The Borrible Trilogy
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| Author | Michael de Larrabeiti |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Liz Pyle |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Borrible Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy literature |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
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Publication date
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2003 (trilogy edition) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 726 pp (2003 Tor UK Edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 59372992 |
The Borrible Trilogy is a series of young adult books written by English writer Michael de Larrabeiti. The three volumes in the trilogy are The Borribles, The Borribles Go For Broke, and The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis.
The Borribles' antagonists, the Rumbles, who play a significant part in the first book, are satires of perennial children's favourites The Wombles.
The scheduled release of the third book coincided with the English riots of 1985, and because of the strong anti-authoritarian theme, the publishers took the decision not to publish it. The books went out of print but have been republished as a single volume. In June 2002 the trilogy was printed in the UK by Pan Macmillan as a trade paperback with an introduction by China Miéville; in April 2003, the UK branch of Tor Books reissued the trilogy in a smaller paperback volume. Tor released the trilogy as three separate paperback volumes in the US in late 2005.
The trilogy is set in the large city of London. Borribles are runaway children, who eventually become "Borribled," when they wake up and find their ears have become pointed. Visually very similar to the mischievous elves and pixies of English folklore, Borribles wear woolen hats pulled low over their ears to avoid being easily identified by the police "Woollies". The Woollies believe that the Borribles' freedom is a threat to the social order and will clip the ears of any Borrible in their custody. If their ears are not clipped, Borribles will maintain the appearance of a child forever and cease to physically age. Being caught by the police is a prospect worse than death for Borribles as it will signify the end of their lifestyle and they will become a boring, adventureless adult.
Borribles are skinny, scruffy, and tough; at least at first they appear to have nothing to do with money, and steal what they need to survive. They generally live in abandoned houses, though they will live wherever they can, existing on the edge of the adult world. Borribles aren't given their names at birth; they earn them through an adventure of some sort.
They have many saying and practices such as "Fruit of the barrow is enough for a Borrible," "Never stand behind a door when there's someone coming through the other side," "It is sad to pass through life without one good adventure," and "It is better to die young than to be caught." How long Borribles can live is never made quite clear. One character in The Borribles speaks of having been Borribled in the time of "the old queen".
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