Something Rotten: A Thursday Next Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Maybe it's time to bow out of the series gracefully
Review: Something Rotten is worth a read, but lacks the brilliance of The Well of Lost Plots. Some of the charm, I regret to say it, wears a little thin by the end of this book. The world is slightly less intriguing and there are fewer surprises being pulled out of the hat. I got the impression Fforde was writing 'within himself', perhaps in order to save something up for the remaining books in the series. The croquet game and the two or so chapters devoted to it seemed convoluted, as though no other plot options were available. The developments and surprises were not too surprising, and were handled clumsily ... for instance you could see the Neanderthals were going to play from a mile off, and you could see Thursday was going to play a half mile off.

These criticisms are perhaps ones that wouldn't be made of lesser writers ... it is only because Fforde has set such a high standard with his previous books that one notices the shortcomings of the newest. (Or ... perhaps jealous writers seek shortcomings, desperately!) Something rotten is well worth the cash forked over to read it, but I wonder how long the series can go on before it loses momentum, novelty and becomes somewhat tired.

I do hate to sound pompous about this and can recognize Fforde's talents are vast, but I think he should be less self conscious about the fantasy elements in his works and less flippant in his approach. When he pins the ears back and lets his own imagination fly, it is a sight to behold. He should go beserk and unashamed with the fantasy side of things without being self-conscious or tongue-in-cheek. The descriptions of the Sea of Text in Well of Lost Plots indicate how good Fforde could be if he took to this side of his fiction with a little more enthusiasm.

I also hope he tries a new project away from the book-world. I mean that in a positive way- I want to see what else he can conjure. As for this series, I don't know how much staying power it has. Too much of a good thing?

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing continuance of a downward slide
Review: I loved The Eyre Affair, but each of the succeeding novels
seems to have had less to offer, and Something Rotten seems to me
the nadir of the series so far.

There are times he didn't even seem to be trying - like
pointlessly cribbing verbatim a passage from Alice in
Wonderland and changing "Alice" to "Thursday" (the exchange
with the Cheshire Cat regarding how he disappears). We
expect more from Mr Fforde.

The baby Friday starts off mildly cute and quickly becomes
a huge irritant - a "one-trick pony" used over and over again.
The Friday descriptions are a bit like how a mother talks about
a newborn baby - she sees much more in it than any outsider
could. There's far too much of it in the book. We got it,
she's in love with her baby and it has picked up an obscure
and ultimately pointless publication technology. Sweet. Cute.
Why couldn't we move on? It's not like Friday ever contributed
significantly to the plot.

Ultimately there's just not enough sufficiently interesting
new ideas to drive a lengthy novel. And interesting new
ideas are all that make this series work.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Thursday so far
Review: In "Something Rotten," Literary detective Thursday Next finally returns from two volumes taking place almost entirely outside the "real world" of Fforde's imagination, during which Thursday policed the world of fiction (running interference in Wuthering Heights, for example). Here, Fforde again shows his comedic knack for throwing together anomalous characters from history and fiction and letting them play off each other. Thursday's Mom has become landlady to Otto von Bismarck (19th-century Chancellor of Germany), Lady Emma Hamilton (the often-inebriated paramour of Lord Nelson), and Hamlet himself. Several flirtations ensue, with riotous consequences.

The main plot again involves Thursday trying to avoid a certain Armageddon by outwitting her corporate foes. While trying to prevent the end of the universe, Thursday tracks the Minotaur through trashy wild-west fiction, having scented him with Slapstick; the sporadic appearance of banana peels and falling pianos in the plot prove it.

There's also a delicious undercurrent of modern cultural references; for example, Thursday's hunt for a secret producer of Will Shakespeare clones eventually leads her to a distant walled-in enclosure straight out of "Jurassic Park," only populated by rampaging herds of Napoleon clones. Thursday must also temporarily become a champion player of "Superhoop," a kind of violent croquet-like sport with rules that are surely meant to parody Harry Potter's quidditch scenes.

In the previous two volumes of the series, a lot of things were on frustrating hold: Thursday's husband Landon had been "eradicated" (someone went back in time and worked it so he'd never been born) and, although she was pregnant, almost two volumes of the series had passed without the appearance of her child. In this volume, Fforde ties up these loose ends in brilliant style. All is resolved happily (I find Fforde is quite good at writing the romantic passages as well), but so neatly that I fear we won't hear from Thursday again.

Perhaps we can convince Fforde to go back in time to give Thursday a 2nd (or is it a fifth?) chance.



Rating:
Summary: There's something rotten in Denmark!
Review: In Jasper Fforde's latest "fiction within fiction" book, Something Rotten, Fforde offers up more literary devices, stock characters, wishy-washy Danes, and violent bouts of croquet than you can shake a stick at. Something Rotten is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series, and it appears to be the final one. Ongoing plots are wrapped up and the novel seems to have a definitive ending for once. The other books have ended their particular story, but there have always been plot threads hanging for the next book to pick up and run with. Not this time. Fforde also returns to form as this is the best book since The Eyre Affair.

Thursday Next, intrepid literary detective and now head of the Jurisfiction organization (the official police force of fiction everywhere), has a lot on her plate. Her husband, Landon, has been wiped from the timestream by the Goliath Corporation in an effort to get revenge on her. Nobody remembers him but her, even though she has a son by him (Friday, of course). Two years of being head of Jurisfiction has taken its toll, though, and she wants out. She officially resigns (though everybody just sees it as taking a leave of absence) and comes out of the fiction world and into her own real one again. Sadly, her problems are just beginning.

First, her time-travelling father visits her and tells her that if the Swindon Mallets croquet team doesn't win the tournament next week, then the world will end three weeks later. She has brought Hamlet with her from the fictional world, just in time for a wave of anti-Danish hysteria to sweep Great Britain (not to mention the fact that Hamlet discovers he's seen as a helpless ditherer in the real world). Clones of Shakespeare are turning up dead all over the place, plus Thursday has to figure out how to smuggle ten truckloads of banned Danish literature into neutral Wales before the government can burn them. A lot of this is being caused by Yorrick Kane, the decidedly fictional (but tell him that) man who wants to become the dictator of all England (and, perhaps, eventually ruler of the world). With all of these balls in the air, can Thursday help but drop a few? If she does, everything she knows and loves will come to an end.

The last two books have dwelt largely in the world of fiction, thus neglecting the truly interesting world that Fforde had created. Something Rotten changes all that, taking place almost completely in the real world, but with enough fictional elements and ideas to keep the book fresh. Characters from the Jurisfiction organization continue to pop up and ask for Thursday's advice. Hamlet is always an ongoing concern, especially when some of the other characters in the play rebel and create their own story, which causes Thursday to have to find a Shakespeare clone in order to write another original copy of Hamlet. Thankfully, one of the things she's investigating is the death of Shakespeare clones!

This brings me to one of the faults of the book. There are just too many coincidences for my liking. In a novel about literary devices, there are bound to be some coincidences. However, Thursday is juggling many things at one time and the resolution of some of them just seems too convenient for me. It would be different if there was a reason for them within the book (as there is a reason for the piano just happening to fall on the right person at the right time), but there's not. It all seemed a bit too convenient. Probably the worst example of this is the Wellington clones that just happen to show up at the perfect time to take care of the Napoleon clones running about. It was just too much.

For the most part, I was able to ignore these problems with just a roll of the eyes, as the rest of the book is a delight. Fforde's trademark wit is fully evident, as he parodies bad political talk-shows and creates a full-contact version of croquet that makes it seem like American football. Even the blurbs at the beginning of each chapter are usually hilarious. In fact, not only is Something Rotten the best book since The Eyre Affair, it's also the most fun. I haven't laughed out loud this much in ages.

While I did find that Thursday had her problems solved a little too easily, it was still fun watching her deal with all of them. She is characterized very well in this book, from her dedication to Jurisfiction (despite having left) to her love and devotion for her eradicated husband. She gets more development here than she received in the last two books combined. Unlike even The Eyre Affair, there are actually other characters as well who are fairly well-rounded (if a bit silly at times). Hamlet comes off the best, as he's just enough like the character in the play to be recognizable, but he wants to be remembered as a man of action. It hurts him that people see him as wishy-washy and he becomes determined to change that image. His interactions with Thursday as she tries to prevent this are very amusing.

The book ends with revelation after revelation that brings the previous books into a whole new light. These almost come a bit too fast, as my head began to throb by doing double-takes, but they do make sense. Some of the long-standing questions are finally answered, and we (and Thursday) come full circle. It's a perfect place to end it, and I really hope Fforde decides to leave it. Forcing more adventures after this would just seem extraneous. Plus, he has gone out on a good note, and it would be shame to ruin that. Something Rotten isn't rotten at all. It's bloody wonderful.

David Roy

Rating:
Summary: A hilarious continuation of Fforde's unique series
Review: It's not easy reading a Jasper Fforde fantasy/mystery/adventure novel; it's harder still to review one. I don't imagine too many readers are neutral about this unique and silly reference-filled series. The more you know about English literature, the better, I suppose; I always assume I've missed at least half of the jokes, and even then I'm in constant giggles. In this case, by page 5, I had already guffawed loudly over a reference that included one of my favorite lines in modern film. And I don't guffaw a lot.

In this story, Thursday Next is still dealing with having a new baby, her son Friday, by Landen Park-Laine who, at this time, does not exist. That's being worked on, but it's rather disconcerting as he flits in and out of reality; one moment Thursday is wearing her wedding ring, and the next moment it's gone. She's back working for Jurisfiction after hiding out for a time in a fictional universe and is trying to keep up with the chaos created by bad guy Yorrick Kaine. While she battles Kaine's schemes to destroy all things Danish, (it's his way of stirring up trouble and a means of creating someone to hate), her brother is pitching in with the reappearance of St. Zvlkx, (and no, I don't know how that's pronounced) whose "revealments" seem to indicate that the outcome of the Superhoop, the croquet championship, could mean the end of the world as we know it. The Neanderthals are a great help here --- they're excellent croquet players, even if they don't get the idea of competition.

Are you lost yet? Is this your first Jasper Fforde? Well, who can blame you? This is a world where people can move in and out of literature and, at times, change it. Here, this means that Hamlet is wandering about --- Thursday is introducing him as her cousin Eddie. This is a world where mammoths are back, and they migrate --- quite the scene. Eating your fair share of toast is mandatory. And time is very elastic.

If you've ever laughed at Terry Pratchett, try SOMETHING ROTTEN. If you've read the wildly creative Christopher Moore with pleasure, read Fforde. He excels at terrible (read wonderful) puns, some of which, as I say, this American reader didn't catch. He offers silly side stories --- Lady Emma Hamilton and Hamlet? Really? --- and an alternative universe of corporations gone wild, where books matter more than most other things. Sadly, though, it appears that Fforde, while not through by any means, has wrapped up the amazing adventures of Thursday Next. I'll miss her. And her dodo Pickwick, of whom I'm quite fond. And her creative, brilliant and eccentric uncle Mycroft --- you may know him from some books by a guy named Arthur Conan Doyle (long story).

Oh, and did you know that there was a Mr. Tiggy-Winkle? I mean, it stands to reason, but I don't think Beatrix Potter ever got around to mentioning the husband of her hedgehog character. Go figure.

--- Reviewed by Andi Shechter

Rating:
Summary: This serise is so cool!!!
Review: Now we get to something the pokes fun of something that I can understand HAMLET(thank you god). We also get the chance to finally get back into the strange world that Fforde has created. Bouncing around the Well of Lost Plots and the Great Library is fun do not get me wrong but nothing beats Chonoguard Agents, Neanderthals, Dodos and the undead. This was a wonderful book, once agian never stale or dull a welcome change to most fiction produced now-a-days.

Overall-Eagerly hoping for the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: An Original Idea
Review: Read all 4 of the Thursday Next series and I loved them. They have a little bit of any type genre you like (mystery, sci-fi, romance, etc.). The whole concept was original and I really enjoyed them. Didn't get tired of the characters or plot after reading all 4 books back to back, which can easily happen. I did stop reading all the quotes that began each chapter though. Enjoyed them at first, but wanted to get straight to the story after a while. Mr. Fforde kept a good balance with the inane and bizarre details. There were just enough to keep the world he created interesting, fresh, and even though totally fictional, it was believable enough to get lost in while reading. I think he could have easily gone overboard to make it all worn-out and tedious. The books also made me interested enough to search out some classic literature and read them.

Rating:
Summary: To read or not to read? Easy...
Review: This is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series, books set in an alternative world where literary debate often ends in street riots, time travel is frequent, Wales is an independent socialist republic and dodos exist but air travel doesn't. Our heroine, Thursday Next, works for various government bodies concerned with regulating the world of fiction and safeguarding books but this doesn't make her a glorified librarian rather an well-rounded, all-action intellectual.

This book has her trying to save Hamlet, avert an apocalypse, survive multiple assassination attempts, un-erase her husband, save George Formby's life and get Swindon to win the international Croquet championships. So if this sounds like your cup of tea, read on...

The last book, The Well of Lost Plots was a little disappointing; it was full of ideas but not as action-centred, almost as if Thursday's losing her husband made her and the author less focussed. This book, however, has Fforde back on form and delighting in the possibilities of his alternative universe for literary exploration, (principally Hamlet) and amplifying the Goliath Corporation's capacity for evil. Also, having fictional characters do cameos in the real world make for better adventures than seeing them careering around the fictional world where they belong. The incongruent fish-out-of-water humour can be a lot more arresting than the subtle observations of how characters behave in books.

Although you can read this as a stand-alone title (it has a glossary in the prologue of everything you need to know), you'll do yourself a favour if you start with the first book, The Eyre Affair, since Something Rotten contains many references to previous events's endings and you won't find yourself wondering "What the bejeezus is the Toast Marketing Board".

Great book, great series. I just wonder if Fforde can keep up this level of invention in future books, as he's churning out almost two a year. Terry Pratchett is another writer I'm fond of who's just as prolific; but Pratchett takes a theme and runs with it, whereas Fforde's imagination explodes with new possibilities on every turn of the page. Long may Ms.Next's adventures continue.

Rating:
Summary: 4th in a creative and fun series
Review: This is the fourth novel featuring Thursday Next, a literary detective in an alternate world similar to our own but quite different in some very peculiar ways, such as the ability to leap into (or out of) books. While Thursday has her hands full with a variety of problems, her big enemy is Yorrick Kaine, head of the evil Goliath Corporation, who is determined to become president of the country -- and you know no good will come of that!

I would not suggest you read the books out of order, so presumably you are familiar with the series and will know what to expect here -- Thursday is still trying to un-eradicate Landen, dealing with literary high-jinks (in this case Hamlet and Zhark), corraling pet dodos, acting as liaison to neanderthals and interacting with an eccentric family. While I felt the novel lacked some of the creative energy of the first instalment, it was still fun and very entertaining. I thought the ending was the best of the lot, quite emotional, and leaves the author the option of writing more Next volumes, or not.

Fforde is a talented author and I look forward to reading whatever he decides to write.

Rating:
Summary: Fforde does it again!
Review: Thursday Next is back! Huzzah! In this, her fourth adventure, she tires of hiding out in the book world and longs for reality again. Her son, Friday, is two now and speaks only Lorem Ipsum and can peel bananas with his feet, thanks to his beloved babysitter Mrs. Bradshaw. Thursday’s job as Bellman for Jurisfiction has become a bit much, what with the Minotaur still on the loose, Emperor Zhark still being overly dramatic and having to fill in for Joan of Arc.

Besides all that, she can only get her husband un-eradicated if she’s in the same world with Goliath Corporation, her enemy and the eradicator of Landon.

If you are reading this with a big question mark over your head, you obviously have not read the first three books. I simply can’t stress enough the importance of reading these books in order! How else with you know to like and sympathize with Spike the vampire slayer, or to hate and fear Yorrick Kane, or to revere the memory of Miss Havisham, or to realize that a mention of Lola Vavoom is a necessity?

But, back to the book. . . So, Thursday (along with Friday, the dodo Pickwick and her difficult son, Alan), returns to the real world, Hamlet in tow, and tries desperately to defeat Kaine, out maneuver Goliath and the save the world by leading the Swindon Mallets to victory in the SuperHoop. (Of course, we assume that the Mallets will win, because their victory was prophesied by St. Zvlkx and all of his prophecies have come through thus far, but, sheesh, even a resurrected saint could be wrong.)

Add to that, a dangerous hit-woman called the Windowmaker, a couple of trips to the Underworld, trouble with the Danes, mutiny in the play Hamlet, Neanderthals, chimeras and more stuff that you wouldn’t believe if I told you and what you get is Fforde’s best book to date.

With Something Rotten, he has created yet another hard to put down novel with multi-laughs per page and one outlandish situation after another. I love Thursday, the Book World and Fforde’s alternate universe and sincerely hope that there are more Thursday Next adventures to come!