Rankin spent the next six months merging several of his short stories, resulting in The Antipope, which Aldridge took to Pan Books who bought and subsequently published the novel.

Rankin's editor moved to another publisher, and his writing career came to a halt until 1988 when Sphere Books (under the Abacus imprint) reprinted the original trilogy in one volume (ISBN 978-0-349-10028-9).

[6] Despite this inauspicious start, Rankin and The Antipope have since attained something of a cult status, with the following two review extracts printed on the back cover of the Corgi edition: 'Wonderful...A heady mix of Flann O'Brien, Douglas Adams, Tom Sharpe and Ken Campbell, but with an inbuilt irreverence and indelicacy that is unique – and makes it the long-awaited, heavy smoker's answer to The Lord of the Rings' – Time Out[7] 'Wonderfully entertaining...reads like a Flann O'Brien rewrite of Close Encounters' – City Limits[7] The original Pan Books release of the novel features a different front cover by artist Alistair Graham.

[8] It depicts five of the main characters of the book, with The Flying Swan in the background and the figure of the resurrected Pope Alexander VI looming ominously over everything.

[10] In 2004, the Dreaming Theatre Company produced a stage adaptation of The Antipope; the production toured across the UK playing in venues and festivals.