The Crooked World (novel)
Publisher's Summary
The people of the Crooked World lead an idyllic existence.
Take Streaky Bacon, for example. This jovial farmer wants nothing more from life than a huge blunderbuss, with which he can blast away at his crop-stealing nemesis. And then there's Angel Falls, a racing driver with a string of victories to her name. Sure, her trusted guardian might occasionally put on a mask and menace her for her prize money, but that's just life, right? And for Jasper the cat, nothing could be more pleasant than a nice, long nap in his kitchen -- so long as that darn mouse doesn't jam his tail into the plug socket again.
But somebody is about to shatter all those lives. Somebody is about to change everything -- and it's possible that no one on the Crooked World will ever be happy again.
The Doctor's TARDIS is about to arrive. And when it does... That's all folks!
Characters
- The Doctor
- The Doctor is shot at point blank range by a pig called Streaky Bacon.
- Fitz Kreiner
- Fitz introduces sex to the naïve Crooked World inhabitants.
- Anji Kapoor
- Angel Falls
- Decides to marry Mr Weasley.
- Mr Weasley (alias The Masked Weasel)
- Jasper the Cat
- Commits the first murder in Zanytown.
- Squeak (the mouse)
- Has his head bitten off by Jasper the Cat.
- Boss Dogg
- Sheriff of Zanytown
- Streaky Bacon
- Shot the Doctor whilst hunting the Whatchamacallit.
- Whatchamacallit
- A bit like the 'Road Runner'.
- Scrapper Dogg
- Squashed by a 10 ton weight.
- Is a bit like 'Scrappy Doo'.
References
- Anji's TARDIS key looks like a Yale key.
- The Doctor uses a deliberately imagined custard pie gun to rescue Fitz.
Notes
There are many likenesses / similarities throughout The Crooked World to cartoon worlds / characters.
- The Skeleton Crew who travel around in a van and have as its members: Mike Leader, Harmony Looker, Thelma Brains, Tim Coward and a dog called Fearless.
- Jasper the Cat and Squeak the Mouse, allusions to Tom and Jerry (and Tom was called Jasper in their first appearance)
- The Crooked World residents usually reproduce by writing the Baby Stork, so Fitz's introduction of sex to the world confuses them slightly.
- Jasper's horror over killing Squeak bears similarity to a real scene in Tom and Jerry's Jerry and the Lion, where Tom is genuinely concerned and rushes for a first aid kit when he mistakenly thinks he's wounded Jerry.
Continuity
- The morphic planet from Grimm Reality is compared to the Crooked World planet.