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The Borrible Trilogy #1-3
The Borrible Trilogy
A small group of feral, street-wise Peter-Pan-type beings set out on three very different but related missions across the darker side of London. They are missions combining excitement, violence, low cunning, betrayal, loyalty, greed, generosity, cowardice and insane bravery.
This is an epic fantasy adventure that is both thought-provoking and thrilling until the very last second, set against the backdrop of an all too familiar yet weirdly different urban landscape.
For the first time, Michael de Larrabeiti's much-loved, classic novels The Borribles, The Borribles Go for Broke and Across the Dark Metropolis are brought together in one book.
This is an epic fantasy adventure that is both thought-provoking and thrilling until the very last second, set against the backdrop of an all too familiar yet weirdly different urban landscape.
For the first time, Michael de Larrabeiti's much-loved, classic novels The Borribles, The Borribles Go for Broke and Across the Dark Metropolis are brought together in one book.
726 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2002
About the author
Michael de Larrabeiti
29 books37 followersMichael de Larrabeiti was an English novelist and travel writer. He is best known for writing The Borrible Trilogy, which has been cited as an influence by writers in the New Weird movement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 12, 2012
Apart from photographs and words I have never been to the city of London. However, this city has been made familiar to me thanks to the likes of authors like China Mieville, Jonathan Stroud and Arthur Conan Doyle. Now there is one more taker for this position and it is Michael de Larabeiti for in his Borrible Trilogy he laid out London in front of my senses to see,hear,breathe and drown in !
Three chapters in the life of a race of fiercely independant quasi-human characters named the Borribles. They are very close to being immortal if not carried off by the law ( which they call woolies by the way !) and live their lives in the backyards of the so called civilized society. A brief run down on the stories can be done as :
The Borribles : My pick among all the three tales. It is grim,dark, bloody, battered and has more bruises than a schoolyard fight. The central thread is the classic tale of quest to wrestle back lost glory. A ragatag bunch of rookies are chosen and so begins a fight that gets bloodier by the page. A well summed up sketch of courage,loyalty,honor,deciet and friendship among senseless violence. What captured my interest was this simple line : If you are my friend, follow me around the bend.
The Borribles Go For Broke : The central plot line is more of a seen-it-before one and there is a fair bit of melodrama here which while not outrightly odd still serves as a deterrant. The adventure part remains but somehow it does not end up being as gallant as its predecessor. There is also an effort to make this tale more heroine centric which derails somewhere along the way and it obstainately remains male oriented a tale.
Across The Dark Metropolis : The largest story of them all and pretty much was the most boring one for me. There was a quest at its heart which was so outrageously dumb that I do not want to mention it here. This story is also the most action packed one of the lot but somehow failed to arouse any interest in me. There was also the character named Sydney and every time she uttered something I felt like listening to a piece of chalk being scratched over the writing board !
I give this book four stars for the imagination used to dream up the ambience and history of the characters( both the protagonists & the antagonists ), the exceptionally brilliant descriptions of London, the grim and dark tone that permeates throughout the tales and not to forget the dialog too. This would be a good children's book for it is choke full of ideology of the heroic kind and some action sequences that can flex some muscles at Hollywood. As for me, No ! I do not wish to read this again.
Three chapters in the life of a race of fiercely independant quasi-human characters named the Borribles. They are very close to being immortal if not carried off by the law ( which they call woolies by the way !) and live their lives in the backyards of the so called civilized society. A brief run down on the stories can be done as :
The Borribles : My pick among all the three tales. It is grim,dark, bloody, battered and has more bruises than a schoolyard fight. The central thread is the classic tale of quest to wrestle back lost glory. A ragatag bunch of rookies are chosen and so begins a fight that gets bloodier by the page. A well summed up sketch of courage,loyalty,honor,deciet and friendship among senseless violence. What captured my interest was this simple line : If you are my friend, follow me around the bend.
The Borribles Go For Broke : The central plot line is more of a seen-it-before one and there is a fair bit of melodrama here which while not outrightly odd still serves as a deterrant. The adventure part remains but somehow it does not end up being as gallant as its predecessor. There is also an effort to make this tale more heroine centric which derails somewhere along the way and it obstainately remains male oriented a tale.
Across The Dark Metropolis : The largest story of them all and pretty much was the most boring one for me. There was a quest at its heart which was so outrageously dumb that I do not want to mention it here. This story is also the most action packed one of the lot but somehow failed to arouse any interest in me. There was also the character named Sydney and every time she uttered something I felt like listening to a piece of chalk being scratched over the writing board !
I give this book four stars for the imagination used to dream up the ambience and history of the characters( both the protagonists & the antagonists ), the exceptionally brilliant descriptions of London, the grim and dark tone that permeates throughout the tales and not to forget the dialog too. This would be a good children's book for it is choke full of ideology of the heroic kind and some action sequences that can flex some muscles at Hollywood. As for me, No ! I do not wish to read this again.
February 12, 2014
The greatest urban fantasy series you've never heard of, written in the 1970's as a scathing attack on both the establishment and, somewhat bizarrely, the Wombles.
I read this series as a child; probably around 10 or 11; again in my late teens and a couple of further times as an adult. Each time the characters were just as vibrant, the adventures were just as thrilling (and violent)and the denouement remained one of the most satisfying; and the most affecting; that I've ever found in YA fiction. Or, you know, in fiction.
Every adult should read this book at least once if they never read it as a child, and every child should be given the chance to read it; I guarantee they'll rack up way more than one read through.
The only tiny qualm I might have is that some of the language is a little...1970's, as are some of the attitudes. It was a different time, to be sure, so if you're sensitive about what you let the little one's read I'd say check it out yourself first. There's nothing I'd consider overly controversial, and I've certainly foisted it upon my nephew without guilt, but best to be sure.
An oft forgotten, woefully under appreciated, true classic.
I read this series as a child; probably around 10 or 11; again in my late teens and a couple of further times as an adult. Each time the characters were just as vibrant, the adventures were just as thrilling (and violent)and the denouement remained one of the most satisfying; and the most affecting; that I've ever found in YA fiction. Or, you know, in fiction.
Every adult should read this book at least once if they never read it as a child, and every child should be given the chance to read it; I guarantee they'll rack up way more than one read through.
The only tiny qualm I might have is that some of the language is a little...1970's, as are some of the attitudes. It was a different time, to be sure, so if you're sensitive about what you let the little one's read I'd say check it out yourself first. There's nothing I'd consider overly controversial, and I've certainly foisted it upon my nephew without guilt, but best to be sure.
An oft forgotten, woefully under appreciated, true classic.
July 20, 2012
Obsessed with this as a young teenager. Even formed a club with friends at the time. The characterisation is wonderful throughout, and the concept of not being able to fit adult expectations is given a dark and original twist here. The trilogy really is a love letter to urban fantasy and encourages readers to explore the less advertised areas of our capital.
September 25, 2020
An anarchist children's epic--a tale of feral children in revolt against banks, families, social workers, cops, and all respectability. De Larrabeiti moves easily from adventure to low comedy to tragedy. There are thrills, there are chills; there are chastening reminders of the temptations to power faced even by these little anarchists. A wise and grimy series.
And I'll note that de Larrabeiti perfectly captures these kids' age, right on the edge of puberty but not tipped over. The main character is able to notice one of the girls--she's begun to take on a certain luminosity for him, which, if they were able to grow up, might lead him to do terrible things like getting a job. But all the disorderly, argumentative, selfless love in this series is expressed not in romance but in friendship.
Also the villains are giant-rat parodies of cutesy children's tv characters... until the villains are our heroes' own temptations and compromises.
And I'll note that de Larrabeiti perfectly captures these kids' age, right on the edge of puberty but not tipped over. The main character is able to notice one of the girls--she's begun to take on a certain luminosity for him, which, if they were able to grow up, might lead him to do terrible things like getting a job. But all the disorderly, argumentative, selfless love in this series is expressed not in romance but in friendship.
Also the villains are giant-rat parodies of cutesy children's tv characters... until the villains are our heroes' own temptations and compromises.
August 4, 2014
(More like 3.5 stars, really.)
The Borrible Trilogy is one of the more unusual young-adult fantasy series out there. For one thing, it is undisguisedly and proudly left-wing, far more blatantly so than, to make the obvious comparison, the Narnia books are Christian. It's possible for a child to read the Narnia books without realizing that they are in some way all about Jesus, and in some of them -- "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" springs to mind -- it's not even clear to the average non-Christian just what lesson about Christianity you're supposed to absorb. By contrast, the Borrible books wear their politics on their metaphorical sleeves: the enemy is not just supposed to represent the upper classes and the police, for the most part it is the upper classes and the police. On the one hand, this can lend itself to a certain ideological rigidity. On the other hand, Michael de Larrabeiti is more honest, in a way, than C.S. Lewis, which has its own advantages. The last time I read "The Horse and His Boy", my favorite Narnia book as a child, I was deeply disappointed. Aslan turns out to be the motivating force behind everything, the lesson is to trust in Jesus, and the whole reading experience is contaminated by the knowledge that Lewis was proselytizing to my 9-year-old self without letting him know. No reader of the Borrible books will ever have this problem: de Larrabeiti is entirely upfront about all his biases.
Though de Larrabeiti is undoubtedly a leftist, he is a rather idiosyncratic one, and anyone reading these books in the hope of discovering a stirring tale of the victory of the proletariat in the class struggle will be disappointed. The Borribles themselves are essentially Peter Pan's Lost Boys (and Girls), only now they live in working-class neighborhoods of London (and, presumably other cities, though we only ever meet one non-Londoner Borrible) and survive by squatting in abandoned buildings and stealing. de Larrabeiti's heroes are not proletarians who want the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labors without capitalist exploitation but children who have no desire to ever enter the world of work. The worst fate that can befall a Borrible is to be captured by the police and have his or her pointed ears clipped, thus turning him or her into a normal child, doomed to grow up and live a normal life with a normal job. The Borrible credo involves mutual aid and staying away from both leaders and money: in this way, it hews closer to anarchism than anything else. Borribles are of both genders and all races and cultures: indeed, in the last book de Larrabeiti, perhaps worried that to this point most of the Borribles we met have been both white and male, introduces entire tribes of black and female Borribles. And their enemies are not so much capitalists as the forces of law and order, though there is never any question but that these forces are directed by the upper classes.
Except in the first book, that is, when the main enemy are the Rumbles of Rumbledom. I assume the similarity to Wimbledon is deliberate, but lack enough geographic knowledge of London to know for sure, a problem that will likely haunt all non-British readers of this book, and quite possibly all readers who were unfamiliar with London in the '70s: gentrification being what it is, who knows if Battersea or Brixton or any of the other areas the heroes pass through still bear any resemblance to the way they were when de Larrabeiti wrote about them. At any rate, the Rumbles are large rat-like creatures (I immediately pictured the rat-monsters of the Bone comics, only much less scary), about the height of the Borribles, who are caricatures of the upper classes: they speak in a highly affected accent, have names like Bingo, and live amidst all the trappings of luxury. Unfortunately, from a literary point of view they just don't really work. The Borribles can blend in with ordinary human society, but Rumbles quite obviously can't, and hence make a rather mediocre enemy. Also, as fighters (and there is a lot of fighting) they take the term "cannon fodder" to new levels: vast numbers of Rumbles are killed by a mere 11 Borribles (albeit an elite, picked force, known in this and the next two books as the Adventurers) who lose only one of their number, and he falls not to the enemy but in the collapse of the Rumble headquarters, which the Borribles have just blown up. In effect, the whole Rumble adventure serves merely to provide a motivation for the subsequent books, by providing them with a box of money (a symbol of oppression) and a horse named Sam (a symbol of freedom).
The former immediately moves to center stage, as upon their return our heroes are betrayed by the Wendles, a militaristic and hierarchical tribe of Borribles that live in the sewers, in order to steal the treasure: though the treasure is kept out of their hands, it comes at a cost, and the book ends with four of the original ten Borribles missing and presumed dead, fallen to the Wendles. This last part of the first book is superior to the earlier parts, which may be why the subsequent books drop the Rumbles entirely. Though their role as villains is partly taken by the Wendles, or at least their leader Flinthead, they are mainly replaced by the police, and in particular the Special Borrible Group, a police unit devoted to hunting down Borribles (and apparently a caricature of the Special Patrol Group, a reference likely to be wasted on readers who are either non-English or under the age of 40). The police are far more real and hence more effective as a menace than the Rumbles, and they also turn the Borribles into underdogs: armed only with catapults, they have no hope of fighting against much larger policemen with riot shields (but not guns, because this is England). Additionally, the police are far more likely to enlist the reader's sympathies with the Borribles, not just because they are both more real and more serious, but also due to Inspector Sussworth, head of the SBG, a brilliantly-drawn mid-level fascist whose speeches about law and order are enough to chill anybody's blood. And in order to isolate the police and the upper classes (Sussworth is shown receiving instructions from the DAC -- some sort of upper-level police official and quite clearly a toff -- a couple of times) as the enemy, rather than adults in general, the Borribles are actually helped by a couple of adult humans. But though the SBG now represent the main danger, the centerpiece of the second book is the struggle between Flinthead and Spiff, the quasi-leader of the Borribles of Battersea, for both money (the chest of treasure) and power (the leadership of the Wendles). If the moral -- money and power are bad -- is a bit obvious, the action is considerably superior to the first book.
Once the point has been made, the Wendles are dropped, and the entire focus moves to the main event. Just as it was in the first book, this is a quest, but it is now considerably humbler and so more believable, being merely to achieve freedom for Sam the horse by rescuing him from the police, who are using him as bait to trap the Borribles, and bringing him to a place where he will be taken care of and not have to work. This task is more or less an atonement for the actions of the first book: organizing to attack someone, even an old enemy like the Rumbles, and stealing money are not very Borrible things to do, and Sam's rescue is the price the Adventurers must pay to become fully Borrible again. The third book sees the Adventurers try to smuggle themselves and a horse from Battersea to Neasden, which apparently involves crossing much of London, in the teeth of SBG resistance. Though the second book is in some ways better, the third book is the culmination of de Larrabeiti's political vision. On the one hand, he adds to the female and Bangladeshi Borribles we have already met a whole tribe of black Borribles and another of girl punks. Finally, we discover that an adult who spends enough time around Borribles can become a Borrible himself. With all factions of the lower classes now represented, the stage is set for a Borrible revolution, but de Larrabeiti is canny enough not to go there himself: the story ends with freedom achieved for Sam and the SBG defanged for the moment, though at considerable cost, but nothing more than that. Perhaps the oddest part of this fantasy epic is its refusal to embrace a Tolkien-esque epic fantasy ending.
Despite this difference, and the sharp differences in Tolkien's and de Larrabeiti's worldviews, "The Lord of the Rings" is easily the most prominent influence on the Borrible trilogy. The most obvious way in which this influence is expressed is the little songs that characters are constantly singing throughout the book (perhaps this is more reminiscent of "The Hobbit", actually). But it's not just the songs: de Larrabeiti's descriptions of muck and desolation (the Borribles pass through lots of both) remind the reader of Tolkien's descriptions of similar landscapes that Frodo and Sam travel through along their journey. de Larrabeiti is just as uninterested in sex as Tolkien is: though there are far more female characters in the Borrible trilogy than in TLOTR, they are all immortal (as far as anybody knows) children and hence poor candidates for romance. Some of the plot structures display definite parallels: for instance, the way that the second book of both trilogies sees our heroes trapped between the main enemy (SBG/Sauron) and a secondary enemy who should be on their side but is setting himself up in imitation of the main enemy (Flinthead/Saruman). And in the second and third books, as the Adventurers travel from one island of safety to the next, braving unimaginable dangers in between, dangers that it seems impossible they will escape, the rhythm and even the language of the Borrible Trilogy starts to resemble TLOTR more and more. It's only at the end that things diverge, for de Larrabeiti is writing a very different kind of epic from Tolkien. Tolkien wants to leave the reader nostalgic for a better way of life that once existed, while de Larrabeiti is more interested in making you hopeful for a better way of life that is still to come. If he doesn't entirely succeed with these rather strange books, it can't be said that he entirely fails either.
The Borrible Trilogy is one of the more unusual young-adult fantasy series out there. For one thing, it is undisguisedly and proudly left-wing, far more blatantly so than, to make the obvious comparison, the Narnia books are Christian. It's possible for a child to read the Narnia books without realizing that they are in some way all about Jesus, and in some of them -- "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" springs to mind -- it's not even clear to the average non-Christian just what lesson about Christianity you're supposed to absorb. By contrast, the Borrible books wear their politics on their metaphorical sleeves: the enemy is not just supposed to represent the upper classes and the police, for the most part it is the upper classes and the police. On the one hand, this can lend itself to a certain ideological rigidity. On the other hand, Michael de Larrabeiti is more honest, in a way, than C.S. Lewis, which has its own advantages. The last time I read "The Horse and His Boy", my favorite Narnia book as a child, I was deeply disappointed. Aslan turns out to be the motivating force behind everything, the lesson is to trust in Jesus, and the whole reading experience is contaminated by the knowledge that Lewis was proselytizing to my 9-year-old self without letting him know. No reader of the Borrible books will ever have this problem: de Larrabeiti is entirely upfront about all his biases.
Though de Larrabeiti is undoubtedly a leftist, he is a rather idiosyncratic one, and anyone reading these books in the hope of discovering a stirring tale of the victory of the proletariat in the class struggle will be disappointed. The Borribles themselves are essentially Peter Pan's Lost Boys (and Girls), only now they live in working-class neighborhoods of London (and, presumably other cities, though we only ever meet one non-Londoner Borrible) and survive by squatting in abandoned buildings and stealing. de Larrabeiti's heroes are not proletarians who want the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labors without capitalist exploitation but children who have no desire to ever enter the world of work. The worst fate that can befall a Borrible is to be captured by the police and have his or her pointed ears clipped, thus turning him or her into a normal child, doomed to grow up and live a normal life with a normal job. The Borrible credo involves mutual aid and staying away from both leaders and money: in this way, it hews closer to anarchism than anything else. Borribles are of both genders and all races and cultures: indeed, in the last book de Larrabeiti, perhaps worried that to this point most of the Borribles we met have been both white and male, introduces entire tribes of black and female Borribles. And their enemies are not so much capitalists as the forces of law and order, though there is never any question but that these forces are directed by the upper classes.
Except in the first book, that is, when the main enemy are the Rumbles of Rumbledom. I assume the similarity to Wimbledon is deliberate, but lack enough geographic knowledge of London to know for sure, a problem that will likely haunt all non-British readers of this book, and quite possibly all readers who were unfamiliar with London in the '70s: gentrification being what it is, who knows if Battersea or Brixton or any of the other areas the heroes pass through still bear any resemblance to the way they were when de Larrabeiti wrote about them. At any rate, the Rumbles are large rat-like creatures (I immediately pictured the rat-monsters of the Bone comics, only much less scary), about the height of the Borribles, who are caricatures of the upper classes: they speak in a highly affected accent, have names like Bingo, and live amidst all the trappings of luxury. Unfortunately, from a literary point of view they just don't really work. The Borribles can blend in with ordinary human society, but Rumbles quite obviously can't, and hence make a rather mediocre enemy. Also, as fighters (and there is a lot of fighting) they take the term "cannon fodder" to new levels: vast numbers of Rumbles are killed by a mere 11 Borribles (albeit an elite, picked force, known in this and the next two books as the Adventurers) who lose only one of their number, and he falls not to the enemy but in the collapse of the Rumble headquarters, which the Borribles have just blown up. In effect, the whole Rumble adventure serves merely to provide a motivation for the subsequent books, by providing them with a box of money (a symbol of oppression) and a horse named Sam (a symbol of freedom).
The former immediately moves to center stage, as upon their return our heroes are betrayed by the Wendles, a militaristic and hierarchical tribe of Borribles that live in the sewers, in order to steal the treasure: though the treasure is kept out of their hands, it comes at a cost, and the book ends with four of the original ten Borribles missing and presumed dead, fallen to the Wendles. This last part of the first book is superior to the earlier parts, which may be why the subsequent books drop the Rumbles entirely. Though their role as villains is partly taken by the Wendles, or at least their leader Flinthead, they are mainly replaced by the police, and in particular the Special Borrible Group, a police unit devoted to hunting down Borribles (and apparently a caricature of the Special Patrol Group, a reference likely to be wasted on readers who are either non-English or under the age of 40). The police are far more real and hence more effective as a menace than the Rumbles, and they also turn the Borribles into underdogs: armed only with catapults, they have no hope of fighting against much larger policemen with riot shields (but not guns, because this is England). Additionally, the police are far more likely to enlist the reader's sympathies with the Borribles, not just because they are both more real and more serious, but also due to Inspector Sussworth, head of the SBG, a brilliantly-drawn mid-level fascist whose speeches about law and order are enough to chill anybody's blood. And in order to isolate the police and the upper classes (Sussworth is shown receiving instructions from the DAC -- some sort of upper-level police official and quite clearly a toff -- a couple of times) as the enemy, rather than adults in general, the Borribles are actually helped by a couple of adult humans. But though the SBG now represent the main danger, the centerpiece of the second book is the struggle between Flinthead and Spiff, the quasi-leader of the Borribles of Battersea, for both money (the chest of treasure) and power (the leadership of the Wendles). If the moral -- money and power are bad -- is a bit obvious, the action is considerably superior to the first book.
Once the point has been made, the Wendles are dropped, and the entire focus moves to the main event. Just as it was in the first book, this is a quest, but it is now considerably humbler and so more believable, being merely to achieve freedom for Sam the horse by rescuing him from the police, who are using him as bait to trap the Borribles, and bringing him to a place where he will be taken care of and not have to work. This task is more or less an atonement for the actions of the first book: organizing to attack someone, even an old enemy like the Rumbles, and stealing money are not very Borrible things to do, and Sam's rescue is the price the Adventurers must pay to become fully Borrible again. The third book sees the Adventurers try to smuggle themselves and a horse from Battersea to Neasden, which apparently involves crossing much of London, in the teeth of SBG resistance. Though the second book is in some ways better, the third book is the culmination of de Larrabeiti's political vision. On the one hand, he adds to the female and Bangladeshi Borribles we have already met a whole tribe of black Borribles and another of girl punks. Finally, we discover that an adult who spends enough time around Borribles can become a Borrible himself. With all factions of the lower classes now represented, the stage is set for a Borrible revolution, but de Larrabeiti is canny enough not to go there himself: the story ends with freedom achieved for Sam and the SBG defanged for the moment, though at considerable cost, but nothing more than that. Perhaps the oddest part of this fantasy epic is its refusal to embrace a Tolkien-esque epic fantasy ending.
Despite this difference, and the sharp differences in Tolkien's and de Larrabeiti's worldviews, "The Lord of the Rings" is easily the most prominent influence on the Borrible trilogy. The most obvious way in which this influence is expressed is the little songs that characters are constantly singing throughout the book (perhaps this is more reminiscent of "The Hobbit", actually). But it's not just the songs: de Larrabeiti's descriptions of muck and desolation (the Borribles pass through lots of both) remind the reader of Tolkien's descriptions of similar landscapes that Frodo and Sam travel through along their journey. de Larrabeiti is just as uninterested in sex as Tolkien is: though there are far more female characters in the Borrible trilogy than in TLOTR, they are all immortal (as far as anybody knows) children and hence poor candidates for romance. Some of the plot structures display definite parallels: for instance, the way that the second book of both trilogies sees our heroes trapped between the main enemy (SBG/Sauron) and a secondary enemy who should be on their side but is setting himself up in imitation of the main enemy (Flinthead/Saruman). And in the second and third books, as the Adventurers travel from one island of safety to the next, braving unimaginable dangers in between, dangers that it seems impossible they will escape, the rhythm and even the language of the Borrible Trilogy starts to resemble TLOTR more and more. It's only at the end that things diverge, for de Larrabeiti is writing a very different kind of epic from Tolkien. Tolkien wants to leave the reader nostalgic for a better way of life that once existed, while de Larrabeiti is more interested in making you hopeful for a better way of life that is still to come. If he doesn't entirely succeed with these rather strange books, it can't be said that he entirely fails either.
June 26, 2010
Borribles are small, looking like children apart from the fact that they have pointed ears, but they may be hundreds of years old, for they can live forever, unless they are caught and get their ears clipped. If that happens they will turn into regular children and will be doomed into growing up into boring, adventureless adults.
The trilogy begins with the story of the great Rumble Hunt, where nine Borribles go on a mission to stop the Rumbles invading their manors. Eight are nameless adventurerers out to earn a name, while the ninth, Knocker goes as their historian, but has another aim as well. He wants to get a second name, for all Borribles must earn their names, and no Borrible can go adventuring once he has a name. This may be his chance.
De Larrabeiti uses the streets of London as his setting, and they really do come alive in these three stories, as do the characters. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the SBG (Special Borrible Group) officers; The DAC, for example has shoes that
"shone so brilliantly that it was impossible to tell what colour they were."
while inspecter Sussworth's
"face was like a three-fingered signpost, turned by mischievous hands so that everything pointed down the wrong road…He kicked the ground when he was annoyed, he did a little three-step dance when he was pleased. He was stubborn and he was proud; his blood bubbled with a lunatic zeal, he was an evangelist for rectitude and decorum, an enforcer of law and order."
But it is the Borribles who are the heroes and they who more than entertain with their adventures and attempts to evade the SBG, as well as rescue the horse Sam who saved them on the Great Rumble Hunt.
This may be part of children's literature but it is very far from the world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. The London of the Borribles is described in wonderfully grimy detail while the open spaces of the parks and fields are regarded with trepidation by the Borribles, after all there is nothing to steal there, nowhere to kip and nowhere to hide.
These stories have been out of print for years, but I for one am glad that they have been reissued. I didn't read them when I was young, but I would recommend them, especially for non-fans of the Wombles. For they, although altered, are the basis of the Rumbles of Rumbledon. Although the Rumbles are far more violent, using their sticks as weapons rathar than for picking up litter.
Darkly entertaining stories
January 28, 2010
I still don't understand why a reviewer would compare this to Watership Down (epic journey aside). If anything, the Borribles are updated, juvenile-delinquent Borrowers, rather than rabbits.
Having said that, boy has this trilogy dated well. Published between 1976 and 1983, and set in a contemporary (but relatively timeless) London, the lives and environment of the Borribles - children who take to the street, grow pointed ears, and never grow up, like urban Peter Pans - the story of a group of children's struggle against the adult world (symbolised by growing up, working, and stockpiling money) remains contemporary and appealing.
I complained after reading Scott Westerfeld's 'Leviathan' that the biggest bum note was the fake swearing (I had the same problem with Battlestar Galactica - if it sounds like fuck and acts like fuck, just say it already). De Larrabeiti's characters (some of whom turned Borrible back before the turn of the 20th century) speak in a mixture of rhyming slang (I had to Wikipedia 'I should cocoa')and your common or garden expletives. The violence is unswervingly described, and the Borribles kill and are killed.
The first book - where a special team of Adventurers is assembled to attack the "Rumbles of Rumbledom" - is without a doubt the strongest; the third, with it's seemingly endless series of oh-here's-another-climax situations reminded me of the end of Speed (you know, the Keanu Reeves movie) with it's redundant ho! it's not over yet! subway scene.
I'm not sure why De Larrabeiti decided to take on Elizabeth Beresford's Wombles, but nicking the strongest trope from the Wombles - the gaining of exotic names - is one of those somewhat magical touches that the best fantasies have, like Pullman's daemons. The first book also stands out for the devious figure of Spliff; it's rare for children's/YA books to have side characters developed with more than one aspect to their personality.
Overall, highly recommended.
Having said that, boy has this trilogy dated well. Published between 1976 and 1983, and set in a contemporary (but relatively timeless) London, the lives and environment of the Borribles - children who take to the street, grow pointed ears, and never grow up, like urban Peter Pans - the story of a group of children's struggle against the adult world (symbolised by growing up, working, and stockpiling money) remains contemporary and appealing.
I complained after reading Scott Westerfeld's 'Leviathan' that the biggest bum note was the fake swearing (I had the same problem with Battlestar Galactica - if it sounds like fuck and acts like fuck, just say it already). De Larrabeiti's characters (some of whom turned Borrible back before the turn of the 20th century) speak in a mixture of rhyming slang (I had to Wikipedia 'I should cocoa')and your common or garden expletives. The violence is unswervingly described, and the Borribles kill and are killed.
The first book - where a special team of Adventurers is assembled to attack the "Rumbles of Rumbledom" - is without a doubt the strongest; the third, with it's seemingly endless series of oh-here's-another-climax situations reminded me of the end of Speed (you know, the Keanu Reeves movie) with it's redundant ho! it's not over yet! subway scene.
I'm not sure why De Larrabeiti decided to take on Elizabeth Beresford's Wombles, but nicking the strongest trope from the Wombles - the gaining of exotic names - is one of those somewhat magical touches that the best fantasies have, like Pullman's daemons. The first book also stands out for the devious figure of Spliff; it's rare for children's/YA books to have side characters developed with more than one aspect to their personality.
Overall, highly recommended.
July 15, 2021
This trilogy of books is some of the best urban-fantasy fiction one can read. It always astonishes me that The Borribles Trilogy isn’t a more well known fantasy tale than the cult classic that it is, because it is absolutely amazing. It is such a great piece of fiction made up of three great stories. Here is a dark, gritty, urban fantasy that really never got the wider attention that it deserved.
I read the three books that make up the trilogy first back in the mid nineteen-eighties when I was 10 or 11 years old and it left such an indelible impression on me that the adventures of The Borribles have remained lucid in my memory throughout my adult life.
For me, this unique work of fiction, is on par as a masterpiece of storytelling as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and it reads just as well for me as an adult as it did for me when I was a child.
The Trilogy consists of three books; namely, “The Borribles”, “The Borribles Go For Broke” and the “The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis”.
The first book, I would think, was written as a stand alone novel originally and indeed could be read alone without following up with the next two books, but the second and third books follow on with the same characters from book one and weave the additional stories so well together with each other and the first that all three books can be read as a whole seamless adventure.
The Borribles Trilogy is set in the urban sprawl of late 20th Century London. The fantasy world that is built revolves around the premise that Borribles are runaway children that go feral and over time, turn into Borribles, they grow pointed ears and stop aging, remaining as pre-teen children in looks and physique indefinitely, but their knowledge contains the wisdom of their years, often many decades, some even more. They aren’t immortal in other respects and can succumb to death by starvation, disease and violence and also be returned to normal human life cycles if they are caught by the authorities and have their ears clipped.
In the first book the main antagonists that oppose the Borribles are giant rat like creatures called Rumbles, a direct satire of the Wombles. When the Rumbles are found hanging about the Borribles’ turf the Borribles set off on an adventure to scupper Rumble expansion and the adventure’s climax is with the Borrible adventurers invading the Rumble Warren to assassinate their leaders and this provides the reader with plenty of scenes of high adventure and excitement.
The second book could definitely be argued to be the best of the trilogy. For me, it certainly was, it being a much darker and tense story than the first and overall a grittier tale. Much of this adventure takes part in the sewers of London and it makes for a claustrophobic and gothic atmosphere. This greatly helps the story in being an action packed thriller and it is never dull or drawn out.
The last book of the trilogy is the longest of the three, but also the weakest story structure of the three books in my, although still a great adventure overall. However, some of the tropes within the third book are repeated from the previous two books and also there is lot of repetitiveness of similar situations occurring several times within in this third instalment of the trilogy, that being the Borribles get trapped and then find a way out of the predicament of the moment. This tends to make this adventure seem more like a long slog rather than a roller-coaster ride. Also, the first two adventures were mainly stories where the main story arc pitted the Borribles against more factions from their secret world; the first book being the Rumbles as the main antagonists and in the second book another faction of Borribles oppose the main characters. In the third book the Borribles are up against the London Police force and other humans that they encounter in the city of London, which makes for a much different story, grounded in less fantasy and lore than the first two books, although the reader does get introduced to some new Borrible tribes that help the adventurers along their way. The predicaments with which the adventurers face in this book often times seem a little too over-whelming for the adventurers and often their escapes from these situations seem too contrived. There is also a constant feeling of despair and hopelessness for the adventurers in the third story that can feel a little too pessimistic at times, although this last point is intentionally made by the author and these are not meant to be sweet and cuddly stories. However, perseverance pays off with the third book pays off because the last few chapters and the Borribles’ last battle and the story’s poignant and bittersweet conclusion is very satisfying and in a good way wanting more of these dark tales and on finishing the trilogy you’ll know that you have read a masterpiece.
Many of the characters throughout the trilogy are quite memorable, to name but a few, the sage, wise and cunning Spiff, the dark and stoic Napoleon, street smart Chalotte, the fallible and brave hero Knocker, and the villainous Inspector Sussworth (who most definitely is comical parody of Hitler).
The Trilogy is fun, dark, gritty, often described as subversive and often violent. However, really it is a love letter to the human free spirit, the power of friendship and the plutonic love between friends.
The stories are a roller coaster ride, full of highs and lows, laughs and tears.
I cannot recommend this trilogy enough.
I read the three books that make up the trilogy first back in the mid nineteen-eighties when I was 10 or 11 years old and it left such an indelible impression on me that the adventures of The Borribles have remained lucid in my memory throughout my adult life.
For me, this unique work of fiction, is on par as a masterpiece of storytelling as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and it reads just as well for me as an adult as it did for me when I was a child.
The Trilogy consists of three books; namely, “The Borribles”, “The Borribles Go For Broke” and the “The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis”.
The first book, I would think, was written as a stand alone novel originally and indeed could be read alone without following up with the next two books, but the second and third books follow on with the same characters from book one and weave the additional stories so well together with each other and the first that all three books can be read as a whole seamless adventure.
The Borribles Trilogy is set in the urban sprawl of late 20th Century London. The fantasy world that is built revolves around the premise that Borribles are runaway children that go feral and over time, turn into Borribles, they grow pointed ears and stop aging, remaining as pre-teen children in looks and physique indefinitely, but their knowledge contains the wisdom of their years, often many decades, some even more. They aren’t immortal in other respects and can succumb to death by starvation, disease and violence and also be returned to normal human life cycles if they are caught by the authorities and have their ears clipped.
In the first book the main antagonists that oppose the Borribles are giant rat like creatures called Rumbles, a direct satire of the Wombles. When the Rumbles are found hanging about the Borribles’ turf the Borribles set off on an adventure to scupper Rumble expansion and the adventure’s climax is with the Borrible adventurers invading the Rumble Warren to assassinate their leaders and this provides the reader with plenty of scenes of high adventure and excitement.
The second book could definitely be argued to be the best of the trilogy. For me, it certainly was, it being a much darker and tense story than the first and overall a grittier tale. Much of this adventure takes part in the sewers of London and it makes for a claustrophobic and gothic atmosphere. This greatly helps the story in being an action packed thriller and it is never dull or drawn out.
The last book of the trilogy is the longest of the three, but also the weakest story structure of the three books in my, although still a great adventure overall. However, some of the tropes within the third book are repeated from the previous two books and also there is lot of repetitiveness of similar situations occurring several times within in this third instalment of the trilogy, that being the Borribles get trapped and then find a way out of the predicament of the moment. This tends to make this adventure seem more like a long slog rather than a roller-coaster ride. Also, the first two adventures were mainly stories where the main story arc pitted the Borribles against more factions from their secret world; the first book being the Rumbles as the main antagonists and in the second book another faction of Borribles oppose the main characters. In the third book the Borribles are up against the London Police force and other humans that they encounter in the city of London, which makes for a much different story, grounded in less fantasy and lore than the first two books, although the reader does get introduced to some new Borrible tribes that help the adventurers along their way. The predicaments with which the adventurers face in this book often times seem a little too over-whelming for the adventurers and often their escapes from these situations seem too contrived. There is also a constant feeling of despair and hopelessness for the adventurers in the third story that can feel a little too pessimistic at times, although this last point is intentionally made by the author and these are not meant to be sweet and cuddly stories. However, perseverance pays off with the third book pays off because the last few chapters and the Borribles’ last battle and the story’s poignant and bittersweet conclusion is very satisfying and in a good way wanting more of these dark tales and on finishing the trilogy you’ll know that you have read a masterpiece.
Many of the characters throughout the trilogy are quite memorable, to name but a few, the sage, wise and cunning Spiff, the dark and stoic Napoleon, street smart Chalotte, the fallible and brave hero Knocker, and the villainous Inspector Sussworth (who most definitely is comical parody of Hitler).
The Trilogy is fun, dark, gritty, often described as subversive and often violent. However, really it is a love letter to the human free spirit, the power of friendship and the plutonic love between friends.
The stories are a roller coaster ride, full of highs and lows, laughs and tears.
I cannot recommend this trilogy enough.
Want to Read
April 8, 2007China Mieville created a list that's posted somewhere on the internet called "50 Science Fiction Novel's For Socialists." That's where I first heard of this, and everything I've read about it sounds great.
August 5, 2010
Good to read this again after twenty years or so - I dimly remembered its stark violence from my preteens. A gritty love-letter to London. A positive message of multiculturalism. A surreal attack on the inanity of The Wombles.
April 7, 2011
Can't believe this series isn't better-known; it's fantastic. Would read this over and over again.
January 6, 2013
One of my favourite books of my childhood. A simple story with a dark tone, and, an unexpectedly different perspective on The Wombles.
March 6, 2021
So, funny story...
Lockdown, as may have been mentioned by others, has been a tough old time for everyone.
One of the fascinating side effects has been the compelling, almost overwhelming yearn of nostalgia.
Now I get it, hankering for a time when ALL THIS wasn't happening is totally understandable. But I've been buying Queen albums FFS. I don't even like Queen that much.
A more welcome yearning was for a book I read as a kid. I remember clearly the feelings the book invoked in me, how I really cared about the characters and the story.
Naturally I couldn't remember what it was called. Or who wrote it. Cover was red, though, and there were anthropomorphic rats.
That is all I had to go on.
So, naturally, that's the description I posted on Facebook.
It took less than five minutes for an old friend to reply with BORRIBLES!!!!
And blow me if she wasn't right.
It turns out what I'd read was the first in a trilogy. So, naturally, I now needed to read the whole thing.
Which was a great idea, with one tiny, tiny flaw...
You see, way back in the mists of time when I thought Tolkien was the best writer ever, I hit the Lord Of The Rings trilogy with gusto.
And ground to a halt half way through The Return Of The King. It was all too much of the same thing.
And de Larrabeiti's works here suffer from the sane issue - only arguably more so.
With Frodo n chums, at least the main narrative is still moving forwards - but the Borribles essentially go on the same adventure three times.
Which you probably wouldn't notice if you read them spaced out by a couple of years.
If you are sensible, and take that approach, you're in for a good time.
Borribles are young urchins, Fagin's gang without the miserly leader if you will, who live rough, outside the structure of society, never grow old and have pointy ears.
If they get caught, their ears are clipped and they become adults. a fate worse than death to a Borrible.
In book one, their enemies The Rumbles are moving into Borrible territory and so an Adventure must be had to put them back in their place.
The message of the 'haves' vs the 'have nots' is barely disguised, and anti-establishment leanings of de Larrabeiti come through time and again – which is not a criticism. What the first book teaches you is the values of loyalty and friendship, all wrapped up in a thrilling, gripping adventure which still holds you today.
But as with nearly all trilogies, things start to decline in books two and three.
The Borribles Go For Broke and Across The Dark Metropolis both keep the central themes alive, but now add in The Police as the bad guy.
What de Larrabeiti tells us is that the police do not like different, they feel threatened by things outside of the norm and will stop at nothing to suppress subversion.
While the stories aren't as strong as the first book, and the adult characters are often barely roughly-sketched cliches, such a message will find new, welcome audiences today. Possibly more than ever before.
And it's the themes and the central characters that ultimately carry these books through.
The importance of good friends, trust, loyalty, sticking to your word - all are shown to be important things that matter, while a world that grown-ups don't understand is a trope that will never age.
There are issues with his more heavy-handed approach to some characters, but that's what happens when you read books from the early 80s now. Times have changed and language and writing has improved, but they do not obscure what is essentially a cracking trilogy of thrilling adventures.
Just don't read them in one go...
Lockdown, as may have been mentioned by others, has been a tough old time for everyone.
One of the fascinating side effects has been the compelling, almost overwhelming yearn of nostalgia.
Now I get it, hankering for a time when ALL THIS wasn't happening is totally understandable. But I've been buying Queen albums FFS. I don't even like Queen that much.
A more welcome yearning was for a book I read as a kid. I remember clearly the feelings the book invoked in me, how I really cared about the characters and the story.
Naturally I couldn't remember what it was called. Or who wrote it. Cover was red, though, and there were anthropomorphic rats.
That is all I had to go on.
So, naturally, that's the description I posted on Facebook.
It took less than five minutes for an old friend to reply with BORRIBLES!!!!
And blow me if she wasn't right.
It turns out what I'd read was the first in a trilogy. So, naturally, I now needed to read the whole thing.
Which was a great idea, with one tiny, tiny flaw...
You see, way back in the mists of time when I thought Tolkien was the best writer ever, I hit the Lord Of The Rings trilogy with gusto.
And ground to a halt half way through The Return Of The King. It was all too much of the same thing.
And de Larrabeiti's works here suffer from the sane issue - only arguably more so.
With Frodo n chums, at least the main narrative is still moving forwards - but the Borribles essentially go on the same adventure three times.
Which you probably wouldn't notice if you read them spaced out by a couple of years.
If you are sensible, and take that approach, you're in for a good time.
Borribles are young urchins, Fagin's gang without the miserly leader if you will, who live rough, outside the structure of society, never grow old and have pointy ears.
If they get caught, their ears are clipped and they become adults. a fate worse than death to a Borrible.
In book one, their enemies The Rumbles are moving into Borrible territory and so an Adventure must be had to put them back in their place.
The message of the 'haves' vs the 'have nots' is barely disguised, and anti-establishment leanings of de Larrabeiti come through time and again – which is not a criticism. What the first book teaches you is the values of loyalty and friendship, all wrapped up in a thrilling, gripping adventure which still holds you today.
But as with nearly all trilogies, things start to decline in books two and three.
The Borribles Go For Broke and Across The Dark Metropolis both keep the central themes alive, but now add in The Police as the bad guy.
What de Larrabeiti tells us is that the police do not like different, they feel threatened by things outside of the norm and will stop at nothing to suppress subversion.
While the stories aren't as strong as the first book, and the adult characters are often barely roughly-sketched cliches, such a message will find new, welcome audiences today. Possibly more than ever before.
And it's the themes and the central characters that ultimately carry these books through.
The importance of good friends, trust, loyalty, sticking to your word - all are shown to be important things that matter, while a world that grown-ups don't understand is a trope that will never age.
There are issues with his more heavy-handed approach to some characters, but that's what happens when you read books from the early 80s now. Times have changed and language and writing has improved, but they do not obscure what is essentially a cracking trilogy of thrilling adventures.
Just don't read them in one go...
January 25, 2019
This was an amazing book to have in my grasp and ready to read at any time when I was an eleven year old, reading was a place for me to escape into a world of magic, mystery and excitement, a thing I liked to do quite often with the Borrible Trilogy. Micheal de Larrabeiti, I thank you for creating such a vivid and entertaining fantasy, one of which I highly recommend for anyone who hasn't read this story. It makes me want to laugh, cry and hug the book all at the same time for the amount of detail, description and emotion put in the book. This was, and forever will be, my favourite book by far and I barely have words to describe such an experience.
March 12, 2019
A sprawling epic of a book, following a band of rather violent children who never grow up unless their ears are clipped. I remember reading the first book many years ago when I was in my early teens and I have only just got around to rereading the first one and finishing the other two.
In some ways this reminds me of a LOTR for urban delinquents (for want of a better word). Plenty of action along with a fair bit of pathos. I would recommend this for any teenager who wants a bit of grit and violence in their books.
In some ways this reminds me of a LOTR for urban delinquents (for want of a better word). Plenty of action along with a fair bit of pathos. I would recommend this for any teenager who wants a bit of grit and violence in their books.
September 7, 2020
This is a trilogy that deserves to be read slowly, savouring every word. I don't believe that it deserves wide publicity for if that were to happen the politically correct brigade would savage it to shreds.
A borrible is a child who has "had a bad start in life" and has taken off to a life in the streets. Managing quite well on their own, thank you. The longer they live, the wiser they become, the more pointed their ears get.
A wonderful, anarchic romp through London's underbelly which will always have a place in my library.
A borrible is a child who has "had a bad start in life" and has taken off to a life in the streets. Managing quite well on their own, thank you. The longer they live, the wiser they become, the more pointed their ears get.
A wonderful, anarchic romp through London's underbelly which will always have a place in my library.
January 1, 2026
I first heard of this, I think was read a short part of it, at primary school in the early 80s. I found the trilogy over 25 years ago and still loved it; have read it a few times over the years, but if there's a favourite book or a favourite list of books, this is on it.
Poignant. Powerful. Wild. Outside of expectations, tales of defying the world we're expected to fit into.
If you're my friend, follow me round the bend.
Poignant. Powerful. Wild. Outside of expectations, tales of defying the world we're expected to fit into.
If you're my friend, follow me round the bend.
October 12, 2017
I'm sure Michael de Larrabeiti is Knocker but the clippin' never made him forget!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2023
this was mentioned in a China Mieville interview so had to buy it...and wasn't dissapointed, such a great book! I won't say anymore bar READ IT!
February 27, 2023
I cannot promote these books too highly. Anyone else who had a thing for the Wombles should read this dark take on them. The storyline and idea are unique. Just read it.
June 10, 2024
An amazing series. Read it as a child and again as an adult. AMAZING. A real page turner
Did Not Finish
April 11, 2025It wasn't bad, sadly I never got around to finishing it
October 20, 2007
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1832610...
The subversive trilogy about Borribles, children who have grown pointy ears and live in a gritty subculture of London; less supernatural than Neverwhere, more urban and poorer than Bevis, but sharing some context with both of those, and apparently an inspiration to China Miéville.
The first book, The Borribles, is a direct attack on Elisabeth Beresford's Womble novels. Fighting off incursion by the evil rat-like Rumbles, a crack team of Borribles sets off to assassinate the Rumble leadership, Vulgarian, Napoleon Boot, Chalotte, Sydney, Bingo, Stonks, Torreycanyon, and Orococco. On the way they encounter the evil Dewdrop and his son, who are a direct parody of Steptoe and Son. I remember when first reading the book being rather stunned at the bleak ending, with several of our heroes facing certain doom at the hands of the Wendles, a fascist Borrible tribe who live under Wandsworth.
In The Borribles go for Broke, our heroes challenge both the grownup police of the Special Borrible Group and the leadership of the Wendles, for a visually memorable and violent climax in a subterranean tunnel of stinking mud. And in the third book, The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis, they fight an epic battle with the Special Borrible Group and its hired auxiliary force of dwarves.
It's subversive stuff - unapologetically violent and opposed to the social order; and extolling the virtues of loyalty to your friends rather than to those who tell you that they deserve you respect. But at the same time it's a rather cosy anarchism; no drugs (beer is drunk by Borribles, but only in the second books and not to excess, and there are adult alcoholics), no sex, and a rather cuddly take on race. It's also rather noticeable that Dewdrop's son is mocked for his learning disabilities, the Rumbles for their speech defects, and the evil dwarves are just evil. So I'm afraid the trilogy didn't quite live up to my memories of it.
The subversive trilogy about Borribles, children who have grown pointy ears and live in a gritty subculture of London; less supernatural than Neverwhere, more urban and poorer than Bevis, but sharing some context with both of those, and apparently an inspiration to China Miéville.
The first book, The Borribles, is a direct attack on Elisabeth Beresford's Womble novels. Fighting off incursion by the evil rat-like Rumbles, a crack team of Borribles sets off to assassinate the Rumble leadership, Vulgarian, Napoleon Boot, Chalotte, Sydney, Bingo, Stonks, Torreycanyon, and Orococco. On the way they encounter the evil Dewdrop and his son, who are a direct parody of Steptoe and Son. I remember when first reading the book being rather stunned at the bleak ending, with several of our heroes facing certain doom at the hands of the Wendles, a fascist Borrible tribe who live under Wandsworth.
In The Borribles go for Broke, our heroes challenge both the grownup police of the Special Borrible Group and the leadership of the Wendles, for a visually memorable and violent climax in a subterranean tunnel of stinking mud. And in the third book, The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis, they fight an epic battle with the Special Borrible Group and its hired auxiliary force of dwarves.
It's subversive stuff - unapologetically violent and opposed to the social order; and extolling the virtues of loyalty to your friends rather than to those who tell you that they deserve you respect. But at the same time it's a rather cosy anarchism; no drugs (beer is drunk by Borribles, but only in the second books and not to excess, and there are adult alcoholics), no sex, and a rather cuddly take on race. It's also rather noticeable that Dewdrop's son is mocked for his learning disabilities, the Rumbles for their speech defects, and the evil dwarves are just evil. So I'm afraid the trilogy didn't quite live up to my memories of it.
May 30, 2007
So great to see this collection all together.
I first read this book around 14 years of age, and it had a massive impact back then. It was huge as was the Swallows and Amazons series, Lord of the Rings, It, and The House That Sailed Away in my childhood/early adolescence.
The book (1) is quite a wonderful but brutal romp through London by a bunch of runaway kids, who in this world mutate slightly into furtive and clever little badmouths who are handy with a slingshot, and who have some eternal nemeses in the Rumbles. The bumbling but apparently mean Rumbles tunnel their way to Borrible territory and so the Borribles decide to put together a crack team and set about training up with slingshot, and pointy ears at the ready their fellowship takes a dangerous path through not only Rumble but human dangers. They hate cops too! Actually the rag and bone couple who kidnap them during the adventure is quite a dark chapter in Borrible legend. Part of the object of life as a Borrible is to have a name bestowed on you, reflecting your toughness and cleverness in battle or escapade.
You'll have to excuse the youthful enthusiasm I have for these rough as guts little tramps, I think it helped foster the anti-establishment in me as a teen!! Tee hee
Finished the book in a flurry of wide-eyed page-flipping early June, and the 3rd installment really goes further with its pointed societal barbs. Great to see it back in print in softcover, read it, big kids!!
I first read this book around 14 years of age, and it had a massive impact back then. It was huge as was the Swallows and Amazons series, Lord of the Rings, It, and The House That Sailed Away in my childhood/early adolescence.
The book (1) is quite a wonderful but brutal romp through London by a bunch of runaway kids, who in this world mutate slightly into furtive and clever little badmouths who are handy with a slingshot, and who have some eternal nemeses in the Rumbles. The bumbling but apparently mean Rumbles tunnel their way to Borrible territory and so the Borribles decide to put together a crack team and set about training up with slingshot, and pointy ears at the ready their fellowship takes a dangerous path through not only Rumble but human dangers. They hate cops too! Actually the rag and bone couple who kidnap them during the adventure is quite a dark chapter in Borrible legend. Part of the object of life as a Borrible is to have a name bestowed on you, reflecting your toughness and cleverness in battle or escapade.
You'll have to excuse the youthful enthusiasm I have for these rough as guts little tramps, I think it helped foster the anti-establishment in me as a teen!! Tee hee
Finished the book in a flurry of wide-eyed page-flipping early June, and the 3rd installment really goes further with its pointed societal barbs. Great to see it back in print in softcover, read it, big kids!!
January 4, 2014
I read this trilogy to my kids when they were between 8 and 10 years old. Out of the hundreds of books I read to them, this is the one which remains as a warm memory to this day. With my kids approaching their twenties, when talking about books, one of them is guaranteed to pipe up 'Remember the Borribles?'. No greater recommendation could I give it, a wonderful anti-establishment romp for kids but thoroughly enjoyed by myself while reading it. 5 stars aren't enough.
August 2, 2014
Great books, love the storyline and the peter pan syndrome the kids have. Gosh don't clip my ears. A page turner all the way. I have read them over twice and shared them with my children. Highly recommended.
Want to Read
December 5, 2016Kwanlen retirement recommendation. 30 Nov 2016
"Because it's one of the most thrilling and original fantasy novels I've ever read. I think you'd like this book. It's a great wild weird English fantasy, and it's very well-written." --Elizabeth Hann (Meg's daughter)
"Because it's one of the most thrilling and original fantasy novels I've ever read. I think you'd like this book. It's a great wild weird English fantasy, and it's very well-written." --Elizabeth Hann (Meg's daughter)
January 20, 2023
I read this originally as a pre teen in April 2019 and was so obsessed with it. After rereading it, I can confirm it’s still my all time favourite. I’ll never not recommend this trilogy to every one I meet — bookworm or not.
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