I can't tell you how much I enjoy these books! There are few authors who I keep a close eye on to see when they publish a new book - Jasper Fforde is one.
The Thursday Next series, of which this is the latest, are brilliant. Set in the BookWorld, with a cast of characters form not just the Thursday Next books themselves (including a Dodo), but also characters from many other well known books.
In this one the BookWorld has undergone a remake, and is now a collection of landmasses on the inside of a sphere - so everything can be seen from a single point......hard to explain.
Thursday has gone missing, just before she was supposed to attend peace talks, and it's up to the written Thursday to try and figure out what's been happening, and where Thursday might be - that might sound confusing, especially since at one point there are lots of Thursdays, but it is easy to follow really (except when the characters themselves get confused!).
I love the characters, the descriptions of the BookWorld (there is a wonderful map in this book), and they way everything works. The books are full of literary in jokes (many more probably pass me by!), and interesting comments.
The design of the BookWorld is pure genius, and even the RealWorld in Swindon (where the real Thursday lives) sounds interesting (unlike the real Swindon!).
Anyone wanting to read this really should start with the first in the series, The Eyre Affair - a treat really does await anyone who is discovering Fforde's books for the first time......I hope I don't have to wait long for the next Next in the series!
Oh, and my favourite joke of the moment comes from this book.......
How many Sigmund Freud's does it take to change a lightbulb?
I don't know, how many Sigmund Freud's does it take to change a lightbulb?
Penis!........No, no, Father!
5th - 12th January 2012
Showing posts with label Fantasy Thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy Thriller. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Sunday, 11 January 2009
The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
When I started this book I really wasn't sure, I liked the writing style (in the first person) but I was sure that a wasn't going to like the main character - a drug addict, pornstar idiot. Very early on in the book (and I'm not giving anything away here), he is horribly burned in an accident and winds up in hospital. I think this was also part of my reservations about the book - the graphic descriptions of the burns and the methods of treatment were too detailed even for me (and I have read many forensic thrillers and love watching CSI).
I also worried that it was beginning much like the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson (although I've only so far read the first I thought it was fantastic), and contained perhaps a little too much 'god bothering' for my liking.
But, I'm glad I stuck with it. Essentially it's a love story - but don't let that put you off. The characters and the timescales are not like anything I've read before, and it wasn't long before I had warmed to the characters - wanting to hear their stories. On a time scale of 700 years, it's fascinating - taking you from Iceland to the USA and back through the years. The vivid stories within the story are wonderful in themselves and actually deserve to be published alone.
I thing that amazed me most about the book was that it's Andrew Davidson's first novel - unfortunately for him he now how a lot to live up to! It's been wildly successful, I just hope someone doesn't try to ruin it by attempting to make a film of it.
Lent to me Liz.
5th - 11th January 2009
When I started this book I really wasn't sure, I liked the writing style (in the first person) but I was sure that a wasn't going to like the main character - a drug addict, pornstar idiot. Very early on in the book (and I'm not giving anything away here), he is horribly burned in an accident and winds up in hospital. I think this was also part of my reservations about the book - the graphic descriptions of the burns and the methods of treatment were too detailed even for me (and I have read many forensic thrillers and love watching CSI).
I also worried that it was beginning much like the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson (although I've only so far read the first I thought it was fantastic), and contained perhaps a little too much 'god bothering' for my liking.
But, I'm glad I stuck with it. Essentially it's a love story - but don't let that put you off. The characters and the timescales are not like anything I've read before, and it wasn't long before I had warmed to the characters - wanting to hear their stories. On a time scale of 700 years, it's fascinating - taking you from Iceland to the USA and back through the years. The vivid stories within the story are wonderful in themselves and actually deserve to be published alone.
I thing that amazed me most about the book was that it's Andrew Davidson's first novel - unfortunately for him he now how a lot to live up to! It's been wildly successful, I just hope someone doesn't try to ruin it by attempting to make a film of it.
Lent to me Liz.
5th - 11th January 2009
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