by Rupert Stanbury
28 October 2021
Genre: Fantasy / Comedy
Publisher: Troubador / Matador
ISBN: 878-1800465305
ASIN:B09KM9JV2S
Number of pages: 344
Cover Artist: Dave Hill
The Olympian Gods have made it to the 21st century AD. We may not have heard much about them in the last two thousand years, but they’re still controlling what we humans are up to – or at least they think they are.
The reality is that the Gods are like us – they’ve got problems!
Zeus is still Top God on Mount Olympus, but he’s got issues with many of the younger gods. His brothers, Hades and Poseidon, have issues with themselves – they’re getting too set in their ways ruling the Underworld and the Seas; they probably need a job change.
But help is at hand from an unexpected source – we humans.
It’s surprising what a dose of good common sense can do for even the most powerful of the gods, especially when it comes from a couple of teenagers!
The Four Horsemen (Gods Galore Series Book Two)
by Rupert Stanbury
Genre: Fantasy / Comedy
17 April 2023
ISBN: 979-8366008495
ASIN: B0C2Q4G268
Number of pages: 337
Cover Artist: Tim Stringer
The Four Horsemen is the second book in the Gods Galore series about the Olympian Gods in the 21st Century AD.
The gods are still trying to control what we humans are up to. Unfortunately, they’re not being particularly successful. The world is experiencing both plague and famine which Zeus and the Gods’ Council never approved. What’s going on?
Athene’s determined to find out, but before she can get going the God of War initiates an attack on Poseidon’s realm. It’s now all out conflict and the gods are taking sides – one side, in particular.
Wherever there’s a fight, Hebe’s involved. She soon signs up to an army regiment which is full of soldiers even smaller than she is. But war these days involves brains and not just brawn and there’s plenty of both ready to be deployed in this fight!
by Rupert Stanbury
28 October 2024
Genre:Fantasy / Comedy
ISBN: 979-8338117200
ASIN: B0DL5XTHMH
Number of pages: 339
Cover Artist: Tim Stringer
Pimlico People is the third book in the Gods Galore series about the Olympian Gods in the 21st Century AD.
The Goddesses Artemis and Hebe are staying in Central London to obtain a better understanding of the lives of ‘normal’ people.
To their surprise, they soon encounter a plot to blow up a foreign embassy. Add to that a sophisticated operation involving the theft of valuable paintings from a major art gallery, and the two goddesses begin to question what a ‘normal’ life is all about.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld Cerberus encounters another dog who, amazingly, only has one head! How will they get on?
EXTRACT FROM PIMLICO PEOPLE – THE PARK
The location for this extract from Pimlico People is St James’s Park in Central London.
The
reference to Blefuscu and Lilliput are to two islands in Gulliver’s
Travels where people are only about six inches tall. The people of these
islands are often in conflict with each other.
Both Iris and
Hebe are Greek goddesses. Cerberus is a three-headed dog living in the
Underworld. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders is a Lilliput army
regiment; Rach is also from Lilliput. Finally, Slasher and others are
swans living in the park.
As
this small armada was making progress, exciting things were beginning
to unfold on West Island where four Blefuscu commandos still remained,
together with a couple of swans. None of them knew precisely what their
role was, other than to be ‘back-up’, so they just rested on the ground
expecting to have a quiet time until their comrades returned. They were
therefore surprised to hear a paddling noise from the lake and even more
surprised when a large black dog with three heads emerged. All these
heads had the same face which bore a remarkable resemblance to the
Goddess Iris.
The dog raced along the ground towards the
commandos. It snarled and growled as it moved at speed, its three mouths
spitting out saliva and showing a large number of very sharp teeth. The
commandos tried to get up and run, but the dog was on them before they
could get away. They were by now all terrified and started to scream.
“Give
us a Mars bar or I’ll bite yer bums!” they heard, but it made no
difference because the dog decided not to bite their bums; instead, it
proceeded to kick them all into the water.
“Help!” screamed one of the commandos. “I cannot make ze swim! Help!”
The
two swans were nearby in the lake and, considering themselves pretty
tough, didn’t run away, but instead tried to help the commandos.
However, the three-headed dog launched itself from the bank and landed
on top of one of the swans. It gave the white bird a number of painful
bites and used its powerful front paws to thump the swan in all sorts of
sensitive places. Eventually, its victim was so battered and bruised
the black dog left it floating on the lake.
The other swan by
now had decided he wasn’t quite tough enough to take on a manic
three-headed dog and had started swimming away. Unfortunately, it was
now the next target for the Iris-Cerberus look-alike who, despite being a
four-footed canine, could out-swim any of the St James’s Park swans.
The dog soon caught up with the fleeing swan, jumped on its back and
meted out the same treatment as it had given to its companion. Having
left the second swan equally battered and bruised, the dog swam back to
the Blefuscu commandos, who were still flailing around in the water.
Three sets of jaws each took hold of a commando at the same time and
then proceeded to toss them back onto the island. They were soon joined
by their final companion as they lay moaning and groaning on the ground.
At this stage the three-headed dog turned round and began to swim
towards Duck Island.
The next minute a miniature boat arrived at
West Island, having travelled along the length of the lake near the
north bank. It had a silent motor, specially designed by Rach’s Special
Projects team. A number of Argyll and Southern Highlanders disembarked,
went over to the four Blefuscu commandos, tied their hands behind their
backs while at the same time taping their mouths. They were put into the
boat which set off on its return journey, again along the north side of
the lake.
xxxxx
Meanwhile back on the lake, the
adjutant and his three commandos were rapidly approaching the south-west
corner of Duck Island. The commandos had already taken out a number of
hand grenades while the adjutant was readying a bomb to create a Big
Boom when Slasher became aware of something in the water approaching him
at speed. Suddenly he jerked and let out a honk as he realised he was
looking at a giant swan, which was at least five times bigger than him
with a neck ten feet high. Interestingly, this swan had the Goddess
Hebe’s face, although Slasher would not have been aware of that. He
didn’t have time to let out another honk because the giant swan’s head
swiped his own, knocking him on his side. He managed to right himself
only to find that his adversary didn’t just have webbed feet, but also
forearms with bright red boxing gloves which started bashing his head
and thumping his body. After a short while the boxing gloves went under
his belly and then threw him backwards into the air. When Slasher landed
back in the water and his head resurfaced, he found he was due another
good beating and bashing until he was left in an even worse condition
than his two comrades who’d been attacked by the three-headed dog near
West Island.
Slasher’s four Blefuscu commandos had fallen into
the water shortly after the altercation with the giant swan had begun.
Fortunately, they could all swim, but they did a lot of shouting for
help. All their bombs and grenades had also fallen into the lake, so
they were now useless, but this didn’t seem to matter. Getting to dry
land was their key objective now. Creating a Big Boom at the Lilliput
Embassy was no longer high on the agenda.
The other four swans
and their commandos behind Slasher were soon aware that matters weren’t
going to plan. They tried to move away from the giant swan and turned
back towards West Island. However, they didn’t get very far because the
giant swan hadn’t taken long to deal with Slasher and began chasing
after them. It soon caught up with the two in the rear and gave them
both the same treatment it had given Slasher. The other two, who were in
the lead for a brief while, thought they’d got away, until one of them
was hit very hard by a three-headed dog swimming directly at it with the
force of a torpedo. As the swan tried to right itself while it’s four
commandos were flailing around in the water, the three-headed dog jumped
high into the air. It landed on the back of the final swan, again
knocking its commandos into the water before starting to rough up the
bird.
While the giant swan and the three-headed dog were having
fun beating up Slasher, Spike, Spanka, Scorcher and Smog, the pelicans
had stopped chanting “Oggy, Oggy, Oggy” from the lakeside. They got into
the water and started looking for the commandos who were splashing
around. When they found them, they gently picked the small men up in
their beaks and carried them to Duck Island. They were joined by more
miniature boats manned by members of the Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders as well as the Lilliput Embassy’s security staff. Rach was
also hovering overhead on her scooter, shining a powerful torchlight on
the lake and calling out whenever she found one of the flailing
commandos.
About the Author:
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Rupert Stanbury is a Cambridge University graduate. He was born in Manchester in the North of England but has lived most of his adult life in Central London.
He has always been an avid reader and in recent years decided to take up writing himself. His books have one overriding objective which is TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH!
His first book, Gods Galore, was published in November 2021 and this was followed by The Four Horsemen, in April 2023. His latest novel, Pimlico People, was published in October 2024. All three books are a mixture of fantasy and comedy about the Olympian Gods in the 21st Century.
