Emily Gray’s narration as always is great she gives each and every character its own unique voice and quality. I am so glad the rest are available wit..Show More »h this narrator on audible. Between this series and Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate Series Emily has become one of my favorite narrators.

This one was a bit different in that it seemed to end many different times but then didn’t. Loved the ultraword storyline, a book can only be read 3 times; it cracked me up as such a jab at the e-book publishing world. But considering this was written in 2003 it made me wonder does Fforde have ESP?

It is also a hard book to review because there are a lot of plots going on at the same time. But I guess we are in the well of lost plots so Fforde had to mash as many in as he could, but it was almost too much. As I said the book felt like it ended a couple times when actually it kept going so this threw off the rhythm of my enjoyment. I still loved all the literary references and the writing still makes me laugh but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the previous books. I did enjoy the addition of the generic characters they are the people in books you just see once, the person passing on the street the shopkeeper and such, kind of like extra’s in TV shows that can be changed into whatever character is needed for the next book that comes along. And I think Lola & Ronald and Grandma Next were my favorite characters in this one.

What I do love about this series is all the literary references and this had them shooting left and right and I still feel that you need to have at least some knowledge of the classic (even if it’s from PBS Masterpiece Theater) which is how I knew Miss Havisham as I just watched Great Expectations last week. Because I’ve honestly only read a few Dickens novels but have been meaning to read more (really I have).

All in all this is a fun book and I will continue on with this series.

3 1/2 Stars

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This book is provided by Recorded Books not Highbridge Audio. I suspect that's why the narrator is different. Too bad - Elizabeth Sastre had it down..Show More » pat!

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The Thursday Next series and the rest of Fforde's quirky novels are, and always will be, high on my list of favorite books. Every one of them is insa..Show More »nely clever, creative, funny, and loaded with all kinds of literary references from Charles Dickens, the Brontes, Jane Austen, to Humpty Dumpty.

This latest installment is every bit as amazing as the previous ones. My only complaint is that the pace fell slightly slow in just a few places. There are a lot of seemingly loose ends in the story, but no doubt the author will use them to develop even more surprising plots in the future books.

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I went into this book expecting to listen about the Thursday Next that we all have grown to love. Unfortunately for me this book is about an entirely..Show More » different character (albeit her name is Thursday Next). While I was disappointed to read about the fictional Thursday instead of the "real" Thursday, this book really came together well in the end. The beginning is a bit slow (Jasper Fforde is setting up new characters) but it picks up pace and really comes together in the end. The Narrator does a fantastic job with the voices but the periods between chapters are agonizingly long. As ashamed as I am to say it, I think the Thursday Next series is running out of steam. I continue to enjoy the references to other works of fiction, but there are many reused jokes.

Time to impatiently wait for the next books for the other series.

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I wish I could rate this at 4.5 stars. It falls a bit short of 5 stars, but deserves better than a 4 star rating.

A must read for anyone foll..Show More »owing the series. But if you're following the series, you know you'll read this book eventually.

While the book before this (One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing) occurs almost completely in the book world, this one occurs almost completely in the real Thursday's world. The story was interesting throughout, and narration was perfect. I don't usually listen to an audiobook again immediately after finishing it, but this one was interesting enough that I did so, and managed to pick up some nuances I missed the first time around.

I would not recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the Thursday Next series before, however. I started with one of the books in the middle and it took a while figuring out what was going on. Start with the first book for maximum enjoyment.

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