Something Rotten (Thursday Next 4)
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Review
'Don't ask. Just read it. Fforde is a true original.' (Sunday Express )
'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' (Terry Pratchett on The Eyre Affair )
'Jasper Fforde's imagination is a literary volcano in full spate . . . SOMETHING ROTTEN is arguably Fforde's best book yet . . . Fforde has a knack of creating memorable characters whom the reader greets like long-lost friends . . . Buy it; chuckles guaranteed.' (Independent )
'Jasper Fforde has gone where no fictioneer has gone before. Millions of readers now follow ... Thank you, Jasper' (Guardian )
'The best yet, which is quite remarkable considering how good the others were.' (Sunday Express )
'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' (Terry Pratchett on The Eyre Affair )
'Jasper Fforde's imagination is a literary volcano in full spate . . . SOMETHING ROTTEN is arguably Fforde's best book yet . . . Fforde has a knack of creating memorable characters whom the reader greets like long-lost friends . . . Buy it; chuckles guaranteed.' (Independent )
'Jasper Fforde has gone where no fictioneer has gone before. Millions of readers now follow ... Thank you, Jasper' (Guardian )
'The best yet, which is quite remarkable considering how good the others were.' (Sunday Express )
'The complexity of the plotting is le Carre-like in its ingenuity; the back-story detailing is Dickensian both in its vividness and in its depth; Umberto Eco would recognise an erudition that challenges his own (and far surpasses that of the hugely-overrated Dan Brown), and Orwell would have been proud of the persuasiveness of the depictions of the evil influence of multinational conglomerates, as exemplified by the Goliath Corporation, and of the inescapable misery and squalor of totalitarian communism as evinced by the Socialist Republic of Wales (national motto: "Not Always Raining"). One has to consider Jasper Fforde in the context of his predecessors in surreal comic fantasy - Lewis Carroll, Thorne Smith, the Goons, the Monty Python team, Douglas Adams, Robert Rankin, Terry Pratchett and the rest - and in many ways he not only matches their genius, but actually transcends it.'
(War Correspondent - the Journal of the Crimean War Research Society ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.Review
'Don't ask. Just read it. Fforde is a true original.' -- Sunday Express 'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' -- Terry Pratchett on The Eyre Affair 'Jasper Fforde's imagination is a literary volcano in full spate ... SOMETHING ROTTEN is arguably Fforde's best book yet ... Fforde has a knack of creating memorable characters whom the reader greets like long-lost friends ... Buy it; chuckles guaranteed.' -- Independent 'Jasper Fforde has gone where no fictioneer has gone before. Millions of readers now follow ... Thank you, Jasper' -- Guardian 'The best yet, which is quite remarkable considering how good the others were.' -- Sunday Express 'The complexity of the plotting is le Carre-like in its ingenuity; the back-story detailing is Dickensian both in its vividness and in its depth; Umberto Eco would recognise an erudition that challenges his own (and far surpasses that of the hugely-overrated Dan Brown), and Orwell would have been proud of the persuasiveness of the depictions of the evil influence of multinational conglomerates, as exemplified by the Goliath Corporation, and of the inescapable misery and squalor of totalitarian communism as evinced by the Socialist Republic of Wales (national motto: "Not Always Raining"). One has to consider Jasper Fforde in the context of his predecessors in surreal comic fantasy - Lewis Carroll, Thorne Smith, the Goons, the Monty Python team, Douglas Adams, Robert Rankin, Terry Pratchett and the rest - and in many ways he not only matches their genius, but actually transcends it.' -- War Correspondent - the Journal of the Crimean War Research Society
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After enjoying all Thursday Next books, I was a bit reluctant to start reading the final volume, as it often happens to me with series I really love. I guess I feared the author could not possibly tie all the loose ends and finish the story in a way to match the previous volumes, without abandoning some of the subplots. After finishing the book in a single day (and night) I admit I was very wrong to doubt Jasper Fforde. It is quite amazing how a writer can mix together time travel, "fictional" characters, cartoonish science projects, apocalyptic prophecies and cloned human ancestors and still write a consistent story. Until now, whenever I was reading books of comic fiction I would inevitably compare them to Pratchett, but not this time. Jasper Fforde with this series sets his own standards and I am pretty sure I will find myself comparing new authors to this work in the future.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The latest Thursday Next saga is certainly the best, providing that you've read the rest of the series. If you haven't, you'll find it difficult to follow the exciting adventures of Thursday in the Outerworld, as she fights to save her eradicated husband, raise their paradoxical son Friday, stop Yorrick Kaine and the dastardly Goliath Corporation, foil an assassin, capture the Minotaur, bring about world peace, and win an un-winnable croquet match in the process.
Taking a leave of absence from the Bookworld, Thursday reappears in the real world to find that the Goliath Corporation has ascended to new heights of mind control, Yorrick Kaine has inexplicably risen to power, her bosses are not particularly happy about her unauthorized 2 1/2 year absence, and she's got a downtrodden Hamlet, an amorous Emma Hamilton and a dashing Otto Bismarck to contend with.
More than up to the task, but not quite sure how to sort anything out, she makes a deal with Goliath, visits the netherworld with vampire hunter Spike, and somehow ends up managing the local croquet team in an all-important championship match.
One of Fforde's most imaginative novels, this one is highly recommended for fans of the Thursday Next series.
Amanda Richards
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"This is fiction. Odd things are MEANT to happen." That remark, coming from galactic tyrant Emperor Zhark, sets the tone for Jasper Fforde's fourth book in the still-fresh Thursday Next series, "Something Rotten." Funny, literate, and sometimes quite poignant, this proves that Fforde still has the spark.
After a disastrous incident in the Wild West, Thursday Next decides to leave Jurisfiction, and goes home with her two-year-old son Friday. But things aren't more peaceful in the real world: The Goliath Corporation has become a religion, there's a politician named Yorrick Kaine blaming the Danes for everything, and a croquet match is set to determine the fate of the world. If they win, the Goliath Corporation (and Kaine) are finished. If they lose, the world has a 22% chance of Armageddon.
Thursday's personal life is no easier. Her husband has been "eradicated," and her mom's house is full of guests from Hamlet to a 13th-century seer. Now her only hope lies in somehow getting the Goliath Corporation to give her husband back, and in winning the cricket match (with the help of Hamlet and a bunch of Neanderthals). But Kaine and the Corporation aren't about to go down without a fight... and they might take Thursday down with them.
Jasper Fforde won readers' hearts with the comedy/mystery/fantasy/satire "The Eyre Affair," and kept winning them with the two sequels. Though "Well of Lost Books" was a bit shaky, "Rotten" gets its footing quickly. Any book that has Ophelia staging a coup and taking over the play must be a winner. But Fforde also wraps up some threads from the earlier books, such as Landen's eradication. The question of Thursday's punishment (for changing the end of "Jane Eyre") is also dealt with, in a poignant and unexpected twist.
Fforde seems more comfortable than ever in his literate-spoof world. His writing is assured and detailed, with a few dizzy puns and plenty of English-major humor, like Hamlet being a Mel Gibson fan. He wraps dozens of seemingly random threads together, tying them off neatly at the end. The climactic fight between Thursday and Kaine is both funny and brilliant, as they set one literary creation against another, including Beowulf and the Jabberwock.
The smart, tough-yet-loving Thursday is joined by a bunch of characters both lovable and infuriating, including her Latin-spouting tot Friday and a bunch of Neanderthals. Gran Next has a secret identity revealed, and Landen returns... spasmodically, on and off. Most winning are the exuberant Hamlet and Thursday's brother, the Irreverend Joffy. Oddly enough, the villains -- such as Mr. Goliath and hit woman Cindy -- tend to be two-dimensional, but fictional ones (like Emperor Zhark) are enormous fun. Oh, the irony.
Jasper Fforde returns with "Something Rotten," a solid entry in the ongoing fantasy-detective series. For people who don't mind a spoonful of satire with their classic literature, this is a must have.
After a disastrous incident in the Wild West, Thursday Next decides to leave Jurisfiction, and goes home with her two-year-old son Friday. But things aren't more peaceful in the real world: The Goliath Corporation has become a religion, there's a politician named Yorrick Kaine blaming the Danes for everything, and a croquet match is set to determine the fate of the world. If they win, the Goliath Corporation (and Kaine) are finished. If they lose, the world has a 22% chance of Armageddon.
Thursday's personal life is no easier. Her husband has been "eradicated," and her mom's house is full of guests from Hamlet to a 13th-century seer. Now her only hope lies in somehow getting the Goliath Corporation to give her husband back, and in winning the cricket match (with the help of Hamlet and a bunch of Neanderthals). But Kaine and the Corporation aren't about to go down without a fight... and they might take Thursday down with them.
Jasper Fforde won readers' hearts with the comedy/mystery/fantasy/satire "The Eyre Affair," and kept winning them with the two sequels. Though "Well of Lost Books" was a bit shaky, "Rotten" gets its footing quickly. Any book that has Ophelia staging a coup and taking over the play must be a winner. But Fforde also wraps up some threads from the earlier books, such as Landen's eradication. The question of Thursday's punishment (for changing the end of "Jane Eyre") is also dealt with, in a poignant and unexpected twist.
Fforde seems more comfortable than ever in his literate-spoof world. His writing is assured and detailed, with a few dizzy puns and plenty of English-major humor, like Hamlet being a Mel Gibson fan. He wraps dozens of seemingly random threads together, tying them off neatly at the end. The climactic fight between Thursday and Kaine is both funny and brilliant, as they set one literary creation against another, including Beowulf and the Jabberwock.
The smart, tough-yet-loving Thursday is joined by a bunch of characters both lovable and infuriating, including her Latin-spouting tot Friday and a bunch of Neanderthals. Gran Next has a secret identity revealed, and Landen returns... spasmodically, on and off. Most winning are the exuberant Hamlet and Thursday's brother, the Irreverend Joffy. Oddly enough, the villains -- such as Mr. Goliath and hit woman Cindy -- tend to be two-dimensional, but fictional ones (like Emperor Zhark) are enormous fun. Oh, the irony.
Jasper Fforde returns with "Something Rotten," a solid entry in the ongoing fantasy-detective series. For people who don't mind a spoonful of satire with their classic literature, this is a must have.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
totally unpredictable
Something Rotten is the 4th of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. After 2 years as Bellman for Jurisfiction, Thursday has begun to miss the Real World, and decides to go... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Cloggie Downunder
Something Rotten
Loved the whole series. Came across Mr Fforde by (happy) accident and am now an avid fan. Very funny.
Published 18 months ago by JCEH
Entertaining but not very good
I was rather disappointed with this, the fourth and possibly last in the Thursday Next series. While Fforde has learnt the error of previous books where he's compressed an entire... Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by Sulkyblue
fourth but not least
This is the fourth Thursday Next novel, and you won't understand much if you haven't read the other three. Read more
Published on 29 April 2009 by Renata Baraldi
Fforde is back on form
After the slightly less interesting The Well Of Lost Plots, Fforde comes back with this cracking fourth novel in the Thursday Next series. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2007 by alimarcam
Read in order!
When I happened across this book in a sale I thought that the being a fan of humour novels and science fiction that this could be just my taste. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2007 by Sam
Toppe Fforde!!
Well, what is there really to say? Another witty, cleverly inventive, totally surreal adventure for Thursday Next. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2006 by Myrtle
Fiction this good rarely comes along
I am not sure how many adjectives I can use about the Thursday Next series as I feel I have used them all up in reviewing the past 3 books. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2006 by Chris Chalk
Something Rotten
Disappointing in comparison to the three previous books. I was sorry that Miss Havisham and some of the other earlier characters did not feature in this story. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2004 by Rachel J. Madden
Fforde just gets better and better!!
I was nervous that the fourth installment of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series would not match the sheer inventiveness and brilliance of the first three - but how wrong I was... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2004
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