by Jasper FfordeBook 4 in the Thursday Next series
I get the biggest kick out of this series. Fforde has a phenomenal imagination and he tells a great story. If you plan to read this series be prepared to suspend reality and enjoy a gripping, hilarious journey in an alternative 1980's England where there are chronoguards, bioengineered dodo birds and literature holds a prominent place. These books are mysteries, sci/fi, fantasy, drama, comedy with a bit of romance. Absolutely delightful.
In this episode Thursday Next returns to Swindon and her former job as a Literary Tech. She fights to prevent Goliath from from becoming a world dominating religion led by a fictional character. Her husband was eradicated from history in an earlier book and Thursday tries to get that eradication reversed. You can read a very nice review here.
The title of the book comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet - "There's something rotten in the state of Denmark." It describes a situation of corruption. Since the character Hamlet accompanies Thursday Next back from the world of fiction and Denmark is being blamed for all England's woes, the title is clever and appropriate. Also, the fictional character who is presently serving as Chancellor of England is embroiled in illegalities in order to rule the world. Something rotten, indeed.
This little description caught my attention: "Destiny's inelegant toe creaks the boards to your door."
14 comments:
I love this series, and I am so excited that there is going to be a new Thursday Next out in July!
you rock for putting the link on your page. thank you thank you thank you!!!
It's such a fun series, isn't it? I'm looking forward to the new one, but I'm wondering if I should go back and reread the others first since I've forgotten a lot of the details.
I haven't read ANY by Fforde. Maybe I should, huh?
I saw so many Ffordes at my last library sale, I wish I had thought to pick them up! You write a beautiful review, booklogged!
I've got this on my TBR shelves.....I think once I get off my kick of atomic bomb aftermath books, this'll be a great palate cleanser, so to speak. They're so much fun, aren't they? The literary allusions alone, but that characters are pretty engaging.
oooh, htis series sounds like fun! i love to suspend disbelief.
Agreed - I love this series!
Thursday is one of the characters I would most like to be for a day, if such a thing were possible (as well as Hermione Granger and Elizabeth Bennett).
This series is NOT for everyone. So go in cautiously. My sister, who is a great reader, did not like it. We've disagreed on a couple of books, but we agree on even more.
I seriously need to read the next book in this series... I have only read two of them so far, but like most other things I do, I own all of them...
Fforde is certainly very popular... I had him recommended by a cartoonist friend who reads a lot of fantasy.
I reviewed The Jane Eyre Affair and The Big Over Easy on my blog.
I guess I should look out for Something Rotten next!
This doesn't sound like my type of read, but I enjoyed this review. Thanks for posting!
Just perusing book blogs and saw this post. I love Thursday Next. What did you think of the Nursery Crimes series? Did you attempt those? Very humorous but no Thursday Next in my humble opinion.
This does sound like another fun one! Thanks for a great review...I'm looking forward to reading more of his books now that I finished The Eyre Affair.
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