Something Rotten: Thursday Next Book 4: No. 4 - Hardcover

'Jasper Fforde's imagination is a literary volcano in full spate ... SOMETHING ROTTEN is arguably Fforde's best book yet ... Fforde has a knack of creating memorable characters whom the reader greets like long-lost friends ... Buy it; chuckles guaranteed.' - Independent 'Amazing ... Fforde's literary invention and playfulness is unique' -- Poisoned Pen 'The pleasure in Fforde's quirkily brilliant books is that they can be enjoyed on so many levels by all ages. For the younger reader they are straight up and down crazy fun in a world where dodos and Neanderthals exist, where cloning is commonplace and where talking monkeys in floral dresses are (almost) part and parcel of everyday life. For the older reader there are the extra joys of literary references, wordplay, silliness and satire, such as in the TV quiz show NAME THAT FRUIT and the politics and current affairs show EVADE THE QUESTION TIME'. - Sydney Morning Herald 'It's a lot of fun, and beautifully done, as ever, by Jasper Fforde.' -- Bookshelf 'the best yet, which is quite remarkable considering how good the others were.' -- Express 'this is brilliantly conceived and cleverly written. An absolute gem.' -- Herald Sun, Australia 'Totally and utterly brilliant. An absolute must for any Fforde fan' - Western Mail 'a wild rush of outrageous notions and silly jokes and leaves you feeling pleasantly tipsy' - People Magazine 'A born wordsmith of effervescent imagination' -- Christina Hardyment, Independent '[Fforde's] brand of inspired lunacy truly stands on its own ... this new book completes his creation of a world of true literary comic genius' -- Sunday Express on The Well of Lost Plots 'An immensely enjoyable, almost compulsive experience' -- New York Times on Lost in a Good Book 'Don't ask, just read it. Fforde is a true original' -- Sunday Express on Lost in a Good Book 'It is always a privilege to watch the birth of a cult, and Hodder has just cut the umbilical cord ... There are shades of Douglas Adams, Lewis Carroll, 'Clockwork Orange' and '1984'. And that's just for starters' -- Time Out, on 'The Eyre Affair' 'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' -- Terry Pratchett on The Eyre Affair 'Jasper Fforde's imagination is a literary volcano in full spate ... SOMETHING ROTTEN is arguably Fforde's best book yet ... Fforde has a knack of creating memorable characters whom the reader greets like long-lost friends ... Buy it; chuckles guaranteed.' -- Independent 'The pleasure in Fforde's quirkily brilliant books is that they can be enjoyed on so many levels by all ages.' -- Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday Next, Head of JurisFiction and ex-SpecOps agent, returns to her native Swindon accompanied by a child of two, a pair of dodos and Hamlet, who is on a fact-finding mission in the real world. Thursday has been despatched to capture escaped Fictioneer Yorrick Kaine but even so, now seems as good a time as any to retrieve her husband Landen from his state of eradication at the hands of the Chronoguard. It's not going to be easy. Thursday's former colleagues at the department of Literary Detectives want her to investigate a spate of cloned Shakespeares, the Goliath Corporation are planning to switch to a new Faith based corporate management system and the Neanderthals feel she might be the Chosen One who will lead them to genetic self-determination. With help from Hamlet, her uncle and time-travelling father, Thursday faces the toughest adventure of her career. Where is the missing President-for-life George Formby? Why is it imperative for the Swindon Mallets to win the World Croquet League final? And why is it so difficult to find reliable childcare? 100,000 words, 6 illustrations, adverts and web-based special features section.