Product Description

It was something to do with the cycles of history, the way great civilizations rise and fall. Few people noticed the changes at first, and by the time everyone realized, it was too late. Earth had left behind the age of science and reason and moved into a time of myth, legend, wizardry and heroes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193526 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 617 pages

From the Back Cover
Few people noticed it at first. The changes. They were subtle to begin with. Like when the Leader of the Opposition challenged the PM to step outside and settle things man to man. And the PM agreed. Or the way the baked ham rose up against Dave while he was standing in the check-out queue at Budgens. Small things. But they just kept getting bigger. And by the time everyone realised that something very strange was going on, it was all too late.

The Earth had left behind the age of science and reason and moved once more into a time of myth. A time of legend and heroes. Of romance and wizardry and wonder. It was time to take the mother of all giant leaps and enter - The Garden of Unearthly Delights.

About the Author
Robert Rankin
Robert Rankin is the author of Web Site Story, Waiting for Godalming, Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls, Snuff Fiction, Apocalypso, The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag, Sprout Mask Replica, Nostradamus Ate My Hamster, A Dog Called Demolition, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived, The Greatest Show Off Earth, Raiders of the Lost Car Park, The Book of Ultimate Truths, the Armageddon quartet (three books), and the Brentford trilogy (five books) which are all published by Corgi Books. Robert Rankin's latest novel, The Fandom of the Operator, is now available as a Doubleday hardback.

Customer Reviews

A brilliant book
The person who said this book reads like a trip on acid was spot on which is a bit daft of me to say since I've never tried acid but anyway...

This book was my introduction to Robert Rankin. I read it for the first time in '96 and I recently re-read it. And it was just as enjoyable as the first time.

Due to a reality fracture the world leaves the age of science and enters the time of legends and myths where the formerly chronically unemployed (and for some mysterious reason recipient of the Queen's Award for Industry award) Maxwell Karrion finds himself Max Carrion, Imagineer. Carrion has to set out on a quest to do the bidding of an evil magician and here he encounters such things as traveling TVs, a bus whorshipping cult, news crumpets and barrack-room smut dressed up as arcane knight-speak.

I've only read two other books by Rankin and they were rather disappointing compared to this one ('The Greatest Show off Earth', 'Apocalypso'). I have high hopes for the Brentford books, however. Anyway, my advice is that if you haven't read anything by Robert Rankin before you could do a lot worse than starting with this one.

Brilliant new-reader friendly comic fantasy
Robert Rankin's 12th novel, and only his second (after The Greatest Show Off Earth) that isn't part of a series, The Garden of Unearthly Delights is a perfect introduction to this comedy genius. Normally Rankin keeps one foot in reality (or at least Brentford), but this novel finds him tackling the sort of pure fantasy satire of early Terry Pratchett (though obviously rather more unhinged). The novel doesn't start particularly strongly however, as the initial pages of hero Max Karrien waking up a century in the future in a world that has shifted out of a scientific age into a fantasy age are very rambling. Max gets into some amusing scrapes with a bunch of On The Buses cultists and has a disastrous attempt to re-introduce advertising via electricity-free man-sized 'live action' TV's, but these seem to be sketches in search of a plot. Unlike his previous 'double-team' novels (Cornelius & Tuppe, Omally & Pooley, Raymond & Simon etc) Rankin also only has one hero here, so the novel sticks with Max Karrien on every page in a very linear fashion, and with no cutaways his aimless wanderings start to become a little boring.

Thankfully after a hundred pages of this the plot finally kicks into gear, as Max has his soul stolen by a magician, and is sent on a quest to recover a mechanical woman to save his life. From here on in The Garden of Unearthly Delights is pretty much flawless, as Max encounters such various threats as the rat-like Skaven (freely nicked by Rankin from the Warhammer games) and a very Monty Python-ish section where a bunch of effete knights use such impenetrable vernacular as "Me thinks Lord Percy has a swidgen for a billydock". Rankin wraps his plot up with some fantastic twists, as the true nature of this new fantasy world is revealed, and Max's vital contribution in the books early chapters makes for a clever dénouement as Rankin reveals just what is going on.

The early aimlessness of the novel just stops it from getting the full five stars, but The Garden of Unearthly Delights is still a treat - one of Rankin's best book, and a perfect one for new-comers to try out, especially Pratchett fans looking for something smuttier, more inventive, and funnier...

Underated book by an underated author.
This is an incredible book, in that it appears to re-write itself every time you read it, and reads like a fantastical trip on acid. This is probably not for the Rankin virgin, but is a true tour-de-force for afficionados. A great example of his uniqueness in the world of fiction - marvellous.