Something Rotten: A Thursday Next Mystery (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author) "Jurisfiction is the name given to the policing agency inside books..." (more)
Key Phrases: policing agency, Miss Next, Thursday Next, Yorrick Kaine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Welsh writer Fforde's fourth entry in the zany, hypercreative Thursday Next detective series revisits the "Literary Detective" as she retreats to her hometown of Swindon, England, retiring from the tedious job (as Head of Jurisfiction) she held in Fforde's previous novel, The Well of Lost Plots. Joined by her two-year-old son, Friday, pet dodos Pickwick and Alan, and Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, Thursday realizes that there's someone missing: her husband, Landen, previously "eradicated" by the Goliath Corporation, a ruthless bio-tech conglomerate corporation. She wants Landen back. Aided by her father, she is reinstated into her old employ, the Special Operations Network, and begins investigating the machinations of power-hungry Fictioneer Yorrick Kaine and the mysterious disappearance of England's president. The fate of the world rests on the outcome of a major croquet tournament, with Thursday pinch-hitting on a lethal playing field as Landen is finally returned to reality (only to fade out again). More than a little wacky, the novel is packed with screwball details as characters get "written" in and out of the story, hybridized creatures stalk malls and Shakespeare clones start popping up everywhere. With humorous illustrations and curious footnotes sprinkled throughout, Fforde's latest will have hardcore fans roaring—but those new to the series might want to tackle the convoluted mayhem from the very beginning.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This fourth book in the series continues the English detective's quest to protect her child, regain her husband, and save the world (not necessarily in that order). She decides that it's time to leave Jurisfiction and return to the real world of the Outland to resume her life. Taking her son and her pet dodoes, Thursday discovers that her actions in real life are possibly even weirder than they were in the realm of literature and certainly of more consequence. Fforde continues to pitch high, wide, and fast: only he could turn croquet into an extreme (and hilarious) sport with the fate of the world hanging on the outcome of the game. Particularly appropriate in this American presidential election year is the political debate show "Evade the Questions Time" where politicians score points for most successfully avoiding answering questions. Rotten is the concluding volume of this series and many of the subplots and characters from the first three titles reappear, floating through the space-time fiction-fantasy continuum. It succeeds in wrapping up in a most gratifying way. As Oscar Wilde's Miss Prism would say, "The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means." The Robertses' illustrations and mock advertisements echo the irreverent humor. Warning: Reaching the end of Rotten may cause readers to want to start again with The Eyre Affair (Viking, 2002)and ride the manic, maniacal merry-go-round of the Nextian world again.–Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First American Edition edition (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033596
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033591
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #564,364 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 4 in The Thursday Next Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Things are just so much weirder than we can know.", August 13, 2005

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels) (Paperback)

Jasper Fforde's unique brand of inspired insanity makes "Something Rotten" a welcome addition to his enormously entertaining and often hilarious Thursday Next series. Thursday is the head of Jurisfiction, the policing agency that "safeguards the stability of the written word" in literature. However, she is tiring of her hectic, stressful, and often dangerous job and she needs a break. Thursday takes her two-year-old son, Friday, and decides to head for the Outland. She returns to her home town of Swindon, England, determined to bring back her "eradicated" husband, Landen Parke-Lane.

Thursday's return home, unfortunately, brings a new set of problems to plague this beleaguered heroine. She is saddled with Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, who is unhappy with the indecisive manner in which he has been portrayed by actors. In addition, the Council of Genres wants Thursday to do something about the dictatorial and ruthless Yorrick Kaine, an escaped fictionaut who is planning to dominate the world. To make matters worse, a mysterious and deadly assassin is out to get Thursday, and she has to watch her back constantly.

"Something Rotten" is filled with puns, literary allusions, slapstick, dizzying time travel, ribald humor, naughty words, brilliant satire, and non-stop action. Often, the wacky plot makes little sense, and the many characters enter and exit so often that the unprepared reader may be left with a migraine. However, Fforde rewards the patient reader in many ways. The author entertains us with his large cast of colorful and varied characters. Thursday Next is an appealing heroine who is smart, courageous, warmhearted, determined, and resourceful. Melanie Bradshaw, the gorilla wife of Commander Bradshaw, provides Friday with much-needed child care in a pinch. Yorrick Kaine is Thursday's fearsome and frightening opponent, and his backers, the men behind the colossal Goliath Corporation, represent all of those reprehensible conglomerates that gleefully and heartlessly trample on human rights. Lady Emma Hamilton is a boarder who stays with Thursday's mom, and she proves to be a handful. Emma is a lush who has the hots for Hamlet. Colonel Next is Thursday's dad, and he travels through time, meeting up with and helping his daughter now and then. It is no accident that several characters from "Alice in Wonderland" also make key appearances in this whimsical and imaginative novel.

Thursday's adventures are funny, poignant, and sometimes dazzling in their complexity. There is even a no-holds-barred "SuperHoop" croquet match that is as wild and unpredictable as the Quidditch matches in the Harry Potter novels. "Something Rotten" may confuse devotees of linear literature. However, if you like a creative and daring author who loves wordplay, creates timebending and mindbending escapades, and who inserts timely and pointed social commentary into his narrative, then you will find Jasper Fforde's "Something Rotten" as delightful as I did.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give me two Danish and call me Thursday, August 20, 2005

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels) (Paperback)

The latest Thursday Next saga is certainly the best, providing that you've read the rest of the series. If you haven't, you'll find it difficult to follow the exciting adventures of Thursday in the Outerworld, as she fights to save her eradicated husband, raise their paradoxical son Friday, stop Yorrick Kaine and the dastardly Goliath Corporation, foil an assassin, capture the Minotaur, bring about world peace, and win an un-winnable croquet match in the process.

Taking a leave of absence from the Bookworld, Thursday reappears in the real world to find that the Goliath Corporation has ascended to new heights of mind control, Yorrick Kaine has inexplicably risen to power, her bosses are not particularly happy about her unauthorized 2 1/2 year absence, and she's got a downtrodden Hamlet, an amorous Emma Hamilton and a dashing Otto Bismarck to contend with.

More than up to the task, but not quite sure how to sort anything out, she makes a deal with Goliath, visits the netherworld with vampire hunter Spike, and somehow ends up managing the local croquet team in an all-important championship match.

One of Fforde's most imaginative novels, this one is highly recommended for fans of the Thursday Next series.

Amanda Richards, August 20, 2005

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something Brilliant in the State of Fforde, August 14, 2004

By	R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fforde's brilliant detective series continues in the fourth installment, 'Something Rotten', which ties in all the classic elements of his beloved stories. His wit is as sharp as ever and he continues to cleverly tie in various characters/scenarios from several works of literature. The world he has created for Thursday Next is a treat for any bibliophile who has ever dreamed of being able to enter their favorite work of literature.

'Something Rotten' finds Thursday Next tired of hiding out in the Book World, so she returns home in order to have her erradicated husband un-erradicated. This isn't as simple as it may seem, and Thursday is forced with defending herself from various attempts on her life, resolving a coup in 'Hamlet', and stopping the ruthless Yorrick Kaine, a fictional character, from becoming a vicious dictator in the real world (well, a Nextian world). She also has to take care of her two-year-old son Friday, get her job back at SpecOps, and most importantly of all, prevent an armageddon from destroying the world. These might seem like insurmountable tasks for the ordinary detective; but as a literary detective, Next is more than equipped for whatever comes her way, real or imagined.

Fforde has created an entire world for Thursday Next and is comfortable in her shoes. As she travels between the real and the written world, Fforde's imagination is vibrant and alive, painting an unusual depiction of what really goes on in the books we read. He has given new voices and perspectives to beloved literary characters and has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, in both the literary and 'real' worlds.