most mythic region of the Rankin cosmology, Brentford.

The eternal city has many aspects, each dafter than the last. This time it's joy, joy, happy joy in utopian 2022 Brentford, transformed by the teachings of Hugo Rune (The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived) and advanced but nevertheless deeply silly holistic footgear. Every Eden has a serpent, though, and the sinister Mute Corp computers which have replaced PCs can give you the real Millennium Bug:

The Black Death was spread by rats.

But this plague will be spread by a mouse.

The computer mouse.

Symptoms include amnesia--bringing a Brentford Magical History bus tour to a most peculiar end--and then disappearance. Can this be the Rapture, with virtuous Brentfordians translated bodily to heaven in the world's last days? Or can it be (for Rankin is having fun with slippery realities like Philip K Dick's) that the world has already ended?

Incredibly sexy girl investigator Kelly, master of the deadly art of Dimac, brushes off various males panting after her body as she penetrates the suburb's unlikely cyber secrets. Suitably off-the-wall set pieces follow, the most farcical being a pub poetry night that turns into a colossal punch-up. Zippy one-liners abound, and terrible old jokes stagger zombie-like from their graves--not to mention the running gags. (All together now: "I told you not to mention the running gags!") Very indescribable, very Rankin. --David Langford

Review
'One of the rare guys who can always make me laugh.' Terry Pratchett.; 'To call Rankin irreverent doesn't begin to describe just how good he is at playing with the rules' Mirror.; 'Rankin does for England what Spike Milligan does for Ireland. There can be no higher praise." Mail on Sunday.; 'Everybody should at least read one Rankin in their life' Daily Express.; 'He becomes funnier the more you read him' Independent.

From the Back Cover
They wrote it off as a scare story. The Millennium Bug, the non-event of the twentieth century. But they were wrong, because the Bug was real. Is real. It's a computer virus and it's about to make the deadly species cross-over, from machine to mankind. The Black Death was spread by rats. But this plague will be spread by a mouse. The computer mouse. And do you know how many different kinds of computer viruses there are? And just what they do? And just what they might do to you if you become infected? No? Then read this book and learn the terrible truth.

Or perhaps you'd rather take a holiday in Brentfordland(r)? Formerly known as Brentford, this Thamesside Shangri La is now London's first ever suburban theme park and holiday village. A world of excitement, relaxation and fabulous fun, waiting just for you. To find out more, log on to the Brentfordland(r) web site. Just give your computer mouse a wiggle.

Go on.

What harm can it do?

Customer Reviews

The Matrix.... Rankin style!!!
This book is not one of RR's better works but when you consider the competition it's up against it still deserves 4 stars. If you're new to his work start with something else and work your way up to this one.

The new millenium has come and gone without a problem, or has it? Who is in control? What exactly is going on? And why hasn't it affected the good folk of Brentford?

Another Rankin story of good vs evil, man vs machine, Brentonians vs the forces of darkness. As usual, Rankin takes a little while to get going (this one probably moreso than others) but don't let that put you off. There are running gags aplenty, obscure references to 70's console games, a classic Brentonian character or two and all the local pubs, a holographic creature from Griffin Island, not to mention the Rapture!!!

and everything.

Very enjoyable, if a bit shallow in places.
I'd read two of Rankin's books before getting around to this one - I found 'The Antipope' very difficult to get into, although it got a lot better towards the end and 'Waiting for Godalming' was rather better (and funnier, IMO).

Of the three books I've read so far, Website Story is by far the best, and manages to be both anachronistic (in the case of Brentford and its denizens) and futuristic (as in Mute Corp - I'm sure that any resemblance to another large computer company whose name begins with M is purely coincidental :-) ), and both serious and laugh-out loud funny, something which can't really be said of the other Rankin books I've read.

People seem fond of comparing Rankin to Terry Pratchett, which isn't really fair to either author. Rankin loses out in terms of writing style, which is often annoyingly disjointed, and character development which is often non-existent. The latter opinion may be revised after I read more of his books (as I most certainly will) but 'Website Story' suffers in that apart from the hero and heroine of the book, there seem to be a lot of bit-part roles.

Criticisms aside, this is very good and often very funny book and a good introduction to Rankin's often off-kilter style, but if you're expecting Pratchett-type material then you may well be disappointed.

New territory, but a bit muddled.
After an undeservedly lukewarm response for his last effort "Waiting for Godalming", Rankin returns with a Brentford tale, set 21 years into the future, and incorporating a vague tongue-in-cheek Matrix homage somewhere in the mix.

Set around the mysterious Mute Corp and three Brentfordians investigation into the mysterious Mute chips and their link to a strange vanishing plague that is haunting Brentford, this story has the usual humour and whimsy of Rankin's books, but seems a little confused in its storytelling and needs more concentration than many of his previous works.

Still, it's fresh and more than entertaining, and certainly earns its place among his greater works.