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Before His Time
The eagerly awaited sequel to ‘ABOVE HIS STATION’…
The rat is back!
And so is the Station Guard in a pulse-pounding, consciousness-expanding, mind-bending, side-splitting adventure even more absurd that the last!!!
When the Station Guard found out that he wasn’t the last human being on Earth after all, his spirits naturally took flight…until he realised that he’d have to travel all the way to Switzerland to seek out the rest of his species and it’s ruddy cold there this time of year.
After a quick stop at Marks & Spencer to pick up some last minute essentials, the Guard and his rodent companion - aided by Astrid the articulate reticulated python - journey to a remote United Nations outpost in the Schöllenboden region.
But maybe Astrid’s calculations were a bit off…
And maybe they might not be where - or when - they thought they were…
And if they’re not careful maybe they might sort of accidentally end up triggering events that could potentially obliterate everything that ever existed and everything that ever will.
On the plus side, the rat gets its leg over.
‘BEFORE HIS TIME’ is more whacked out hilarity with a dollop of science fiction from the author of ‘The CORNELIUS QUAINT CHRONICLES’ and ‘The LANTERN MENACE’. Recommended only for readers of discerning tastes who enjoy laughing out loud in public places.
EXPLICIT CONTENT: Not suitable for Under 13’s as this book contains bad language and graphic descriptions of rodent intercourse.
The rat is back!
And so is the Station Guard in a pulse-pounding, consciousness-expanding, mind-bending, side-splitting adventure even more absurd that the last!!!
When the Station Guard found out that he wasn’t the last human being on Earth after all, his spirits naturally took flight…until he realised that he’d have to travel all the way to Switzerland to seek out the rest of his species and it’s ruddy cold there this time of year.
After a quick stop at Marks & Spencer to pick up some last minute essentials, the Guard and his rodent companion - aided by Astrid the articulate reticulated python - journey to a remote United Nations outpost in the Schöllenboden region.
But maybe Astrid’s calculations were a bit off…
And maybe they might not be where - or when - they thought they were…
And if they’re not careful maybe they might sort of accidentally end up triggering events that could potentially obliterate everything that ever existed and everything that ever will.
On the plus side, the rat gets its leg over.
‘BEFORE HIS TIME’ is more whacked out hilarity with a dollop of science fiction from the author of ‘The CORNELIUS QUAINT CHRONICLES’ and ‘The LANTERN MENACE’. Recommended only for readers of discerning tastes who enjoy laughing out loud in public places.
EXPLICIT CONTENT: Not suitable for Under 13’s as this book contains bad language and graphic descriptions of rodent intercourse.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 29, 2012
About the author
Darren Craske
27 books11 followersIllustrator & Author - THE QUAINT CHRONICLES, THE LANTERN MENACE, ABOVE HIS STATION, LEXI DRAKE, THE ARGONAUT'S ALMANAC and more.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 15, 2015
I read the first in this series a few months ago (review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), and so I had some expectations going in. I expected it to be funny, I expected it to be silly, and I expected it to have some editing issues. All these expectations were fulfilled.
The editing issues are easily fixed, and there isn't one on every page or anything, so let's move on to the funny. I enjoy the distinct voices of the station guard and the rat (the author pulls off the difficult move of never naming his main characters; the station guard almost introduces himself a couple of times, but never gets his name out before being interrupted, and the rat always calls him Gramps). The station guard is a semi-retired British public servant, inclined to go into trivial detail and state the obvious, but at the same time the embodiment of "keep calm and carry on". The rat is foul-mouthed and streetwise and dramatic. The banter between them is consequently hilarious.
There's a lot of silliness in the setting. Sharks are in fact fish, not mammals, contrary to what the intelligent python says early on, and wouldn't last very long at all out of water, let alone the several days that the station guard has been gone from London at the start of the book. The 18th-century backwoods Swiss village has a greenhouse, but a compass is apparently a mysterious object to them. A forest-dwelling 18th-century kobold talks about injections. Fortunately, having read the first book, I didn't go into this one expecting much resemblance between the setting and any aspect of the real world (though the author does claim to have done research on Swiss legendary beings, so good on him for that).
Pop culture references abound. The author doesn't just stop at references for the songs, though, but quotes large chunks of lyrics, which will get him a serious nastygram from Sony or Warners one of these days. There are small-minded, humourless people whose daily job is to persecute such culture-jamming, and if this book becomes at all successful (which it ought to, in my opinion) there will be trouble.
Above all, though, it's a fun light read, so if that's what you're looking for and you're not going to be picky about realism, this is a good book for you. Unless you're an IP lawyer for a music company, of course.
The author gave me a free copy of the book because of my previous review, in exchange for another honest review. I received no other consideration.
The editing issues are easily fixed, and there isn't one on every page or anything, so let's move on to the funny. I enjoy the distinct voices of the station guard and the rat (the author pulls off the difficult move of never naming his main characters; the station guard almost introduces himself a couple of times, but never gets his name out before being interrupted, and the rat always calls him Gramps). The station guard is a semi-retired British public servant, inclined to go into trivial detail and state the obvious, but at the same time the embodiment of "keep calm and carry on". The rat is foul-mouthed and streetwise and dramatic. The banter between them is consequently hilarious.
There's a lot of silliness in the setting. Sharks are in fact fish, not mammals, contrary to what the intelligent python says early on, and wouldn't last very long at all out of water, let alone the several days that the station guard has been gone from London at the start of the book. The 18th-century backwoods Swiss village has a greenhouse, but a compass is apparently a mysterious object to them. A forest-dwelling 18th-century kobold talks about injections. Fortunately, having read the first book, I didn't go into this one expecting much resemblance between the setting and any aspect of the real world (though the author does claim to have done research on Swiss legendary beings, so good on him for that).
Pop culture references abound. The author doesn't just stop at references for the songs, though, but quotes large chunks of lyrics, which will get him a serious nastygram from Sony or Warners one of these days. There are small-minded, humourless people whose daily job is to persecute such culture-jamming, and if this book becomes at all successful (which it ought to, in my opinion) there will be trouble.
Above all, though, it's a fun light read, so if that's what you're looking for and you're not going to be picky about realism, this is a good book for you. Unless you're an IP lawyer for a music company, of course.
The author gave me a free copy of the book because of my previous review, in exchange for another honest review. I received no other consideration.
August 28, 2013
I became a Darren Craske fan when I first read the first book in his Quaint series ages ago. I have now read several of his books and he has yet to disappoint me.
_Before His Time_ is another funny read following those characters I got to know in _Above His Station_. It had been a while since I'd read that one, so I've probably read a couple hundred books since and my brain doesn't let me remember much anymore. But the book did an excellent and humorous job of reminding me how we got to where we were.
I think I may have liked the first one a little better. But all that really "wasn't right for me" in this book was that the rat got a bit cruder than I tend to care for. But that's just me and not something wrong with the book.
I am also very happy in that this book had a proper satisfying ending. So many series today don't and it always bothers me. But this one ended properly then has a little teaser later for those who pay attention. I quite liked that.
So Before His Time is an excellent humorous read with a dose of mystery and suspense and plenty of unexpected happenings. Looking forward to seeing their further adventures in the next one!
_Before His Time_ is another funny read following those characters I got to know in _Above His Station_. It had been a while since I'd read that one, so I've probably read a couple hundred books since and my brain doesn't let me remember much anymore. But the book did an excellent and humorous job of reminding me how we got to where we were.
I think I may have liked the first one a little better. But all that really "wasn't right for me" in this book was that the rat got a bit cruder than I tend to care for. But that's just me and not something wrong with the book.
I am also very happy in that this book had a proper satisfying ending. So many series today don't and it always bothers me. But this one ended properly then has a little teaser later for those who pay attention. I quite liked that.
So Before His Time is an excellent humorous read with a dose of mystery and suspense and plenty of unexpected happenings. Looking forward to seeing their further adventures in the next one!
December 30, 2017
Excellent
A sequel to "above his station" featuring the station guard and the rat. I would happily adopt both of them! I won't say anything about the plot (you can read that yourself) but an absolutely brilliant book with oodles of humour. I love it
A sequel to "above his station" featuring the station guard and the rat. I would happily adopt both of them! I won't say anything about the plot (you can read that yourself) but an absolutely brilliant book with oodles of humour. I love it
August 9, 2013
Those of you paying attention will notice that this is the second book in a row to be reviewed by me here. If you’re very astute, you’ll notice it’s also the second book by the same author and the second book in his series, and… yes… well… anyway…
Before His Time follows the same two protagonists as those in Above His Station, and the action picks up right after the first book left off in the post-credits scene.
Yes, there’s a scene that shows up after the “thanks to…” and so on at the back of the book. There’s one in this book as well. One should be reading everything in a book, as there’s often surprize gifts in store.
As with the previous story, there’s not much I can say about this without giving a great deal of material away.
Had you been here watching me compose this, you’d have seen me pause a great length of time trying to work out how to carry on about this book without revealing much of anything. This is the problem with the book, if such a thing can be considered a ‘problem.’ The whole thing is so very tightly structured it’s much like an avalanche in that one tiny little thing leads irrevocably to the next thing and the next and so on and then one reveals the awful truth about Vader being Luke’s father and how he longs for the simplicity of playing with a sled in the snow when he was a child on Tatooine.
…or something.
I described the first book as not a normal one. Before His Time is even less normal, but even better written and and more fun yet. Darren Craske has successfully set-up a world for his characters in which anything can – and usually does – happen, and he allows them the freedom to stretch imaginations as a result.
As with ABOVE HIS STATION , Mr. Craske provides an entirely believable impossible series of events within a ordinary man and his faithful talking rat companion overcome all the dangers which the dæmons of Hell can muster variety of plot, with characters who nearly always behave in normal ways (when they don’t it’s always in a fashion that is loyal to the plot) in which we can invest our understanding and sympathy.
There’s a third book to come, apparently, presumably with a title beginning with the letter “c” and the word “His” in the middle of it. Personally I can’t wait to read that one as well.
Read all of his books. Darren Craske is the business.
BEFORE HIS TIME by Darren Craske, Dec 29, 2012; ISBN: 1230000148553
EXPLICIT CONTENT: Not suitable for those under 13, as this book contains bad language and graphic descriptions of rodent intercourse.
Before His Time follows the same two protagonists as those in Above His Station, and the action picks up right after the first book left off in the post-credits scene.
Yes, there’s a scene that shows up after the “thanks to…” and so on at the back of the book. There’s one in this book as well. One should be reading everything in a book, as there’s often surprize gifts in store.
As with the previous story, there’s not much I can say about this without giving a great deal of material away.
Had you been here watching me compose this, you’d have seen me pause a great length of time trying to work out how to carry on about this book without revealing much of anything. This is the problem with the book, if such a thing can be considered a ‘problem.’ The whole thing is so very tightly structured it’s much like an avalanche in that one tiny little thing leads irrevocably to the next thing and the next and so on and then one reveals the awful truth about Vader being Luke’s father and how he longs for the simplicity of playing with a sled in the snow when he was a child on Tatooine.
…or something.
I described the first book as not a normal one. Before His Time is even less normal, but even better written and and more fun yet. Darren Craske has successfully set-up a world for his characters in which anything can – and usually does – happen, and he allows them the freedom to stretch imaginations as a result.
As with ABOVE HIS STATION , Mr. Craske provides an entirely believable impossible series of events within a ordinary man and his faithful talking rat companion overcome all the dangers which the dæmons of Hell can muster variety of plot, with characters who nearly always behave in normal ways (when they don’t it’s always in a fashion that is loyal to the plot) in which we can invest our understanding and sympathy.
There’s a third book to come, apparently, presumably with a title beginning with the letter “c” and the word “His” in the middle of it. Personally I can’t wait to read that one as well.
Read all of his books. Darren Craske is the business.
BEFORE HIS TIME by Darren Craske, Dec 29, 2012; ISBN: 1230000148553
EXPLICIT CONTENT: Not suitable for those under 13, as this book contains bad language and graphic descriptions of rodent intercourse.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews