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Literature / The Forty First Wink

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The Forty First Wink is a novel by James Walley and published by Ragnarok Publications.

Marty is having a bad morning. Roused from slumber by a gang of polo mallet wielding monkeys and a mysterious voice in his wardrobe, he must quickly come to terms with the fact that the world outside his door is now the world inside his head. Lying in wait amidst bleak, gloomy streets, deserted theme parks, and circus themed nightclubs, lurks the oppressive shadow of a myriad of giggling, cackling pursuers, hell bent on throwing a custard pie or two into the works.

Assisted by a string of halfcocked schemes, a troupe of tiny unlikely allies, and (literally) the girl of his dreams, Marty sets out on a heroic quest to wake up and get out of bed.


This book contains the following tropes:

  • All Just a Dream: It was. The question is whether the dreams are limited to Marty's dreams or everyone's.
  • And You Were There: Dream-Kate is identical to Real-Kate. And possibly is Kate.
  • Big Bad: Marty's Id is sick of being locked up by him.
  • Coming of Age Story: In a manner of speaking. The book can be read as Marty realizing he needs to take control over his life.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Marty is the Generation Y counterpart to Alice from Alice in Wonderland. This gets lampshaded.
  • Dream Land: The setting for Marty's adventure.
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: A genderflipped version. Marty is helped the entire way by a crew of stuffed toy pirates he had as a child.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Timbers tries to pull one for Marty but the latter isn't having it.
  • Living Toys: Marty would have been killed pretty early if not for the intervention of Timbers and his crew.
  • Magical Land: The world of Marty's dreams is one of these. It's later implied to be less of Marty's dreams than everyone's dreams.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The revelation Kate has the exact same dream as Marty implies there's something more going on. Or it's just the fact they work together and they've been crushing on each other for months.
  • Monster Clown: Peepers leads an army of these.
  • Only Sane Man: Kate fills this role in the dreamworld.
  • Our Fairies Are Different: One possible interpretation of the dreamlands folk.
  • Reality Warper: Averted. Marty has no more power over his dreams than he would in any other place.
  • Ridiculously Average Guy: This is Marty's entire thing. He even lampshades it.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Justified in the fact they're pirate toys.
  • Your Mind Makes It Real: Marty's problem is he's awake in his dreams and thus subject to all the pain and horror the crazy circumstances around him permits.


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