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Something Rotten
A Thursday Next Mystery
by Jasper Fforde

Something Rotten reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 69 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.3 out of 10
based on 9 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 6 votes
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rate this book

Fforde's fourth entry in his Thursday Next series of humorous, literary and extremely unconventional fantasy-detective novels finds his heroine in search of a way to get her husband back after his eradication. In the meantime, she has her hands full babysitting both her two year old son and Hamlet (the Prince of Denmark), the president of England has disappeared, and did we mention that the fate of the world hinges on a very, very important croquet match?

Viking Books, 320 pages
08/05/2004
$24.95

ISBN: 0670033596

Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Science Fiction & Fantasy

What The Critics Said

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Carmela Ciuraru
Infused with humor and extraordinary inventiveness. [11 Aug 2004, p.E9]
The Independent Christina Hardyment
Something Rotten is, arguably, Fforde's best book yet.
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The New York Times Janet Maslin
Mr. Fforde's penchant for plotting knows no bounds, nor does his taste for awful puns... and his occasional silly streak.
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The New York Times Book Review Marilyn Stasio
No book, author or character is off limits to Fforde's own dazzling design.
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Publishers Weekly
Fforde's latest will have hardcore fans roaring--but those new to the series might want to tackle the convoluted mayhem from the very beginning. [16 Aug 2004, p.44]
Booklist Keir Graff
Fforde's inventiveness is seemingly inexhaustible. [Jul 2004, p.1797]
Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
The essential one-jokeness of the premise is starting to show. But he compensates with enough furious daft invention to sate his cult fan base.
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Washington Post Elizabeth Hand
The humor in Something Rotten is often scattershot, and the pacing is glacial.
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Darryl Whetter
If a resurrected monk swapping titty jokes in Old English printed in the Old English font with a narrator who tells you that the font is Old English strikes you as funny, read Something Rotten.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this book is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael H gave it a10:
Top notch.

Christopher T gave it a9:
Better than Lost Plots, but not innovative enough to transcend Eyre and Good Book. Still, Fforde is one of the funniest writers alive, so even on a slight downturn, he's better than almost everything else out there.

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