Something Rotten

A Thursday Next Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Emily Gray

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Jasper Fforde's time-traveling and fiction-jumping detective Thursday Next is an international hit with fans and critics. Beginning with The Eyre Affair, a Book Sense Top 76 Pick, Thursday's adventures have all cracked The New York Times best seller list.

After spending her time chasing a stray Minotaur into pulp Westerns, filling in for Joan of Arc, and raising her infant son, Friday, Thursday needs a break in the real world. But her return to Swindon is far from relaxing. Rogue fictioneer Yorrick Kaine and the evil multinational Goliath Corporation are trying to rule the world, and a deadly assassin called the Windowmaker is tracking Thursday's every move. To top it all off, her husband is still missing after being eradicated from the timestream before they met.

Fans of Douglas Adams and Monty Python won't want to miss this charming detective adventure sure to tickle the funny bone and stimulate the literary mind.

Delve into Jasper Fforde's literary universe with the other books in his Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.

©2004 Jasper Fforde (P)2004 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A brazenly witty series." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Opening one of Jasper Fforde's novels means stepping into a playful new universe....It's easy to be delighted by a writer who loves books so madly. (The New York Times)

Mind-blowing!!!

I literally have whole-body goosebumps having just finished this book!!!!!!!! what an incredibly beautiful and genius mind Jasper Fforde has!!

The recording quality was lower than the previous

The sound was less clean than the previous book. Storyline is all over the place, but that's what I expected. Hamlet was a fun character.

A worthy successor to Terry Pratchett

This is a wonderful story in a great series. The Jasper afford isn’t as clever or funny or deeply humane as Terry Pratchett but he’s every bit as imaginative. And even more playful.

This book is almost surreally self referential. The idea of croquet as a contact sport is delightful. The ending is sweet and sad without being at all tragic.

Looking forward to the next book. Which I’ll start reading soon as I press submit.

Witty, Original and Lots of Fun

I, too, thought the author, Jasper Fforde, was a woman. Not so. Jasper is a man. That he can convincingly put himself (and a male reader) into the mind of a woman is, itself, sufficient reason to listen to the series. (In fact, when I heard the preview of the first book, I was sure it was a "woman's book" and I only purchased it and listened because I told a woman friend about it and she challenged me to stretch my brain a bit.)
The new narrator is good. Not as good as the prior narrator, but then again, who could be? She still gives plenty of range and depth to the charcters in her reading.
The writing is consistently witty and original. I loved the antics of two-year-old Friday and the Dodo. Also loved Thursday's single parent prospective: What could be as important in a new job as the challenge of saving the world? How about adequate child care. From shooting a page running minotar with a slapstick dart to the riots of fans at the croquet matches, to the common person's obsession with literary trivia and debate, in substitution for political arguments and sports talk, Jasper will keep you scratching your head and laughing out loud.
You don't have to listen the three earlier books in the series to understand and love this one. Each stands alone. This one begins with a brief description of each character, which is very helpful. A glossory of terms, such as "page runner" might have been helpful, too. But part of the fun is figuring out what the terms and devices are.
Certainly, Lost in a Good Book is the best in the series, but none of the books ran too long or seemed to me to have dry patches. All are fives on a scale of five.
So prepare to stretch your brain and exercise your funny bones.

Thursday Next back on track

So, The Well of Lost Plots was not my favorite book of all time. It was kind of funny in places, but I mostly found the style of humor annoying and I didn't like the way the story progressed. However! This fourth book renews my faith in Jasper Fforde! This is a wonderful book, much more in the style of the first two. There were lots of twists that I didn't predict, even when additional clues were provided. I'm tough to surprise, but it succeeded. After listening to this one, I no longer regretted the time I spent on book #3. Something Rotten is witty and fun; silly but also poignant. There were some genuine laugh-out-loud moments and other places that just make your heart break. If you loved the first two books but felt your interest waning after the third one, I strongly encourage you to read this one. There are so many fantastic moments in this book--saving Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar (despite Nelson's best efforts), the cast of Hamlet going rogue, George Formby as president of England, and a minor character in a romance novel trying to take over the English government. The plot also weaves in threads from earlier books and wraps up a couple of items I'd forgotten about. Fforde writes very well. I do wonder how two world wars (which apparently were fought in this reality) were possible while the Crimean war was churning on and on for decades, but oh well! Fforde does a remarkable job of holding the alternative world facts together and bringing a kind of sense to nonsense. I highly recommend it.

Better every time!

I have read this book more times than I can count and I love it more every time. In the afterlife, I want to live in Jasper Fforde's universe. Highly recommended.

Loving the Next novel

I have usually read the Thursday Next paperback novels, but decided to listen to this one instead. I have not been disappointed yet and I haven't even finished. I think the narrator is doing a wonderful job and keeps me well entertained so far. I look forward to hearing the rest of this book.

An end to a truly unique series

I've really enjoyed the Thursday Next series. It is truly unique and different. It is well written with lots of interesting spins with it's linkages to the fictional world, as well England in the author's world. Of the 4 books, this is probably the weakest but, that may largely be because of the change in narrators. Elizabeth Sastre set a standard for Thursday and the rest of her characters in the first three books that would be hard to equal by anyone. The current narrator does a good job with some characters but, is lacking in some of the others. Overall, that slows down the pace and the devoted Fforde/Sastre fan feel disappointed or perhaps disconnected by the change. If you are looking for an original and unique series, I can't recommend another series highly enough.

The story of stories

He is a fantastic story teller and the performance was wonderful!
Choosing a favorite part is hard but I really enjoyed the character names, very creative way to change the names to protect the innocent! lol

Great but miss the old narrator

Please bring back the narration by Elizabeth Sastre!
Her Thursday is how I imagine her voice! More importantly, she bring the side character (ESPECIALLY Miss Havisham) to life!!! Bring her audio back!