Play Book Tag discussion

Something Rotten – Jasper Fforde
Book on CD read by Emily Gray.
3***

Book four in the Thursday Next fantasy / sci-fi “literary detective” series. The Goliath Corporation is still trying to take over the world, though this time their scheme is to be declared a religion. Hamlet is staying with Thursday and her family, while she tries to sort out the mess that all the cloned Shakespeares have made of the original play. Thursday’s father, the rogue ChronoGuard, and her mad-scientist Uncle Mycroft, both make significant, though small, contributions.

What I most enjoy about this series is Fforde’s vivid imagination and all the literary references. The plots are completely unrealistic, but that’s part of the fun. Thursday is a strong, independent, resourceful heroine, and the supporting characters – Spike, the vampire, and Stig, the Neanderthal, in particular – are delightfully over-the-top. The SuperHoop (think “Super Bowl” for croquet) match is fun and thrilling and ridiculous all at once.

If this review doesn’t make much sense … well, neither does the book. But who cares?! It’s fun to read.

Emily Gray does a marvelous job performing the audio version. She has great pacing and is a skilled voice artist, able to differentiate the many characters. I love the way she voices Stig and St Zvlkx in this installment.


LINK to my review