First Among Sequels

Before you read Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, you must read the first four Thursday Next books (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten).  In this latest installment, Thursday Next must continue her work as a SpecOps-27 Literary Detection agent, as well as her role as a member of the fiction police force, Jurisfiction.  Problems include Thursday’s facing the fictional selves from the books previously written about her, as well as figuring out how to persuade her son Friday to join SpecOps-12, the ChronoGuard, so that he can save the world from running out of time before the end of the week.  The original text of Pride and Prejudice is in jeopardy of being turned into a reality TV show, and also it appears that someone has murdered Sherlock Holmes.

If you love literary allusion, humor, fantasy, sci-fi, and witty writing, you ought to read this series.

Try this as a representation of the hilarity one might find between the [dangerously interactive] pages of a Thursday Next adventure:

I opened a door off the corridor.  The room was much like a psychiatrist’s office, full of bookshelves and with diplomas on the wall.  There were two chairs, a desk and a couch.  Two men were sitting in the chairs: A beard and pipe identified the first man immediately as a psychiatrist, and the second, who seemed desperately nervous, was obviously the patient.

“So, Mr. Patient,” began the psychiatrist, “what can I do for you?”

“Well, Doc,” muttered the patient unhappily, “I keep on thinking I’m a dog.”

“I see.  And how long has this been going on?”

“Since I was a puppy.”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted, “I’m looking for the Piano Squad.”

“This is Very Old Jokes,” explained the psychiatrist apologetically.  “Pianos are down the corridor, first on the left.”

As it turns out, there are only fifteen pianos to share carefully among all of the books ever written.  The Piano Squad’s exact timing and skillful monitoring of when and how closely books are being read ensures that readers never notice.