I was talking to the partner of one of my book group friends and it turns out that we share a love of Jasper Fforde books, also I learned that there is a new Thursday Next book coming out later this/next year, and both of these things prompted me to re-read books 1-7 in this series.
I really enjoyed refreshing my memory in the world of Thursday Next where some people are able to travel into fictional (or non-fictional) pieces of writing, and in some cases, fictional (or fictionalised versions of) people can come out of books into the real world. There is so much going for this series: humour, yes, Jasper Fforde while occasionally looming into too much silliness for my taste, is certainly funny; lots of nods to classic fictional characters and books and writers many of which I got and some which I didn’t but a real bookworm’s smorgasbord of tasty titbits (!); historical detail – aside from the fact that the books were written over quite a long time period, so the contemporary details read like a history of modern times, but also travelling into historical works gave a feel of time travel (the whole series reminds me very much of the equally enjoyable books by Jodi Taylor); great characters who go on real journeys, who I feel bonded with enough to really care about what happens to them. Good wicked baddies too, and conflicted characters – if you like quirky surreal type books then I definitely recommend this series and I’m very excited for the next instalment (the Thursday Next instalment – lol!)
Sarah Wray Writer 