Something Rotten: A Thursday Next Novel

Like all of Jasper Fforde's books, Something Rotten combines literary allusion, alternate history and science fiction in a seamless narrative. In this installment of Fforde's Thursday Next series, Ms. Next, a real person who has spent the last several years living inside of books and leading the BookWorld's police force, Jurisfiction, returns to the real world to get back her husband, Landen. In a bizarre twist of circumstances that Thursday herself can't understand, the time-traveling police force known as the ChronoGuard has eradicated Landen by changing history at the moment that would have been his conception. The only evidence of his existence is Thursday's memory of the life she had with him in an alternate past, and the paradoxical existence of Friday, Thursday and Landen's infant son.

Other matters also preoccupy Thursday upon her return to the real world. Hamlet has also left the BookWorld temporarily and starts to think about rewriting his play. Thursday's old nemesis the Goliath Corporation is, for some reason, trying to convert itself into a religion. Worst of all, Yorrick Kaine, the Chancellor of England, has won the mindless devotion of the whole country and seeks to become absolute dictator. Thursday must fulfill the prophesy of a resurrected thirteenth-century monk to prevent Kaine from seizing power and starting a war that destroys the world.

Like all of Fforde's books, Something Rotten piques my interest in classics I haven't read yet and refreshes my memory of English class discussions about ones I have. This installment of the series brought to mind discussions of Hamlet with one of my favorite high school teachers, and it provided an entertaining reminder of the play's principle themes. When characters try to change their own stories, it's fun to recall the original version and how it differs. I also find myself looking up place names on maps to see how the locations in Fforde's universe, with its alternate history, match up with real-life ones.

I also loved the book's humor. Memorable examples include Fforde's description of a high-stakes croquet game, which uses a tea party on the lawn and an Italian sunken garden as obstructions and hazards. Another favorite of mine was the way the narrator of the audiobook pronounced the obscene Old English of the resurrected monk Saint Zvlkx.

I recommend this book for people who enjoy humor, alternate history, or a lighthearted exploration of classic literature.

While not entirely required to do so, it does make a touch more sense (and gives Tuesday Next a bit more rest) than the order in which the books are published.

If you haven't read the previously published books by this genius comedic fantasist, then please do so. While you might get away with reading them entirely out of order, it won't be quite as much fun watching things develop across space and time and this horrible pink goo....

SOMETHING ROTTEN is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging way to end this zany and inventive series. For anyone who enjoys literature and smart contemporary fantasy, this is definitely worth your time. Most of the people I've recommended this series to have really enjoyed it and been "hooked." If you're the type of person who can't suspend your disbelief easily, and has no patience for alternate universes and droll literary in-jokes, then pass this by.

If you enjoy fun, intelligent escapist reads, then by all means check out the Thursday Next Series!

I recommend reading the entire series in order. Don't start in the middle. There are some "catch-up" explanations, but you will miss a lot.

I have really enjoyed this series. It's original, easy to read, and it really is like Harry Potter for adults, as several people have described it. That said, I hope this is the last book in the series. It seems like Fforde is running out of steam here. Books 1-3 had a lot of new ideas and details, but this one does not. This one seems to tie up a lot of loose ends, but in a hurried and awkward way. For example, the Minotaur is suddenly caught near the end, Yorrick Kaine is quickly disposed of (why didn't Thursday consult the Cat in the first chapter?), and she got her husband back just by signing a paper. Hamlet shows up and there's some problem with the play I never fully understood-but anyway, it got fixed somehow (didn't understand that either).

Also, I have never understood why the Spike character and his work against werewolves and vampires are in the books. With all the possibilities arising from the Book World and the vast literary canon, why bring this silly supernatural beings subplot in? And I hated the croquet chapters. I "get" that they're a reference to Harry Potter quidditch, but croquet is far less interesting. I confess I skipped those chapters.

Despite these things, the book is worth reading, especially for the satirical references to current events. If you liked Books 1-3, read this one to see how it all ends.

Jasper Fforde had something of a hit with his first novel, the irreverant and often brilliant "The Eyre Affair" in 2001, and in the intervening years has produced three more books set in the immediate worlds pertaining to Thursday Next.

Each of these installments delve deeper into the backstory of the characters, and further establishes the alternate England in which Thursday, Braxton, Landen, Mycroft and Non-Executive-President-for-Life George Formby live. Then theres the alternative-to-the-alternative world, Bookworld, and Jurisfiction, their policing body.

Confused? Don't worry, I think you're supposed to be.

"Something Rotten" is book four and brings on more of the same first person narrative, principally told from the perspective of our hero, Thursday Next. By this stage, Thursday has already done it all, and while "Something Rotten" is a trememdously exciting and easy to read adventure, one kind of feels like Jasper Fforde may well be treading water until he gets truly inspired again. Thursday again tackles Goliath Corporation, deals with fictional and historical figures on a daily basis, raises a son, saves the world about four times. It is quite brilliant really.

The jokes fire thick and fast, and for every one that misfires, two stick in and do their job. I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but "Something Rotten" forced out several late-night belly laughs that seriously annoyed my sleeping partner beside me.

I truly think that it's only a matter of time until Fforde takes his place next to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett in the Parthenon of very smart, and very silly British authors.

If you enjoyed the first three Thursday Next books, then this is a sure-fire winner too. It's a good formula, and Fforde sticks to it. For those new to the entire field of literary detection, best to go back to where it all started.

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.

The best, most succinct way I can describe this book is, "The magic is gone." I was disappointed that almost no time was spent in fiction, and the whole thing with Landon felt flat. I loved The Well of Lost Plots so, so much that this book just made me a little sad. Still good, and still clever, but. Something is missing. Nevertheless, I do not regret reading it, but I would recommend the first three books in this series much more strongly than I would recommend this one.

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

I absolutely love this book and I absolutely hate the audio version of this book. If you are a fan of audio books and/or the Thursday Next series, I highly recommend you go for the first 3 books on CD and skip this one. This is a different narrator from the first 3 books. She has a very limited range in terms of the voices she can produce. Half of the characters sound exactly the same. She also pronounces many of the names differently from the other narrator, something I find very annoying. I hope that she is not used for the fifth book in the series.

I don't know that anyone could seriously say these are rip-roaring thrillers and they do take some effort to read. These are not "page turners" as such. But they are alive with vibrant literary references and subtle humor. Not for everyone, but very enjoyable.

Once again, Jasper Fforde has created a story that is brilliantly written, perfectly blending English literature with wit.

The book continues the story of Thursday Next by creating a new conflict, as well as making connections with the previous Thursday Next novels, adding a deeper level to the reading.

Highly recommended reading, but I also recommend you read the series in order.

While completing undergrad and law school, I had no time to read for fun. In the period between graduation and taking the Bar, I needed brain candy that was substantial enough to chew on, yet satisfingly low on nutritional value. The Next novels were the perfect solution for my summer vacation! Be sure to bring your towel when you read this, bookjumping is almost as challenging as hitching a flight to Zenobia.

Maybe it's because everything gets tied together so well (including one very surprising revelation I will not name) or because I thought The Well of Lost Plots was fairly flawed, but this is my favorite Thursday Next book, I think. Maybe it's just the hilarious rendition of Hamlet in modern England!

Thursday packs up her son, Friday, and heads back to Swindon. Its finally time for her to get back her husband, Landen. Who had been eradicated by a major corporation called goliath. Problems arise when outlaw Yorrick Kaine seeks to make himself dictator. Jasper Fforde is the author of the first 3 thrilling Thursday Next fantasies, but this one is my favorite of all of the 4 novels.

Imagine that a novelist invents a world in which nearly anything can happen: characters in any work of fiction, published or unpublished, can walk this world freely, mingling with "real" people. Plus, time travel is routine and meddling with the past is always threatening to destabilize the "present" in fantastic ways. Plus, this world is not otherwise ours. There was no World War II, for example.

And now imagine one final thing: the novelist is himself so apparently bereft of invention that virtually nothing happens in a given novel! This is certainly the case in SOMETHING ROTTEN... I haven't read the author's previous three novels set in this world. Other reviewers on these pages have speculated that, (1) either the author is "holding back" for future novels, or (2) has already completely run out of inspiration. Hard to say. The author's web page is a lot funnier than this novel, anyway.

Other problems: the main character, Thursday Next and her often non-existent husband Landen have no personality whatsoever; they are essentially holes in the page. This is especially noticable when most of the other characters, even minor ones, are vividly drawn. Nor does the main character ever really do anything, other than fret constantly as to where she is going to find a babysitter.

Other problems: the humor is of that very mild, biteless, repetitive, linear, obvious sort that I tend to think of as aimed at female readers. What little satire there is comes out at such a gentle, polite and ladylike level that one wonders why the author bothers. The policies of this novel's villain seem to be inspired by the real-world horrors of the Bush II administration, but the similarities really go nowhere. Similarly, the supposed attempt of the evil Goliath corporation to turn itself into a church not only goes nowhere, but isn't even taken seriously by the author himself.

Other problems: it may seem a lark to give all characters "comical" names along the lines of Brik Schitte-Hawse or Jack Schitt, and it may even produce a mild smile on the reader's face the first time, but when the characters are mentioned on every page, the mild smile quickly turns into a grimace of misery. It's like being trapped in a Ben Stiller movie.

Other problems: the book is illustrated, and the illustrations are primitive, unprofessional and inept.

The publisher's blurb says this whole mess is "more than a little wacky." Well, even in a parallel universe, there's no "w" in "mainly pointless."