For my holiday I've read the book "Red Side Story" by Jasper Fforde, which is a long awaited sequel. It's been many years since "Shades of Grey", which in all honesty I had found neither easy nor satisfying. But this continuation has been both, so I am well pleased.
Fforde's works are challenging to describe, and I could easily imagine readers finding them tricky. So in case it assists, here are some views I've formed.
#JasperFforde #Bookstoden
If you like the craft of writing then read the first two Thursday Next books. Reading one will be a shock, and you might find it too madcap. But read the second too so you get a feel for the concept and affection he has about writing and reading overall.
If you like those then the multiple sequels will similarly entertain, perhaps decreasingly as is common with such things.
#JasperFforde #Bookstoden
If you like crime fiction then try the first Nursery Crime novel. I enjoyed them both but I suspect crime fans get more meta-humour from them than I did.
I do recommend Early Riser to anyone as I think it's his masterpiece. It's a standalone work and the less you are told about it the better. But in saying that I do have to admit having already become used to his style and inventiveness, so I'll assume a bias is present in this view.
#JasperFforde #Bookstoden
Conversely I won't say anything about The Constant Rabbit as I simply didn't like it for what may well be personal reasons.
I've avoided the usual "he's like other writer X" because I think he's more original than that comparison merits. I've also met him in person twice when he's passed through Melbourne meeting readers. So there's another excuse for bias, given I almost never do such meets.
#JasperFforde #Bookstoden
geraldew