Alice on Mars

by Robert Rankin

When Alice (of Wonderland) is abducted by aliens she begins her biggest and strangest adventure. In a Rainy Tale told to the boy Robert by his Granddad’s ventriloquists’ dummy, Alice, together with her loyal and brave flock of performing kiwi birds, becomes embroiled in a twisted epic saga of worlds domination, robot wars and thwarted romance.

Genres: Science Fiction, Steampunk, Humor, Fantasy, Comedy

100 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

"When Robert Rankin embarked upon his writing career in the late 1970s, his ambition was to create an entirely new literary genre, which he named Far-Fetched Fiction. He reasoned that by doing this he could avoid competing with any other living author in any known genre and would be given his own special section in WH Smith."
(from Web Site Story)

Robert Rankin describes himself as a teller of tall tales, a fitting description, assuming that he isn't lying about it. From his early beginnings as a baby in 1949, Robert Rankin has grown into a tall man of some stature. Somewhere along the way he experimented in the writing of books, and found that he could do it rather well. Not being one to light his hide under a bushel, Mister Rankin continues to write fine novels of a humorous science-fictional nature.

Reviews

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice on Mars is a stand alone novella set in Rankin's steampunk Martian universe begun in the marvellous Japanese Devil Fish-Girl.

It's a hallucinogenic fable mixing War of the Worlds and Alice in Wonderland told from the perspective of a Ventriloquists dummy. Fun with a capital F this has all of Rankin's wit, off the wall humour and charm and lovely illustrations. Being so short it doesn't have time to wander off course as some of his books do and its a delight from start to finish.

[Andrew Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight book. It is a piece of fun and frivolity. A coffee table book for a steampunk household.
It is designed for dedicated RR fans and it should not disappoint that community. Physically it is a quality production and is surely all that RR intended it should be.

[Andrea (mrsaubergine) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much substance to the story but the quality of the limited edition hardback is very high, with great illustrations by the author. We have no.1823 of 3000, signed by Rankin himself, so it's quite special. Bonus points for the NZ and kiwi mentions.

[Malcolm Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Rankin at his most bizarre. Steampunk tales of Alice, the white rabbit, Mars, alien invasion, muscular girls. What's not to like? A beautifully illustrated tale of weirdness and fun. A little gem of a book. One to keep and treasure.

[Isaac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good art work. Not much of a story.

[Claire S · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable bit of far fetched old toot.