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drkottke's review
4.0
An excellent installment in one of my favorite series, this one is set exclusively in the "real world," with no action in the BookWorld beyond investigations into Dark Reading Matter (which Thursday consults on, but doesn't directly conduct). This sets it apart from the rest of the series by eschewing its central premise - Thursday Next's ability to move between the Book and real worlds - but it's nevertheless very entertaining. I didn't enjoy the previous book in the series because it seemed Fforde opted for cramming in as many puns and jokey wordplay as possible at the expense of coherent narrative and a visualizable setting. This volume has all kinds of chop-logic and time-travel conundrums to send the reader's mind spinning, but the overarching story is clear and the satire is wonderfully grounded. It also sets up characters and plots for further volumes quite nicely. For me, it was the most enjoyable volume since the initial three.
betanianne's review against another edition
4.0
Ok. So this book was definitely a lot more grounded than the other books in the series. After so much time in BookWorld, I was getting used to all the clever homophones, epigraphs, and footnotes. This one was firmly in Real Swindon, without any real communication with BookWorld. Still a good book, but it's missing what I love about the series. So it's like a 4 if compared to other books, but 3 if compared to other Thursday Next books.
stelaw's review against another edition
4.0
Anything with attack nuns brandishing guns is worth a read! Fforde is seemingly never ending in his new and crazy ideas that are just within the realm of possibility at times.
alicetheowl's review against another edition
4.0
Near the 2/3rds point in this book, I realized that I was utterly confused about what was going on. Then I reasoned that the confusion was deliberate, that knowing what was going on was just as important as what was going to happen next. The narrative tension lay in seeking answers.
Thursday Next is recovering from an assassination attempt, which keeps her from reading herself into the BookWorld. But her native world has plenty to keep her busy. Between a scheduled smiting, the disbanding of the regulators of the timestream due to the impossibility of time travel ("Oh, NOW you tell us!" I imagine some ChronoGuard director saying), and taking on a head librarian job, Thursday's hands are full. On top of that, she's trying to track down Aornis, helping her daughter, Tuesday, lead a normal teenage life, and helping her son, Friday, deal with his new, mundane future.
The only BookWorld presence in this installment is the presence of a character she bought Landen, her husband, to help him with his book. He's called "the Wingco," and he's researching Dark Reading Matter, which is the BookWorld's version of an afterlife. He can talk to imaginary friends, which are a different kind of fictional person.
When confusing things start cropping up, it's not immediately apparent why that might be. There are synthetic Thursdays walking around, Thursday's painkiller addiction, and the mystery of Aornis Hades that could explain any of the events that don't add up. There are enough clues to figure out at least one of the subplots before Thursday does (and you're apt to, for reasons that will make sense when you read this), but the complexity of the plot keeps the ending up in the air until the last page. There's a lot going on in.
My favorite subplot is that of Thursday and Landen's relationship. They've been married for decades, and they still gross their children out with how lovey dovey they can get. It's easy to see why they're still in love. They get one another's humor, accept one another for who they are, and support one another to the best of their abilities. At one point, Thursday remarks that Landen's career as a writer likely didn't take off because he was supporting her, but she doesn't wallow in guilt over this, nor does Landen try to make her. It's a nice reversal of the woman giving up everything to support her man. And, considering everything she did in earlier books to win him and keep him, it's good to see that he's worth it. To borrow romance novel parlance, Landen is a beta male, and a lovable one, at that.
I didn't know what to expect, going into this book. I thought One of Our Thursdays Is Missing wrapped things up nicely, and I couldn't imagine what could be left. Sure, there was the Goliath corporation, and BookWorld, but I was afraid the story might get stale. This was anything but, and the next book is rather nicely set up by the end of this one, while the main conflict is resolved.
Jasper Fforde is the most creative writer I read. That can be a challenge, for some readers, but I love books that play with tropes and take things in completely unexpected directions. When a blurb says a book will "keep me guessing," this is what I expect, and never get.
If you're a fan, I think this is hit or miss. But it's certainly not the same old story.
Thursday Next is recovering from an assassination attempt, which keeps her from reading herself into the BookWorld. But her native world has plenty to keep her busy. Between a scheduled smiting, the disbanding of the regulators of the timestream due to the impossibility of time travel ("Oh, NOW you tell us!" I imagine some ChronoGuard director saying), and taking on a head librarian job, Thursday's hands are full. On top of that, she's trying to track down Aornis, helping her daughter, Tuesday, lead a normal teenage life, and helping her son, Friday, deal with his new, mundane future.
The only BookWorld presence in this installment is the presence of a character she bought Landen, her husband, to help him with his book. He's called "the Wingco," and he's researching Dark Reading Matter, which is the BookWorld's version of an afterlife. He can talk to imaginary friends, which are a different kind of fictional person.
When confusing things start cropping up, it's not immediately apparent why that might be. There are synthetic Thursdays walking around, Thursday's painkiller addiction, and the mystery of Aornis Hades that could explain any of the events that don't add up. There are enough clues to figure out at least one of the subplots before Thursday does (and you're apt to, for reasons that will make sense when you read this), but the complexity of the plot keeps the ending up in the air until the last page. There's a lot going on in.
My favorite subplot is that of Thursday and Landen's relationship. They've been married for decades, and they still gross their children out with how lovey dovey they can get. It's easy to see why they're still in love. They get one another's humor, accept one another for who they are, and support one another to the best of their abilities. At one point, Thursday remarks that Landen's career as a writer likely didn't take off because he was supporting her, but she doesn't wallow in guilt over this, nor does Landen try to make her. It's a nice reversal of the woman giving up everything to support her man. And, considering everything she did in earlier books to win him and keep him, it's good to see that he's worth it. To borrow romance novel parlance, Landen is a beta male, and a lovable one, at that.
I didn't know what to expect, going into this book. I thought One of Our Thursdays Is Missing wrapped things up nicely, and I couldn't imagine what could be left. Sure, there was the Goliath corporation, and BookWorld, but I was afraid the story might get stale. This was anything but, and the next book is rather nicely set up by the end of this one, while the main conflict is resolved.
Jasper Fforde is the most creative writer I read. That can be a challenge, for some readers, but I love books that play with tropes and take things in completely unexpected directions. When a blurb says a book will "keep me guessing," this is what I expect, and never get.
If you're a fan, I think this is hit or miss. But it's certainly not the same old story.
ftpcharlie's review
5.0
This is such a great book and a fantastic series. I love the way that Jasper Fforde writes; intelligent and bizarre yet so readable, not to mention a strong, middle-aged, female character who kicks arse!
joulez's review
4.0
So I finished this book about two weeks ago, i just happened to jump into a completely different book and forgot to update here.
This book was good in fact I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one to it. It had that nice little mystery to it and kept you wanting to turn the pages. I think the only reason I didn't give this a 5* rating was because I missed the bookworld in this book.
I liked the fact that this book and the one before it focused mainly on one of the worlds. so the previous book was set solely in the Bookworld and this one was set in the 'real world' and they were both really good in their own rights. But I did feel I missed the bookworld, and I loved the fact the author gave a really good explanation as to why she couldn't go to the bookworld any more. It wasn't just misted over so to speak, there was an actual explanation and I liked that.
This book kept me guessing till the end and as the read through it and saw the chapters creeping up on me I wasn't sure we would get a resolution in this book. It got very close to the end of the book before we got that resolution and I was really worried it wasn't going to happen.
Really enjoyable read, I did smile at some parts of this book, it kept me reading into the small hours near enough every night. I can't wait to see what(if any) happens next. I'm sure if we get another book in this series it'll be just as enjoyable, but if the author decides that was the last book then it was a great ending piece to what has been a really interesting journey of books.
This book was good in fact I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one to it. It had that nice little mystery to it and kept you wanting to turn the pages. I think the only reason I didn't give this a 5* rating was because I missed the bookworld in this book.
I liked the fact that this book and the one before it focused mainly on one of the worlds. so the previous book was set solely in the Bookworld and this one was set in the 'real world' and they were both really good in their own rights. But I did feel I missed the bookworld, and I loved the fact the author gave a really good explanation as to why she couldn't go to the bookworld any more. It wasn't just misted over so to speak, there was an actual explanation and I liked that.
This book kept me guessing till the end and as the read through it and saw the chapters creeping up on me I wasn't sure we would get a resolution in this book. It got very close to the end of the book before we got that resolution and I was really worried it wasn't going to happen.
Really enjoyable read, I did smile at some parts of this book, it kept me reading into the small hours near enough every night. I can't wait to see what(if any) happens next. I'm sure if we get another book in this series it'll be just as enjoyable, but if the author decides that was the last book then it was a great ending piece to what has been a really interesting journey of books.
kshoes's review against another edition
5.0
I had forgotten how much I love Fforde. I read this one slowly, over lunch breaks, and it usually made me laugh out loud at least once a day.
dani81886's review
4.0
i was really hesitant to read this book, as fforde's previous installment was pretty terrible. here we're back to 'real' middle-aged thursday, post accident. imho, you can skip #6 altogether and not miss out on much. there's a few mentions of the bookworld, but this book is based 100% in swindon.
that being said, this was nearly back up to par with the other books of the series. fforde's witty banter is of course present through the whole narrative, and we FINALLY have some resolution to some of the storylines that have been going on/dragged out through the last two or three books (even if some of them seem a little bit rushed and unfulfilling- ie aornis hades). we're set up for yet another adventure, probably in the bookworld, but not with four storylines unfinished.
the book is thoroughly enjoyable, even if it lacks the literary nerd parts that i enjoyed in the first 4.
that being said, this was nearly back up to par with the other books of the series. fforde's witty banter is of course present through the whole narrative, and we FINALLY have some resolution to some of the storylines that have been going on/dragged out through the last two or three books (even if some of them seem a little bit rushed and unfulfilling- ie aornis hades). we're set up for yet another adventure, probably in the bookworld, but not with four storylines unfinished.
the book is thoroughly enjoyable, even if it lacks the literary nerd parts that i enjoyed in the first 4.