Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde

My sister and I have talked for a long time about how there are two kinds of fiction books: one type that builds up the world of the book, and one that builds up the characters in the book. She tends to prefer world building; I tend to prefer character building. In fact, I get extremely annoyed if a book spends too long telling me the fabulous history of made up people or how elvish magic works, instead of letting me watch characters grow and do interesting things. (This is why I am bored by Tolkein, for the record.) 

I really enjoy the Thursday Next series, but this one (like the third one) spends a long time talking about how the book world works. It's frustrating, because I was much more interested in what Thursday's kids were up to and if the world was going to end. It's nothing wrong with the books, it's just what I prefer. There were several really good jokes and at least one twist that made me go back and re-read the last couple of chapters to see all the things I'd missed. It was certainly fun to read, and I'm glad there will be more Thursday Next books. I just wish they were more about his hilariously weird real world, and not so much about how literature taxis work.

Grade: B

originally posted 2007

Something Not-So-Rotten, Jasper Fforde

Finished Jasper Fforde #4. I liked it a lot. I think I liked it better than #3 for sure, and maybe better than #2, because it finally felt like he wasn't just building a world, he was telling a story. I'm all for world-building (would I read Tad Williams otherwise?) but chapters and chapters of description about how the Well Of Lost Plots works aren't as enthralling as actual plot. Still funny and cool, but not as enthralling.