First Among Sequels

May 14, 2007
F
ull of bizarre subplots, many of which don't go anywhere, bestseller Fforde's fifth novel to feature intrepid literary detective Thursday Next (after 2004's Something Rotten
) blends elements of mystery, campy science fiction and screwball fantasy à la Terry Pratchett's Discworld. With the Stupidity Surplus reaching dangerously high levels all over England, Acme Carpets employee and undercover SpecOps investigator Next has her hands full trying to persuade her 16-year-old slacker son, Friday, to join the ChronoGuard, which deals with temporal stability; if Friday continues to sleep away his future, the end is near—for everyone. To complicate matters, a malicious apprentice begins making classic works of literature into reality book shows (Pride and Prejudic
e becomes The Bennets
), a ruthless corporation tries to turn the Bookworld into a tourist trap, and the Cheese Enforcement Agency tries to bust Next for smuggling killer curd. The fate of the world may lie in a Longfellow poem. Fans of satiric literary humor are in for a treat.

Adult Harry Potter fans can find refuge in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Fforde brings to life the world inside books. Literary detective Ms. Next continues her work for Jurisfiction, the police force in the Bookworld. While she tries to persuade her slacker teenaged son to go to work for the ChronoGuard, who is responsible for temporal stability, she discovers that someone is turning literary works into reality TV shows and that others want to turn the Bookworld into a tourist trap. Emily Gray returns as narrator a second time, and her matter-of-fact delivery, especially regarding the National Stupidity Surplus, enhances the delightful lunacy of Fforde's tales. One annoying element to the presentation is a longer than usual lapse at the end of each track, which proves distracting. R.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine