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silquesoleil 's review for:
The Song of the Quarkbeast
by Jasper Fforde
Really, really fantabulous book that contained everything I expect a Fforde book to have. A lovely, quirky world, a special sense of humor (which might not be everyone's taste, I admit that) and social commentary.
It may have one flaw but I rated five stars anyway because I enjoyed every single word. That one flaw is that it's quite similar to the Thursday Next series and so, the construction of the plot is somewhat predictable. Fforde adds all these details little details that become very important in the end and his protagonist has to face more and more problems until it seems that there is hardly any way this book could end good but it does. It requires a lot of skill to unravel everything and that makes up for it.
Also, we get amazing descriptions like these:
„She was sitting in an armchair in front of a fire, her gnarled fingers resting on top of her cane, and her face so suffused with wrinkles that lost infant tortoises often followed her home.“
And we get Quarkbeasts because that's the name of the book and also Quarkbeasts are like the best thing ever. Plus, there are interesting characters with interesting opinions who are not just black and white:
„[...] Maybe magic shouldn't be regulated at all. Maybe it should take its own path, like the Quarkbeast, unfettered by our meddling. Perhaps magic needs to be used for evil before it can take the right course for good and if so, Zambini's need to control it is as damaging as Blix's. The only thing that separates the pair of them is their viewpoint and dress sense.
Jasper Fforde is the author I turn to when I lose hope, when I've read just one bad book too many. He hasn't disappointed me one single time so far.
It may have one flaw but I rated five stars anyway because I enjoyed every single word. That one flaw is that it's quite similar to the Thursday Next series and so, the construction of the plot is somewhat predictable. Fforde adds all these details little details that become very important in the end and his protagonist has to face more and more problems until it seems that there is hardly any way this book could end good but it does. It requires a lot of skill to unravel everything and that makes up for it.
Also, we get amazing descriptions like these:
„She was sitting in an armchair in front of a fire, her gnarled fingers resting on top of her cane, and her face so suffused with wrinkles that lost infant tortoises often followed her home.“
And we get Quarkbeasts because that's the name of the book and also Quarkbeasts are like the best thing ever. Plus, there are interesting characters with interesting opinions who are not just black and white:
„[...] Maybe magic shouldn't be regulated at all. Maybe it should take its own path, like the Quarkbeast, unfettered by our meddling. Perhaps magic needs to be used for evil before it can take the right course for good and if so, Zambini's need to control it is as damaging as Blix's. The only thing that separates the pair of them is their viewpoint and dress sense.
Jasper Fforde is the author I turn to when I lose hope, when I've read just one bad book too many. He hasn't disappointed me one single time so far.