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)

Good book, wonder about gaps in reading though

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to a friend because I love the story line and the narration.

Which scene was your favorite?

The play by play of Thursday trying to keep her mother from looking in to see Friday and Mrs. Bradshaw asleep on the couch.

If you could take any character from Something Rotten out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would love to be able to take Thursday's Dad out to dinner. Being a rouge in the Chronoguard could make for interesting conversation.

Wonderful, Wonderful Narration

What made the experience of listening to Something Rotten the most enjoyable?

The narrator was fantastic, but also the nature of the story was clever.

What did you like best about this story?

Even though it was a little difficult to follow at the beginning, the idea of Jurisfiction and how fiction and the

Which character ??? as performed by Emily Gray ??? was your favorite?

I especially liked the way she interpreted the 13th-century saint and his old English.

not for me

An odd book. It was a bit of fun listening to people who are fiction detectives, living in various novels for years. And, there are numerous clever references to literature. The narrator is good. But, I couldn't last long enough to find the thread to the story. Jumped around a lot.

Disappointing

The first book ?The Eyre Affair? was great, the second book, ?Lost in a Good Book? was good. The third book ?The Well of Lost Plots ?, was drawn out and this current book is very disappointing. The author is trying to make a series of a story which should have finished with the first novel. She is trying too hard to be funny. Her use of satire is not in keeping with her original writing style.

Wrong Reader

The reader's name is the same as he previous book but it's a different voice!
Puzzled & frustrated.

2 Stars due to Narrator

As a Thursday Next fan you must read the fourth installment of her adventures. Overall the series, though perhaps as someone commented can get a little drawn out, is one of the more imaginative series of books I have read/heard in a long time. That being said after hearing the first 3 books wonderfully read by Elizabeth Sastre this newest narrator is horrible. She cannot seem to pronounce names properly and you spend time trying to figure out just who she is talking about. Her pauses between sections sometimes are so long I find myself looking at my iPod to see if it is still on. And the absolute worst is she sounds like she has gum or hard candy in her mouth while she is reading. I found myself cringing at times and not once felt like I could totally be wrapped up in the book as I had with the previous 3. I hope someone sends these reviews back to the company who made the recordings. PLEASE bring back Elizabeth Sastre for the next Next book!

A better read than listen

I read another Thursday Next book before I decided to listen to this one. As soon as I started playing SOMETHING ROTTEN, I realized I should have listened to the sample as the reader was going to drive me nuts. The book is OK; but once you've read or listened to one of these books, I fear the cleverness loses its punch (at least it did for me). If you chose this one, listen to the sample before you purchase it.

UGH

Couldn't get past the first 1/2 hour; never read this author but thought it couldn't be THAT bad. Well it was. Should have known from the lame plot.

Not up to Par

If you have loved the books in the Thursday Next series (as I have) then you may find yourself a little less thrilled in this installment. The development of the characters has seemed to stagnate, and aside from a couple of brilliant scenes in the book (including the ending!) the twists and turns are disappointingly predictable. I was also saddened to see that although we see more of Landon Park Lane in this book, his relationship with Thursday remains bland and his character is really not explored to any degree of depth. It must also be said that although books 2 and 3 in this series were exceptionally well read (I didn't listen to the Eyre Affair as it is abridged) this particular installment was unexceptional, being read by a new narrator. The original voice of Thursday Next held a great degree of energy and zing...there were many times in this novel that I felt myself wishing she would quit moaning and shut up. I also felt that the plot droned on and went in to too many weird directions. In the previous two novels, Thursday has a consistent mission (escaping Goliath and the Chronoguard, then the duties of Jurisfiction) and although she gets a little sidetracked here and there, it's all heading in the same general direction. I felt in this novel that the writer had a bunch of random ideas left over and decided to randomly chuck them all in together.

Something Rotten (Unabridged)

It is such a shame that Elizabeth Sastre was not engaged as narrator for this book. I found the narration flat and could not finish listening to the book. So disappointing.