Alphabet Challenge Round 5

The Thursday Next series is one of my favorite series to date. Fforde is a reader’s writer with a fantastic literary wit and cleverness. That being said, this book is told from the written Thursday’s point of view, not the point of view of the real Thursday from the previous 5 books.

The shift in view points definitely took some getting used to because written Thursday (wT) really was almost but not quite real Thursday (rT). You could see her short falls but you could also feel her insecurities about not measuring up. I enjoyed the new characters but it took some getting used to since it wasn’t about the character we’ve come to know and love; it was like her lesser stunt double.

Because it wasn’t the rT it wasn’t as good as the previous books. wT doesn’t deduce as quickly as rT so the story moves slower. wT also doesn’t have the zany relatives or coworkers that helped flesh out the other series. Something was lost by making wT such a loner but I supposed it also aided to the setting in BookWorld. Speaking of BookWorld, I missed the old gigantic library but the new story required the new set up.

I did enjoy the definite presence of Vanity and Fan Fiction. This new take on TN gained something by changing the rules of BookWorld. It might not have worked if Fforde changed it with the perspective of rT.

The backstory subplot with Whitby is an excellent parallel to Thursday fighting to get Landen reactualized for the first several books. I have a feeling that the written Thursday will get her man by the time this series of installments is over just like the real Thursday did. The only hard part is waiting for the next couple of books to get there. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy ending for my favorite characters.

While this was probably my least favorite of the Thursday Next series, that by no means makes it a bad book. It’s still a very fun read with clever jokes and interesting characters with a new-ish setting. It’s a fresh take on the existing world of TN. This is absolutely some of the best stuff out there and I continue to love this series. I just didn’t love this one as much as the others.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G - The Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham
H - How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
I
J
K
L
M - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
N - Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow
O - One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde
P
Q
R - Reality Bites Back by Jennifer L. Pozner
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z


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