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Jasper Fforde

    January 11, 1961

    Jasper Fforde is a master of language, renowned for his unique ability to blend literary tradition with absurd comedy. His works, often set in alternate realities, explore the boundaries of fiction and the nature of storytelling. With a keen eye for detail and unexpected twists, Fforde crafts worlds where characters can move between books and history takes on entirely new forms. His innovative approach to genre and playful examination of literary conventions make him an unforgettable author.

    Jasper Fforde
    Something Rotten
    Shades of Grey
    The Great Troll War
    A Last Dragonslayer Novel: The Song of the Quarkbeast
    The Woman Who Died a Lot
    Red Side Story: The spectacular and colourful new novel from the bestselling author of Shades of Grey
    • Imagine a world where your position in society depended on what bit of the colour spectrum you could see. This is the world inhabited by Eddie Russett (red, middle-level) and Jane Grey (monochromatic, lowest in society). Eddie and Jane must negotiate the delicate Chromatic politics of society to find out what the 'Something that Happened' actually was, how society got to be this way, and crucially, is there Somewhere Else beyond their borders - and if there is, could there be Someone Else, too, someone whose unseen hand has been guiding the fortunes and misfortunes of the nation for the past 500 years?It's a tale of a young couple's thirst for justice and answers in an implacably rigid society, where the prisoners are also the guards, and cages of convention bind the citizens to only one way of thinking - or suffer the consequences. . ..

      Red Side Story: The spectacular and colourful new novel from the bestselling author of Shades of Grey
      4.4
    • The Woman Who Died a Lot

      • 366 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ex-detective Thursday Next faces her trickiest assignment yet in the seventh novel of this renowned series, “[a] bibliophile’s Wonderland” (The Plain Dealer). “It’s safe to say that if you enjoy that particularly British, Douglas Adams–style absurd delivery of wry observations, you’ll get a kick out of [The Woman Who Died a Lot].”—New York Journal of Books Thursday Next, the Bookworld’s leading enforcement officer, has been forced into semiretirement following an assassination attempt. When her former SpecOps division is reinstated, she assumes she’s the obvious choice to lead the Literary Detectives. Sadly, our banged-up heroine is no spring chicken, and her old boss has a cushier job in mind: Chief Librarian of the Swindon All-You-Can-Eat-at-Fatso’s Drink Not Included Library. But where Thursday goes, trouble follows. As the new Chief Librarian faces 100 percent budget cuts and trouble from the ever-evil Jack Schitt, the Next children face their own career hiccups—and possible nonexistence. Don’t miss any of Jasper Fforde’s delightfully entertaining Thursday Next novels: THE EYRE AFFAIR • LOST IN A GOOD BOOK • THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS • SOMETHING ROTTEN • FIRST AMONG SEQUELS • ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING • THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT

      The Woman Who Died a Lot
      4.2
    • Jennifer Strange 16 narrates managing wizards for absent Great Zambini of Kazam against Blix in contest to repair old bridge. Once Powerful Boo did no more magic after being kidnapped. Helped by magic carpet, mating Quarkbeasts, Transient Moose, apprentice Tiger Prawns, can Kazam win? Blix and royal advisor Tenbury conspire, cheat, jail mages after others turn to stone.

      A Last Dragonslayer Novel: The Song of the Quarkbeast
      4.2
    • The final instalment of the Last Dragonslayer Chronicles, demonstrating that with a small band of committed followers, a large tin of resolve and steely determination, almost anything can be achieved...

      The Great Troll War
      4.2
    • Shades of Grey

      The road to High Saffron. I

      • 435 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      Hundreds of years in the future, after the Something that Happened, the world is an alarmingly different place. Life is lived according to The Rulebook and social hierarchy is determined by your perception of colour. Eddie Russett is an above average Red who dreams of moving up the ladder by marriage to Constance Oxblood. Until he is sent to the Outer Fringes where he meets Jane - a lowly Grey with an uncontrollable temper and a desire to see him killed. For Eddie, it's love at first sight. But his infatuation will lead him to discover that all is not as it seems in a world where everything that looks black and white is really shades of grey . . . If George Orwell had tripped over a paint pot or Douglas Adams favoured colour swatches instead of towels . . . neither of them would have come up with anything as eccentrically brilliant as Shades of Grey.

      Shades of Grey
      4.2
    • Something Rotten

      A Thursday Next Novel

      • 416 pages
      • 15 hours of reading

      In this fourth installment, literary detective Thursday Next embarks on a new adventure in a whimsical, literature-obsessed England. The story continues to blend elements of fantasy and mystery, showcasing Fforde's signature wit and creativity as Thursday navigates a world where books and reality intertwine. Fans of the series can expect clever plot twists and engaging characters that explore the power of literature in a unique alternate reality.

      Something Rotten
      4.2
    • Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed is back to embark on an adventure that begins on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible

      Lost in a Good Book
      4.2
    • Relics, Wrecks and Ruins

      • 460 pages
      • 17 hours of reading

      Exploring the duality of time, this book delves into the interplay between the future and the past, revealing how our fears and aspirations shape our experiences. It presents a collection of narratives that intertwine personal histories with speculative futures, examining themes of courage and anxiety. Through diverse characters and thought-provoking scenarios, it challenges readers to confront their own perceptions of time and the impact of their choices. The result is a compelling reflection on the human condition and the complexities of existence.

      Relics, Wrecks and Ruins
      3.9
    • The Fourth Bear

      • 378 pages
      • 14 hours of reading

      In "The Fourth Bear" by Jasper Fforde, Detective Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary are on the case of missing journalist Goldy Hatchett. Their investigation leads them to the suspicious Three Bears, while a sadistic Gingerbreadman lurks in Reading. Fforde delivers a whimsical blend of detective fiction and nursery rhyme.

      The Fourth Bear
      4.1
    • Exhausted by her stint as Miss Havisham's apprentice at Jurisfiction, Thursday Next is delighted by a respite in the Character Exchange Program in the Well of Lost Plots, a place filled with linguistic chaos, lousy books, and a murderer.

      The Well of Lost Plots
      4.1
    • Constant Rabbit

      • 352 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      Jasper Fforde's fantastical new satire - what happens when a family of human-sized, human-like rabbits moves in next door?

      Constant Rabbit
      4.1
    • First Among Sequels

      • 398 pages
      • 14 hours of reading

      Thursday Next has her hands full trying to persuade her 16-year-old son not to sleep away his future. To complicate matters the government has a dangerously high stupidity surplus and the Stiltonista Cheese Mafia are causing trouble in her hometown of Swindon

      First Among Sequels
      4.1
    • The Big Over Easy

      • 416 pages
      • 15 hours of reading

      When D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III, is found shattered to death, all the evidence points to his ex-wife, who has conveniently shot herself. But Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant Mary Mary remain unconvinced.

      The Big Over Easy
      4.1
    • Reading a Fforde novel feels like taking off on a magic carpet, only to be picked up by another and another and taken on new flights of fantasy . . . When the plot is thundering along, peppered with jokes, lively dialogue and silly names . . . you just sit back and enjoy the ride. Scotsman

      Early Riser
      4.0
    • The Eye of Zoltar

      • 405 pages
      • 15 hours of reading

      Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange faces the impossible when the mighty Shandar emerges from his preserved state and presents her with a task that sends her and her companions on a journey from which they may never return.

      The Eye of Zoltar
      4.1
    • One of Our Thursdays is Missing

      • 404 pages
      • 15 hours of reading

      Thursday Next returns in another inventive, funny and fantastical adventure by the comic and creative genius, Jasper Fforde.

      One of Our Thursdays is Missing
      4.0
    • Meet Thursday Next, literary detective without equal, fear or boyfriend Jasper Fforde’s beloved New York Times bestselling novel introduces literary detective Thursday Next and her alternate reality of literature-obsessed England—from the author of The Constant Rabbit Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

      The Eyre Affair
      3.9
    • The Last Dragonslayer

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      In the good old days, magic was powerful, unregulated by government, and even the largest spell could be woven without filling in the magic release form B1-7g. But somewhere, somehow, the magic started draining away.Jennifer Strange runs Kazam!, an employment agency for state-registered magicians, soothsayers and sorceresses. But work is drying up. Drain cleaner is cheaper and quicker than a spell. Why trust a cold and drafty magic carpet when jetliners offer a comfy seat and an in-flight movie? And now potions are eligible for VAT...But then the visions start. The Last Dragon is going to be killed by a Dragonslayer at 12.00 on Sunday. The death will unleash untold devastation on the UnUnited Kingdom, setting principality against dukedom and property developer against homesteader. And all the signs are pointing to Jennifer Strange, and saying"Big Magic is coming!"The Last Dragonslayer is fizzing with all the creativity and genius Jasper Fforde's fans delight in, and will appeal as much to the young at heart as to the younger readers for whom it is written.

      The Last Dragonslayer
      3.9
    • As the concluding installment of the Thursday Next series, this novel brings a long-awaited resolution to the narrative threads developed over the previous books. Set in a unique literary universe, it promises to delve into themes of fiction and reality, offering fans a blend of humor, adventure, and clever storytelling. With its intricate plot and beloved characters, it aims to satisfy the expectations built over the years since the last release.

      Dark Reading Matter