Order of the Golden Sprout The New Robert Rankin Fan Club

Old sci-Fi favourite 2009-04-18

Reviewer: rubbah

a strange old lady appears one day, telling the family to call her 'Aunt Emma.' the parents don't realise that anything is wrong, but the Tim and Beth soon realise that this isn't the case, and that the world and humankind is at stake. This has been the one and only sci-fi book that I've ever classed as one of my favourite books.

Great, classic sci fi 2008-03-06

Reviewer: Cakey

I have just read an extract of this book to an enraptured class of children. They loved it and were totally absorbed. The way that tension is built through details about Grinny that aren't quite right is really effective and imaginative. Enjoy!

How long ago? 2004-03-01

Reviewer:

We read Grinny at school back in the late '70's, so I was expecting a good read, and a trip down memory lane.
Sadly, the story reads like it was written in the 1950's. I can't believe I don't remember it the way I thought I did. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention at school, but I distinctly remember this as one of my favourite books. Shame on me!!!

I vote we kill her. Tonight. 2001-11-04

Reviewer:

Grinny is one of those books that you read once, forget about it, read it again, then love it. It's a science fiction classic, about the way children have to cope with a serious dilemma where the parents are completely useless.
Great Aunt Emma (A.K.A Grinny) comes to stay, but soon the children, brother and sister Tim and Beth, and Tim's best friend Mac, start to suspect that Grinny isn't all she seems to be. She's scared of electricity, has metal bones (There was no meaty stuff, just lots of metal rods! - Quote Beth) and she glows at night.
Then as the tension grows, the kids spot Grinny's weaknesses, and use them in a brilliant showdown of Good vs Evil.
This is brilliant, buy it.
P.S. If you enjoy this read it's sequal 'You remember me!' also by Nicholas Fisk.

A superb, dark story, and not just for kids... 2001-07-09

Reviewer: paulbracey@beeb.net

I remember reading this when I was about 12, and loved it - in fact, I think it was the first book whose sequel ("You Remember Me") I actively sought out.

It's quite rare that a story focuses on the skepticism of the children and the adults' gullibility, rather than the other way around, and that the story takes place entirely inside the Carpenters' home gives it a very immediate, claustrophobic feel.

Kids (I'd say 9 or 10 onwards) will eat this up - and adults, make sure you've got someone's hand to hold...