Borribles: wonderful YA fantasy novel in a new edition
I just spotted this new edition of Michael de Larrabeiti's stunning young adult novel The Borribles, packaged to attract a new generation of kids to this marvellous, unflinching story of unrepentant sly criminal immortal children romping through the invisible belowstairs world of London. This is, hands, down, my all-time favorite young adult series. How wonderful!
The Borribles (Book 1)What is a Borrible? Borribles are runaways who dwell in the shadows of London. Apart from their pointed ears, they look just like ordinary children. They live by their wits and a few Borrible laws-the chief one being, Don't Get Caught! The Borribles are outcasts-but they wouldn't have it any other way....
One night, the Borribles of Battersea discover a Rumble-one of the giant, rat-shaped creatures who are their ancient enemy-in their territory. Fearing an invasion, an elite group of Borrible fighters set out on what will become known in legend as The Great Rumble Hunt. So begins the first of the three epic adventures in Michael de Larrabeiti's classic trilogy, where excitement, violence, low cunning, greed, generosity, treachery, and bravery exist side by side.
the latest
latest episodes
The "Rumbles" are of course a parody of Elizabeth Beresford's eco-friendly "Wombles" - see the Wiki entry at The Wombles
cheers,
Mike
Just bought these to replace my dog-eared copies from long-ago. Really fun reads, not just for young adults either. I think the best description I've seen is "Clockwork Orange meets Watership Down." Seem tailor-made for a film adaption (Del Toro, get on the ball!).
The Borribles... such a great, odd series.
The covers certainly got me interested in reading the series!
The covers are by Chris Sickels, who is an absolutely amazing old skool 3-D illustrator. He builds puppets and sets and photographs them.
His website is http://rednosestudio.com/
There are illustrations at http://www.magnetreps.com/portfolio/artist/3/type/a/ that don't appear at Sickels' main site.
Be ready to spend a few pleasant hours just goggling at how gorgeous and evocative his pieces are.
(Sickels has been a big influence on my recent work.)
I loved these as a kid, they cast a unique spell. Great to see them in a new version, they're underappreciated, as are The Chronicles of Prydain (my favorite).
I like the old covers better, they were fantastic. But honestly? Anything that keeps the Borribles in print is fine by me. I only wish that there had been more books. This, of course, means I'll have to search out my copies and reread the series again.
Oh the horror! ;)
I enjoyed these too (and may still have them somewhere). Part of the enjoyment was that I always saw the Rumbles as a sort of parody (through the glass darkly) of the Wombles. The Wombles was a British TV kids series of the 70s of furry, pointed nosed creatures building a life out of the cast-offs they manage to scavenge from humans (based on my memory). Cute, furry. Nothing at all like the Rumbles, of course.
The Borribles -- I hated this book as a kid. Everything was set up for them to win. I mean, they fight thousands of giant rats and none of the Borribles die? Come on! I was rooting for the rats by the end.
I never knew there was a third book! Damn, I can't wait!
Pardon my pimping -- but if anyone's interested, I did a critical piece on this series a little while ago. There's an image of a page from the working draft of the shovel fight in The Borribles Go For Broke near the bottom -- you can see the revisions right there on the page.
And for my money, that shovel fight is the best fight scene ever. Sorry, Swelter and Flay -- you'll just have to try harder.
http://seancraven.blogspot.com/2008/12/crit-list-1-borribles.html
Periodically reminding people about the Borribles is an excellent public service. By all means keep it up.
I know a guy who's planning on writing a Borribles fanfic sometime. Well, technically, he's been writing a larger fanfic series with the protagonist bouncing from universe to universe, and there's a Borribles section in the works. (Part 9, if you're curious, but given that he's only done parts 2 and 5 so far and part 13 is next, God only knows when he'll get to 9.)
I always thought that "the Rumbles of Rumbledom" said by a sobbing Rumble who couldn't say his 'R's and called himself a "wumble" was a bit of a giveaway.
I'd send Tobermory and Orinoco around to give him a bit of harden up training.
Yes, if you remember the Wombles, then you will get a thousand times more out of the Borribles... at least the first book. As I remember it, from when I was a kid, the highlight of the later books was a policeman picking his nose. But perhaps I was a poor reader back then. Perhaps I still am.
Thanks for posting this, Cory. I loved the Borribles and it's good to be reminded of these books. Not your typical children's fare, thank goodness.
This might seem odd, but bear with me -
This series sounds like a nigh perfect indoctrination material to get people to dig the World of Darkness RPGs... It's sooo easy to explain Werewolf The Forsaken and Changeling The Lost to someone who has read these books...
if you live in the US, don't forget to burn all your vintage pre-85 copies in your local community bonfire
about this ban on kids' books, that took effect on the 10th, according to this article
http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html
Hi, some of you may not know that sadly, Michael passed away last year after a long battle with cancer. I was fortunate enough to be invited to his home and interview him a few months before his death; at the time I was unaware of how ill he was.
James Benstead, the publisher from Tallis House, which is now managing Michael's estate, alerted me to this article, thanks to all for keeping the memory of Michael's wonderful work alive.
In conversation with Michael Larrabeiti, along with some pics of the day.
Announcement of Michael's passing on my blog including links to online chapters of The Borribles.
My write-up of Michael's funeral.
I have it pencilled in to write an article about the recent republication of Michael's as yet unrecognised masterpiece, Journal of a Sad Hermaphrodite, which is, apart from its engaging plot and narrative, akin to a travel guide through the world of poetry, available with a brand new cover on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com
A singular man and a gifted and still under-appreciated writer who died feeling as though he had never achieved the acclaim he rightly deserved, and is sadly missed by his family, friends and fans.