This unfortunately prophetically titled British farce follows the tedious misadventures of a Sir Glame, a bumbling medieval knight and his ornery steed, Bill. King Tim, ruler of the kingdom of Sausagopolis, always calls on Glame when trouble arises. Here it arrives in the form of a book entitled Saucy McRascal's Big Book of Fun!
, which is filled with "rude, bawdy, lowbrow, off-colour poetry" whose vile verses the residents begin reciting. When a note from its author is found on the palace gates, announcing that a horrible curse has been placed on Sausagopolis and that it "will soon be no more," Glame and Bill are dispensed to track down the villainous author. The two endure a string of silly mishaps, relayed through rambling narrative and amateurish comic-strip–style illustrations: they are captured by a band of fluffy creatures whom they then slay; become involved in making a movie after destroying the film's star (a robot resembling Winnie the Pooh); and are surgically grafted together by a one-headed Hydra. The banal banter and bickering between the duo grows old fast, as does the story's fatuous bathroom humor, intentionally gratuitous violence and inane wordplay. Readers will likely pass on the sequel, Hapless Hopeless Horrible
, due the same month. Ages 8-12. (June)
