One of our Thursdays is missing

One of our Thursdaysis Missing: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde, 362 pages

 This is the sixth book in the Thursday Next series. Unlike the rest of the series this book is entirely from the perspective of the written Thursday from Thursday's revised book series. This novel again almost entirely takes place in the bookworld.

There are several things that I really enjoyed about this book. First we get a map of how book world is structured. This is both useful and interesting to look at, due to genre placement. Secondly being that the story takes place in fiction, and fiction is a strange world, there was plenty of strange and funny stuff. And lastly everything to do with the hard to place oversize genre.
This book is action packed and quite humorous even without the mime field or the clown army. If you have read the rest of the series read this one too.

First Among Sequels

Thursday Next in theFirst Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde, 363 pages

This is the fifth book in the Thursday Next series. This book is mainly based in the fictional world as Thursday meets her written forms. With the adding of two more Thursdays comes more mayhem and silliness that is becoming the standard for Fforde. Since Thursday is training one of the written Thursdays we get to see more of the book world and the behind the scenes. We also learn more about the ruling structure of bookworld and how the genres fit together.

While this book is still humorous to read, I did not find it as good as some of his previous books. It almost comes across as being forced to be silly.

Something Rotten

Thursday Next in SomethingRotten by Jasper Fforde, 385 pages

 

Something Rotten is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series and could be my favorite so far. This is due to the appearance and duel by the Cat formerly known as Cheshire. The duel itself is pure silliness with both sides summoning various literary champions to fight for them. There are very few rules with the only notable one being no summoning krakens.

 

This book also has an underworld like place, a company trying to become a religion, the threat of nuclear war, croquet, and some strange after-death stuff. Did I mention the Neanderthals and the possible returning of a prophet? Of course it also still has all the stuff we enjoy like Pickwick, the dodo, and Thursdays various fictional adventures.

 

I know I have enjoyed the series, and through my description of it my brother has also started reading it. This is one of those series that will never get boring or old.

_{This post brought to you by the Toast Marketing Board. Eat More Toast!}

Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, 390 pages

Before I get started, I want to say that describing any Jasper Fforde novel is ridiculously hard to do, and Shades of Grey is probably the most difficult. It's also the most difficult to understand. So, if, as you read this review, you find yourself getting frustrated, confused, or ready to punch through the screen of the device upon which you are reading this, take a deep breath, realize how much that would hurt, and know that you are not alone. I am certain to confuse myself while writing this. I feel your pain.

Shades of Grey is set in a dystopian caste-based world where people can only see one color; the rest of the world exists in shades of grey. The better you can perceive that one color, the higher up you are in your caste (someone who picks up 95% of yellow is infinitely better than someone who can see only a measly 15%). And then the colors are ranked according to the classic rainbow mnemonic ROY G BIV, with purples/violets at the top and reds about as low as you can get without being a worker-bee nonentity, AKA a Grey.

As with any world like this, there are lots of hard and fast rules, many of which don't make sense, and our protagonist, Eddie Russett (a Red), is just curious enough and just enough of a troublemaker to earn a "needs humility" assignment to a rural community. Once there, he further pushes the boundaries and makes himself some frightful enemies of the village leaders and the policing Yellows.

Like any of Fforde's worlds, this one is a strange strange land, filled with odd creatures, weird customs, and some wonderfully wild notions. I love this book; I've read it before, and I can't even describe my frustration that the long-promised sequels are still sitting in Fforde's brain, or a drawer somewhere. If you're a fan of Fforde's work, by all means, give this one a go. But if you've never read Fforde, don't start here. Try the Thursday Next series or the Nursery Crime books before you dive into the world of Eddie Russett.

Well of Lost Plots

Thursday Next in the Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, 375 pages

This is the third book in the Thursday Next series. In some ways these books get more and more confusing as the series goes on, but that only helps the awesomeness of the series.¹ Like all series it is very hard to give any sort of review without revealing anything that happens in the book, or the books that come before it.

In this book Thursday is on extended maternity leave and is living in an unpublishable manuscript. All of these manuscripts are kept in the Well of Lost Plots, hence the name of the book. This book is also has the reappearance of Granny Next and some of her life story.

 

This series is a must read in my opinion as it is very well done and will have you at least chuckling at some of the puns/jokes/literary humor used in the book.² The Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat, or the cat formerly known as Cheshire, is still my favorite character. But Pickwick is a very close second, despite being a dodo who cant talk.

_{1 “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”}

_{2 “Is this thing on?”}

Lost in a Good Book

Thursday Next in Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, 399 pages


This is the second book in the Thursday Next series. If you can take everything I said about the first book and then add dialogue taking place through footnotes, lots of time travel, the Cheshire Cat, famous literary characters, and lots of coincidences and you would get this book.

I absolutely loved reading it and though Thursday is the star of the book I love the appearance of the Cheshire Cat. I always was a fan of his double speaking and sarcastic attitude and it really shows up here. The story is getting more convoluted as it goes but also brings about enough silliness to make you not care.

Since this series is getting better as it goes, I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Though if it keeps going at its current pace, its going to be nothing but puns by the final book!

Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, 374 pages

This book, and the Thursday Next series it belongs to was recommended by Kara K. The setting is a somewhat futuristic society in which fiction has become the centerpiece of the culture. There are also extinct species brought back to life, werewolves and other supernatural beings, time travel, and more puns, oddities and hilarity then deserves to be in one book.

The book is silly to the point where you are rolling your eyes at the puns and jokes but just crazy enough that it is acceptable. While it did not have me laughing out loud I did have to stifle some chuckles. Despite the length of the book I managed to finish it in one day. Not because I wanted to, but because I couldn't put it down. If you can handle the silliness I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, especially if you work around books.