The Borribles Go For Broke

This is the second book in The Borribles trilogy, published in 1981 - three years after the first Borrible adventure, and set almost immediately after the last book. You may remember my previous review of the first Borrible book from a few days ago... well, I'm quite happy to say that this book is a definite improvement on the rather awkward and juvenile first installment, and I read it a lot quicker as a result.

We pick up on the heroic Borribles of the 'Great Rumble Hunt' (the name given to their last adventure) only a few months after their return to the Battersea district of London. Chalotte (one of the Borrible heroes from the last adventure) seems to be our initial point of focus this time around, she drifts about feeling dejected and dispirited by the way their last adventure turned out - depressed by the absence of the Borribles who didn't make it. Soon the six surviving Borribles of that mission are back together again, aided by a new friend - the Bangladeshi Borrible Twilight - and by the duplicitous Spliff (who despatched the Borribles on their previous mission). They have received word that Sam, the horse they left behind, is alive and well and possibly within reach, and so they set about trying to figure out a way of finding and rescuing him.

However, it seems highly likely that Sam's whereabouts might be the end part of a trap laid by the SBG - the Special Borrible Group, a police division obsessed with capturing the Borribles and clipping their ears (thus taking away their Borrible-ness). And thus, so begins the second big Borrible adventure. Sooner than they know it, the Borribles have made friends with Old Ben, a rather stinky but likeable homeless drunk, and are back within range of Wendle territory - the horrible sewerage-ridden domain of a tyrannical group of Borribles who featured in the first book.

I have to say, this adventure was a lot more consistent, well-written and confident than the first book. The author seemed less self-conscious and his exposition-techniques were nowhere near as awkward. One aspect, such as Twilight the Bangladeshi Borrible, feels a little dated in it's overly-PC depiction and the author's general eagerness to be forward-thinking is a little embarressing in light of modern-day approaches to the problems of stereotyping. The SBG, on the other hand, are a marvellous creation - a much more solid and realistic threat than the rather two-dimensional Rumbles of the previous book, and they're a lot easier to hate as villains - being an absolute embodiment of authority and everything the Borribles stand against. The character of Old Ben also continues the author's subversive and anti-establishment tone... both he and the Borribles represent people who become marginalised by society simply because they're uninterested in things like money, jobs and order. It's a very admirable theme to make central to a book primarily aimed at teen readers. Kudos.

The ending is a lot better too. The action throughout the book is thick and fast and the ante is upped and tweaked chapter by chapter until everything explodes wonderfully. Some of the final developments are a little unexpected and perhaps unneccessarily violent, but still quite good when the dust settles. It also leaves things nicely set up for the third and final adventure.