The Borribles

A trilogy of books by the late Michael de Larrabeiti, published intermittently through the 1980s in England, the United States and ultimately in many other countries as well.

The Borribles The Borribles Go For Broke The Borribles: Across The Dark Metropolis

The Borribles Trilogy contains examples of:

The Chessmaster: Spiff.
The Fair Folk: It's strongly hinted that the Borribles are the origin of most "elf" and "fairy" myths.
Fantastic Racism: The mutual loathing the Rumbles and the Borribles have for each other; also, the government attitude toward Borribles smacks of institutional racism on many levels.
History Marches On: The socio-economic conditions which made 1970s England so hospitable to the Borribles, and the urban wasteland in which they had their adventures, are long gone.
I Have Many Names: An explict goal for many if not most Borribles: Borribles begin their (new) lives nameless, and only gain names by great deeds or adventures; the more names one possess, the more legendary and well-known one is.
Inspector Javert: An utterly unsympathetic version is found in Inspector Sussworth, to whom the Borribles' very existence is in defiance of his social and political vision of the world.
Like Reality Unless Noted: The world is very clearly 1970s Earth -- except for the immortal elfin children and the intelligent rodents each maintaining their own civilizations in the cracks and crevices of human civilization.
Run Away Hide Away: Borrible society provides many examples of the Type 3 variety; some are long-established, others are temporary squats. Perhaps the most permanent (and impressive) example are the Wendle tunnels under the neighborhood of Wandsworth.
The Runaway: Every Borrible starts out as a runaway child before metamorphosing.
The Unmasqued World: Authorities know of the existence of Borribles and establish special police squads to deal with them. Rumbles own automobiles and drive them in the street in broad daylight.