A review by drkottke
The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde

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.