A Thursday Next Novel - First Among Sequels

This series gets stranger with each new book, and this new one is no exception. There is a lapse of numerous years, which isn't really explained, but doesn't appear to bother anyone: they are used to such things happening. Some old characters are found, and there are a number of new ones, which make the plot very interesting. I won't even attempt to give a short history of the plot: read the bok for yourself, and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I have enjoyed all the Thursday Next novels and this one I also LOVED! I enjoy reading about all the characters, both "fictional" and "real" in these stories. Both those characters from books and those in the "real" world seem well fleshed-out and interesting, I found myself caring for all of them. As a sci-fi/fantasy lover, I found my love of both more than filled by this book.

Compared to the other books in this series, this one starts out a bit heavy on the slapstick and appears to draw a bit more from personal realities of life in the current era. It is still a great read. While very few Fforde fans will be disappointed, they may not have to work quite so hard to keep all the various subplots straight in their minds. I look forward to many more stories from this author in both series (or new ones?).

By all rights, Jasper Fforde should be out of ideas right now, or at the very least getting stale. That's what I was worried about when I heard Thursday Next was returning after her hiatus. I won't bother summarize the plot since other people have, but I needn't have worried. I totally enjoyed this. I don't know how he keeps coming up with this stuff.

Not terrible but not great. An incredible amount of background detail about BookWorld takes away from the narrative, the plot and characterization. The jump to fourteen years in the future is a bit jarring at first. Still, there are many instances of laugh out loud fun and much of Fforde-type mirth.

Literate, intricate, wry, clever... in other words, the perfect Jasper Fforde novel. The fact that it also includes one of the best - and most amusing - time travel plot devices (think "buying on credit") I've ever seen also helps. Go ahead and buy this one. You can thank me later.

Product was delivered as promised; in better condition than described. Will surely trust this merchant in future.

The product is pure Jasper Fforde. Full of literary "in jokes" and references to many genres of literature, which will cause any rabid reader many uplifting laughs, not to mention the pure fantasy of the melding of the "real" world and the "literary" world. Reading Fforde, you'll wish that this was really our world, as every intersection is full of humor and/or drama; however you choose to view it. Refreshing in the current field of mystery stories. We all need an occasional light reading.

Any Jasper Fforde fan will be delighted to see another chapter in the Thursday Next series. It is a creative, whirlwind of a book full of zany plots, book world antics, and the usual Goliath Corporation mischief. Any of Fforde's books are well worth reading.

While it was an amazing read, I do look forward to the next installment where perhaps the convoluted plotline of this series can find its way again.

Absolutely amazing! Jasper Fforde has once again created a masterpiece! I was worried at first that First Among Sequels (FAS) would pale in comparison to the four other Thursday Next novels (especially since it's been 3 years since the last one came out), but I was gladly proven wrong.

Taking place in 2002, 14 years after Something Rotten ends, the book revolves around 52 year old Thursday Next and her attempts to balance her family (Her husband Landon, their 16 year old son Friday, their [...]daughter Tuesday, and their [...] daughter Jenny), her work with Acme Carpets (which may or may not be a front... read FAS to find out!), and her work as a Jurisfiction agent in the Well of Lost Plots.

So if you love Thursday Next and are looking for another adventure of hers to dive into, this is defintely the way to go!

Having recently finished "The Big Over Easy," (without realizing that it was Fforde's rewrite of a pre-Nextian novel), I was hoping that Fforde had recovered from the downward spiral that began after the promising start of "The Eyre Affair" and made the rest of series increasingly tedious.

Unfortunately, "FAS" is not his "great comeback." If anything, if demonstrates Fforde's desperation in trying to flog more "cleverness" out of a well that has long since dried out. The Thursday Next of this novel is in her early 50's now, a mother and devoted wife who still (albeity secretly) in the Bookworld.

Not that it matters. It takes over 150 pages for anything resembling a plot to even begin. Meanwhile, we get the usual endless Ffordian exposition and literary-techno-geek conventions posing as inventions. By the time the main story kicks in, it's so tiring and unoriginal that, like most of the post "Eyre" novels, you can't wait for it to end--and when it finally does---well, that in itself is a disappointment.

My suggestion would be for Fforde to drop this series and continue the Jack Spratt series, which has more potential at the moment. It's for Thursday to retire today.

Read this book. It's that simple.
Forget JK Rowling. Jasper Fforde is the author who should be getting press. These books are astounding in their wit, intellect and abilty to entertain.
Thursday Next is pretty much my hero.
Rock On, Thursday.
I so very deeply hope there will be another sequel.

Having recently finished "The Big Over Easy," (without realizing that it was Fforde's rewrite of a pre-Nextian novel), I was hoping that Fforde had recovered from the downward spiral that began after the promising start of "The Eyre Affair" and made the rest of series increasingly tedious.

Unfortunately, "FAS" is not his "great comeback." If anything, if demonstrates Fforde's desperation in trying to flog more "cleverness" out of a well that has long since dried out. The Thursday Next of this novel is in her early 50's now, a mother and devoted wife who still (albeity secretly) in the Bookworld.

Not that it matters. It takes over 150 pages for anything resembling a plot to even begin. Meanwhile, we get the usual endless Ffordian exposition and literary-techno-geek conventions posing as inventions. By the time the main story kicks in, it's so tiring and unoriginal that, like most of the post "Eyre" novels, you can't wait for it to end--and when it finally does---well, that in itself is a disappointment.

My suggestion would be for Fforde to drop this series and continue the Jack Spratt series, which has more potential at the moment. It's for Thursday to retire today.

Read this book. It's that simple.
Forget JK Rowling. Jasper Fforde is the author who should be getting press. These books are astounding in their wit, intellect and abilty to entertain.
Thursday Next is pretty much my hero.
Rock On, Thursday.
I so very deeply hope there will be another sequel.

If you're into Jasper Fforde's Tuesday Next series, this is a "must read" book because it wraps up all the loose ends that we've been wondering about throughout the entire series. It's not as exciting or literary as the previous books, but it contains what looks like the final conclusion.

The Jasper Fforde books are smart and entertaining. I really enjoyed this series and forgot how much I missed Thursday Next. It appears as though there will be more to this story, so I will look forward to the next adventure.

I don't understand all this fuss about Rowling and Potter. Jasper Fforde is so better at satire and humor and imaginative, genuinely creative science fiction/fantasy. He's way more talented. I've read all his books so far and have not been disappointed yet.