The Witches of Chiswick

The Witches Of Chiswick is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin, the title parodying that of The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike.^[1]

Plot

Working in a

After returning to London, Will and Hugo take on a case for Sherlock Holmes - to discover the identity of Jack the Ripper to learn more about the witches' cabal. Hugo becomes the Ripper's next victim. Will finds a box in Hugo's trunk containing Barry, the Sprout Guardian. Will uses Barry to return to the future to enlist the aid of Tim.

Will and Tim return to the past, meeting an invisible

Hugo faked his death, not for the first time, and returns to aid Tim and Will. Will discovers that Count Otto is a Babbage robot, controlled by the Will from the alternate future. Driven mad, the alternate Will became evil and committed the Jack the Ripper killings. "Anti-Will" faces Hugo, travels back in time to prevent the Babbage Difference Engine from being recognized, then returns to the circus to finish his goal of controlling the world. When Hugo confesses that 'he' cannot stop the "anti-Will", William realises he can sacrifice himself to defeat his duplicate. Will lunges for "anti-Will" and the pair are destroyed due to the temporal paradox. History is changed, the Victorian era never develops the computer and in the future Will and Tim are born and lead normal lives.

References