Status
Call number
Series
Collections
Publication
Description
Thursday Next, Head of JurisFiction and ex-SpecOps agent, returns to her native Swindon accompanied by a child of two, a pair of dodos and Hamlet, who is on a fact-finding mission in the real world. Thursday has been despatched to capture escaped Fictioneer Yorrick Kaine but even so, now seems as good a time as any to retrieve her husband Landen from his state of eradication at the hands of the Chronoguard. It's not going to be easy. Thursday's former colleagues at the department of Literary Detectives want her to investigate a spate of cloned Shakespeares, the Goliath Corporation are planning to switch to a new Faith based corporate management system and the Neanderthals feel she might be the Chosen One who will lead them to genetic self-determination. With help from Hamlet, her uncle and time-travelling father, Thursday faces the toughest adventure of her career. Where is the missing President-for-life George Formby? Why is it imperative for the Swindon Mallets to win the World Croquet League final? And why is it so difficult to find reliable childcare? 100,000 words, 6 illustrations, adverts and web-based special features section.… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
Jasper fforde is back on form with this the the fourth and not final (although given the ending it seems like it ought to be) installment of Thursday Next's adventures. It is set some two years after Well of Lost Plots, which handly skips the rest of Thursday's pregnancy. Friday is
However when she returns she realises life isn't that easy. Famous enough to have a stalker who has his own stalker, heavily in debt, without a job and due once again to save the world, and avoid an asassain, fix hamlet, rescue president Formby, save the Danish books from being burnt, deal with the fictional Kane's bid for Chancellory, find Landen and arrange a babysitter for Friday.
fast furious complex full of wacky characters again - and a truly horrendous so long windedly contrived pun that had me groaning so loudly OtherHalf came rushing in to check I was okay. It's superb. Nearly all of the plots lines at tied up in a a very packed last couple of chapters - although she should still be in debt andthis isn't mentioned.
Read it!
Thursday Next has decided to leave the fictional world and her position as the Head of Jurisfiction; it is time for her to return to the real-world. So with two-year old Friday in tow she moves in with her mother. Along with her is Hamlet, who is on leave from his play. Back in the real world things are a mess; Kane is trying to set himself up as dictator of England, Landon (Thursday's husband) is still eradicated, and Goliath Corporation is trying to set themselves up as a religion. Then Thursday's time traveling dad shows up and tells her that not only is someone is trying to assassinate her, but the fate of the world rests on the outcome of the World Croquette match.
This was a wonderful book and it gives a lot of closure for storypoints that have been left hanging in previous books. This book would actually make a wonderful wrap-up for the series. Hamlet is a wonderful addition to the character cast; with his innate indecisiveness he is hilarious and somewhat crazy. Thursday gets to work with Spike (the werewolf hunter) some more and I love learning more about Spike.
Throughout the book Thursday is also trying to track down the Minotaur who escaped in the last book. Jurisficition hit the Minotaur with a serious case of slapstick; so hilarious slapstick ensues throughout...especially when the Minotaur is near.
This book gives more depth to Thursday's character. Watching her deal with the complex happenings around her, while she tries to find decent childcare and reinstate her husband, adds a dimension to her that makes her even more personable. A lot happens to her in this book. To be honest this was probably the most intense book in the series. I laughed a lot, but there were also points where I was almost in tears...so many bad things happen to Thursday that you just wish she would finally get a break and find some happiness. Well take heart, the book ends on an up note and treats the characters well.
Once again Fforde's ability to weave this extremely complex story without confusing the reader is absolutely amazing. I am in awe of how clever and engaging the story is.
Overall an amazing book. If you love this series you will love this book. If you have never read this series...well...what are you waiting for?! Read it! The tone of this story reminds some of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and other types of spoofy fantasy; but this story blows all of those out of the water. Loved it and can't wait to read First Among Sequels, the next book in this series.
There is so much to love in all of Mr. Fforde’s novels, but the reader gets the impression that he was truly on top of his game when writing Something Rotten. There is so that requires laughing out loud, from the caddish patron saint of Swindon to the Superhoop championship. Yet, Something Rotten is not without its more serious moments as well. There is a delicate balance between the humor and the drama, and Mr. Fforde walks this line with aplomb. In fact, the dramatic moments were more poignant and powerful because of the levity of the rest of the novel.
Emily Gray was not quite as bad a narrator as I remembered her to be. Her ability to vocalize Thursday’s wry wit makes the audio productions so worthwhile. Her biggest fault lies in her performance of the male voices in the novel. These remain a weak area for her, as each male character ends up sounding the same - somewhat dopey and unpolished. In a novel that builds its humor upon subtleties, her inability to vocalize male characters in a more erudite fashion is a disappointment and detraction from the overall story.
In spite of the weaknesses of the narrator’s performance, Something Rotten remains the strongest in the Thursday Next series to date. Thursday is on top of her game, trying to outwit Goliath and Yorrick Kaine, uneradicate her husband, and prevent the world from ending...again. Fforde excels at tongue-in-cheek humor, and the laughs are almost non-stop. The impression the reader gets is that Something Rotten was meant to be the last book in the series. If this is true, then it definitely would have ended on a high note. This is a true must-read for fans of the series.
Acknowledgements: I purchased this from Audible.
This book is sweeter than the others — there are the normal hijinks and world-ending disasters, but there is also the un-eradication of Landon, a lorem-ipsum-spouting toddler, Hamlet coming to grips with his inaction, and the real identity of Granny Next.
In Something Rotten, Thursday returns home to Swindon from living inside fiction and, has to stop the mighty Goliath and Yorrick Kaine, from ending the world
A fantastic series, that just keeps getting better, there are so many laugh out loud moments, Love the mix of seriousness of Shakespeare is mixed up with funny stuff like George Formby, it's great how it all comes together so naturally.
This was probably the most enjoyable of the series for me, though with all the revelations, I
nicely, I thought. Thursday is a LiteraTech with SpecOps in an alternative
universe Britain who has been missing for the past two and a half years.
She's not really been missing, though, she's been serving as Bellman
Jurisfiction in BookWorld, policing fiction itself with her team of fellow
Jurisfiction colleagues. Her son Friday is now 2, and she decides that
she's waited long enough to come back into the Real World and fight The
Goliath Corp. (true rulers of the free world) to get her husband back.
Landen was "eradicated" shortly after their marriage when Goliath sent
members of the ChronoGuard back in time to kill Landen when he was two,
leaving Thursday alone and pregnant and pretty pissed off.
Upon her return, she learns that Goliath isn't satisfied with running the
free world economically and politically, they want to become the premiere
religion as well and be worshipped by all. She also realizes that Yorrick
Kaine, the disgusting and evil fugitive from fiction, is seeking to become
dictator and is about to declare war on Denmark. Since she brought Hamlet
along with her (a girl's gotta have child care, you know), she not only has
to topple Kaine, thwart Goliath, get Landen back and save the world from
sure destruction, she's also got to deal with a dithering Hamlet who's about
to become sure of himself. The fun just doesn't end in Thursday's life.
This series was slow to get off the ground for me, but I've really enjoyed
the last couple of books. It's all in the mindset of the reader, I suppose,
but this book was delightful, full of sharp wit, clever puns, and fast
action. I really enjoyed it and give it a 5.
I found this fourth Thursday Next adventure just as readable and entertaining as the first three. It drew me in right away and held me fast with the usual
I did feel as though it wrapped up a little quickly, but oh well. It was good enough as a whole that I'm willing to overlook that. I definitely recommend the entire series. Start with The Eyre Affair and work your way forward for best effect.
Thursday is living in Bookworld, running Jurisfiction in her role as Bellman. However, she feels that
Thursday manages to get her old job as a Lit-Tec back, and somehow manages to do so without too many questions on her whereabouts for the last couple of years.
She finds out that (just for a change) the world is in peril, and that she must fix things, while avoiding being assassinated.
The finale of the book revolves around a croquet match. In the alternate world the books inhabit Football either has never been invented, or has never taken off, but croquet is *the* spectator sport!
The end of the book is wonderful, giving a sense of warmth as it wraps up Thursday's story, both past and future. When I had finished reading I felt I didn't want to read another novel for a while so that I didn't somehow taint the memory of this book.