9. Chronicles of Marsh

I knew where the series was going, but a lot needed to happen before we got there.

I eventually hit on the idea of getting Fred to make a history of his reign, from the start through to when I wanted the last book to start.

Several pieces which started as short stories are included, but they blend into an overall narrative that has incidents showing how things are developing – and what’s going wrong. It’s Fred’s job to try and fix things, after all.

As usual, all the guinea pig characters appear, plus several new characters named after people I know, often in the guinea pig world, like Shirley and Barry, who are rodentologists in Ipswich. Or I just make them up, like Jasmine.

Bertie gets a job near the end of this one, helping George with the newly invented radio communications. At one time I thought it a bit mean to give Bertie a part, with Biggles, Neville and Roscoe waiting in the wings, but the get their turn in the next one. Given how early Bertie left us, it was a good thing.