Helpful Score: 2
Jasper Fforde has one crazy wild imagination!
This book got off to a slow start for me, probably because you're not so instantly familiar with the world he's created as with the Eyre Affair books, where the literature he draws from creates an instant reference point for the reader. Instead, with this book you are left to figure it out for yourself, and there is plenty to figure out! Any time you think you have just about understood the world they're in he throws in something completely wild like it's totally normal - megafauna, the postcode system, queuing, and the startling absence of spoons - and you are left to yourself to puzzle out how it all fits together.
Despite a slow start, once Eddie Russett actually gets to East Carmine the story starts to pick up, and by about a third of the way through the book I couldn't put it down. The relationship between Eddie and Jane (a cute little nod back to the Eyre Affair) is slightly unbelievable at first - Jane is so supremely obnoxious, but somehow by the end you are rooting for her and Eddie despite the major obstacles that crop up.
The ending of the book will be a little frustrating for readers who like stories to be neatly wrapped up by the end... but it leaves the story perfectly positioned to draw you in to the sequel. I for one can't wait to see where Jasper Fforde is going to take this!
This book got off to a slow start for me, probably because you're not so instantly familiar with the world he's created as with the Eyre Affair books, where the literature he draws from creates an instant reference point for the reader. Instead, with this book you are left to figure it out for yourself, and there is plenty to figure out! Any time you think you have just about understood the world they're in he throws in something completely wild like it's totally normal - megafauna, the postcode system, queuing, and the startling absence of spoons - and you are left to yourself to puzzle out how it all fits together.
Despite a slow start, once Eddie Russett actually gets to East Carmine the story starts to pick up, and by about a third of the way through the book I couldn't put it down. The relationship between Eddie and Jane (a cute little nod back to the Eyre Affair) is slightly unbelievable at first - Jane is so supremely obnoxious, but somehow by the end you are rooting for her and Eddie despite the major obstacles that crop up.
The ending of the book will be a little frustrating for readers who like stories to be neatly wrapped up by the end... but it leaves the story perfectly positioned to draw you in to the sequel. I for one can't wait to see where Jasper Fforde is going to take this!
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
A wildly imaginative and crazy world! Social status is based on one's perception of hue and they work to marry up, follow rules and gain merits in the structure set by The Collective. Eddie, the protagonist, is sent to the outer fringes due to a humility problem to conduct a chair census. There, he meets Jane, a lowly grey, who helps him to find the ugly truths The Collective is hiding. It wraps up with definite potential for a crazy sequel. Funny and entertaining.
This book takes a more sci-fi direction than Fforde's previous series. The reader is dropped into the middle of a futuristic society set hundreds of years after some sort of cataclysmic event that is no longer remembered. Fforde's characters take this society completely for granted, so in the first couple of chapters readers may find themselves feeling a bit confused as characters use terms or casually mention ideas that are peculiar to the society. This effect only serves to make the reader feel more immersed in the book, and readers gain "fluency" as the chapters progress.
I found myself hooked by the relatable characters and the mystery that develops as the story progresses. Fforde has successfully created a unique storyline in a well-worn genre.
I found myself hooked by the relatable characters and the mystery that develops as the story progresses. Fforde has successfully created a unique storyline in a well-worn genre.
Jasper Fforde is always a great read! Can't wait for the next one.
