Saturday, November 26, 2011

Book #76

One of Our Thursdays is Missing, by Jasper Fforde. Hardcover.

This is the 6th in the Thursday Next series, novels that take place in Book World, where all of our literature lives. Like any humorous series, there are hits and misses, but this novel hits more than it misses.

In this one, the "real" Thursday Next has disappeared and the "written" Thursday takes it upon herself to do whatever it takes to find her. This is important because the "written" Thursday has been drafed to impersonate the "real" one in a series of peace talks designed to halt the coming Genre War. Along the way to a satisfying conclusion there is back-stabbing, political intrigue and interesting character moments.

I know the story sounds confusing if you are unfamiliar with the series. But a smile will come to your lips if you are familiar with the absurdist nature of Ffrode's Book World. The plot itself is as odd as the world is, but the world is the star of this series.

The story is not the star here, but it does move along at a decent pace. Along the way are plenty of puns, bizarre literary mash-ups and some interesting thoughts on the state of literature and the publishing industry.

Just when the silliness is getting to be almost too much, Fforde throws in commentary on e-books, new genres and self-publishing. There is just enough thought-provoking material in here to make the book a success.

1 comment:

  1. This series sounds like a lot of fun will have to check this out!

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