Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious Send-Up of Literature and Writing
Review: From the first chapter of Jasper Fforde's third novel, you can tell that the author had a blast writing this satiric mystery that explores the creation of fiction. Thursday Next - pregnant by her eradicated husband, haunted by a Hades sister intent on destroying her memory, and a Jurisfiction apprentice to none other than Miss Havisham of Dickens fame - takes refuge in a poorly written and unpublished crime novel called Caversham Heights. Thursday expects to rest there until the birth of her child, but she and Miss Havisham discover that the death of another agent by a Minotaur attack might not be the accident it seems. Meanwhile, nursery rhyme characters threaten a strike for not being treated like other fictional characters, two generic characters living with Thursday begin to become more well-rounded, and Thursday tries to save Caversham Heights from being destroyed by the Council of Genres for being so hopelessly bad.The more you know about literature, the more hilarious you'll find this fantasy. Characters are being manufactured in record numbers because Vikram Seth is planning a new novel, and no one wants a return to minimalism simply because of a character shortage. Heathcliff, Catherine, and the rest of the characters from Wuthering Heights attend anger management classes, and Mr. Toad is relentless in his competition with Miss Havisham for the fastest driver in both the Book World and the Outland. And if you're interesting in writing, you'll gain tips for keeping your novel out of the Text Sea, as Fforde pokes fun at hackneyed writing and incomplete character development. Because this is my first Fforde novel, I started reading this without any knowledge of what has happened previously in the series, but the author provides enough of a synopsis in the beginning to give a new reader the proper bearings. Despite this, there remains a disjointedness at times as so much satire is pumped into the book that does little to advance the plot. Sometimes Thursday seems to be there purely as a straight man, raising the question that perhaps Fforde should have heeded some of his own lessons in fiction writing. Fortunately, these lapses are few and don't hinder the enjoyment of the novel as a whole. This relatively long novel is not demanding and can be read more quickly than the page count might indicate. As a literary joke, The Well of Lost Plots is a triumph. As a mystery/fantasy, it is less successful. Readers will nonetheless delight in Fforde's imagination as he takes them through the land of the unpublished and the more solid, though more turbulent, ground of the classics.
Rating:
Summary: A fun romp in the world of Thursday Next
Review: I agree with the reviewer who criticized this book as being too long. It does drag in the middle. However, the plot is rich, and the characters are richer. There were more than a few surprizes. Thursday once again has to battle one of the diabolical Acherons, save the book world from destruction, and try to un-eradicate, or at the very least remember, her husband, Landen. She's also still dealing with the fall-out from her plot readjustment of Jane Eyre. The Well is another well-developed setting in Fforde's series. I can't wait till the next installment!
Rating: 
Summary: the first two were better
Review: I bought The Well of Lost Plots expecting the same complex plotting and suspense that I found with the previous two books. The author says that Thursday Next is taking a break in this book, and that's how it felt. While the humor is wonderful, not a lot happens to move the story forward. I enjoy Fforde's writing, but I was able to put this book down several times, while the previous two kept me up half the night.
Rating:
Summary: Read the Thursday Next series in order
Review: I enjoyed this book, though found it harder to get into then the rest. It takes a while for a real mystery/plot to show up. Even though background is given within the story I would highly recommend you start with The Eyre Affair and read the Thursday Next series in order.
Rating:
Summary: Clever But Not All That
Review: I have to agree with the "Icing without the Cake" reviewer. While the latest installment is a highly enjoyable read the substance and heart of the story just isn't there. In the previous two books Mr. Fforde not only provided wit and entertainment but also depth in both characters and plot. I can't help but feel that the lack of action in Thursday's "real world Swindon" has deprived this book of the urgency and impact of The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book. I also miss the Next family and her cohorts at Spec Ops; without them a little of the magic gets lost. This latest novel reads very much like the later Piers Anthony Xanth books. Amusing yes, but not gut wrenchingly compelling. The Well of Lost Plots comes off very much as a bridging book in the series and doesn't seriously move the macro story arc along. Don't expect Thursday's troubles with Goliath Corporation to be resolved nor the return of Laden. By all means read this latest installment but for first time readers of Fforde I wouldn't recommend starting here. I very much hope that the next book will return us to Swindon, the quirky characters, and the literary references tempered by substantive story.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book of the series
Review: I loved the first two books of the series but this book not as much. The Well of Lost Plots was as imaginative as the others but the pace was very slow. It seemed to drag and ramble on without any excitement. There was a lack of interesting story lines and action. The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book were full of many fun adventures and unexpected twists and turns. Well of Lost Plots dealt mostly with Thursday dealing with minor problems and had very few surprises. I had a hard time finishing the book because the slow pace could not keep me interested in it. The only reason I would recommend this book is that it contains many details important to understanding parts of the next book, Something Rotten.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the three, but some deficiencies
Review: I must say that this book is the best in the Thursday Next series. Thursday Next is a literary detective in the 'other' 1983, where the Crimean War never finished and literature is taken far more seriously. She suddenly finds that in another world - the BookWorld - the things that happen in fiction are real - they actually occur. The hub for this world is the Great Library, where every work of fiction ever published is stored. And below the library is the Well of Lost Plots - where unpublished books are created. Thursday traipses through literature, including books such as Jane Eyre and Shadow the Sheepdog, before eventually coming to terms with an inner demon which could be described as external (don't ask). As a technical-minded person I enjoyed finding out how books are constructed in the active process of the Well of Lost Plots. I thought this book the best of the three Thursday Next books so far published. However, there isn't really much mainstream plot, and I had only just worked out who the enemy was and what was actually happening with regards to the enemy when said enemy was defeated. There was not enough buildup towards the climax and the climax was confusing and rather slow. I can't help thinking that this was simply a bridge book to fill the gap between the second and fourth books. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book's slightly nonsensical action and offbeat humour immensely. Unless you have a decent knowledge of literature, you may miss some of the jokes, but nonetheless I recommend this book immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Phantasik Fanthaci Phfunnnn!
Review: I read relatively little fantasy because authors usually make it too much work . . . and not enough fun. Jasper Fforde has exceeded my expectations for fun, and kept me chuckling for hours. Although I have not read the earlier two books in the series (a mistake I'll be sure to remedy quickly), I had no trouble picking up the story line and following the continuity. If this book were to be graded solely on the fantasy world that was created, this book would be about a seven star effort. The subplots could have been trimmed (especially Lola, Randolph, Captain Nemo and the nursery rhyme characters), and this would have been an outstanding book. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite fantasy books, and The Well of Lost Plots clearly borrows from that inventive work while adding unique elements relating to how fiction is written, read and understood. Fans of Alice will enjoy meeting the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the King and Queen of Hearts and the Gryphon. The book also borrows heavily from the Wizard of Oz in its story of conflict between good and evil in a magical land where characters live according to the limits of their development. As a writer, though, the book had me spellbound in its concoctions to pick up on all of the tasks that writers go through to create books. I often felt like I was traveling through my own mind rather than reading a book. The book had me chuckling at the same time as a reader. There are constant references to important characters in fiction (such as Miss Havisham and Heathcliff) and plot devices used in those works. What's the story then? Well, Thursday Next has left the real world for the Well of Lost Plots (the 26 floors of subbasement beneath the Great Library where all English fiction books are shelved)) where all stories are developed and protected. She's pregnant by her husband who was eradicated at age two in an earlier book. She's looking for temporary refuge from the threat to her life. While there, she finds she's been infected with a memory virus that is sapping her recollections of her husband. Miss Havisham is to be her guide, and helps her find a role filling in temporarily for another character in an unpublished book, Caversham Heights. Miss Havisham directs her towards becoming a Prose Resource Operative for Jurisfiction, those who help maintain the integrity of fiction. In that role, she's soon confronted with mayhem, death and a sinister plot that threatens fiction to the core. By book's end, she's made some progress in counteracting those influences, but clearly there's a fourth book to come in the series. I sincerely hope that English teachers will seriously consider assigning this book to help their students appreciate the true potential of fiction to stir the imagination, inform, influence and intrigue.
Rating:
Summary: "Crack it open and, pow, the story goes off at a tangent."
Review: In his previous two novels, Fforde created a wacky, fictional universe in which "real world" characters could transport themselves into books, associate with the characters there, turn back the clock, and even change the endings. Heroine Thursday Next, has saved Jane Eyre from disaster, imprisoned Jack Schitt in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," and ended the Crimean War, but she has also made enemies of some powerful criminals, one of whom has gone back in time and killed off her husband when he was just a small child. Now, pregnant, she is the only person who can remember him as an adult, and her memory is failing. Anxious for a rest, she decides to go with her dodo Pickwick to visit the Well of Lost Plots, where all book characters, plots, and settings reside until they are chosen for novels. In this most literary of Fforde's three novels, Thursday is an apprentice agent-in-training for JurisFiction, the policing agency that works inside books, her mentor and guide being Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Living inside an unpublished crime thriller, Thursday explores the Great Library, where the Cheshire Cat is librarian, sees the workshop for backstories (some used, some not), meets generic characters ("human canvases without paint") and "orals" (nursery rhyme characters), tours available settings (high-capped mountains, arched stone bridges, ruined castles), and watches as Miss Havisham joyrides in "Chitty Bang Bang." Holesmiths work there fixing holes in narratives, grammatacists try to prevent grammacites (gerunds) and mispeling vyruses from infecting novels, and pace-setters, moodmongers, and plot speculators work on new creations. As the Well considers installing the UltraWord operating system, which will expand the basic eight-plot architecture into thirty-two plots, Thursday tries to preserve the memory of Landen, fight against her enemies, and win her trial for a fiction infraction. Fforde pulls out all the stops here, creating a carnival ride through books and the creative process with surprises and delights on every page. Less plot-driven than the previous novels, this novel is episodic, with scenes ranging from a Star Wars-type bar scene to a group counseling session for the characters in Wuthering Heights. While Thursday's exact role is not always clear, Fforde's ability to free the reader's imagination and keep him/her involved in the literary world with its infinite possibilities is daunting. Full of satire, parody, puns, literary jokes, and word play, this latest in the Thursday Next series provides hours of entertainment for anyone interested in books and how they "work." Mary Whipple
Rating:
Summary: "Crack it open and, pow, the story goes off at a tangent."
Review: In his previous two novels, Fforde created a wacky, fictional universe in which "real world" characters could transport themselves into books, associate with the characters there, turn back the clock, and even change the endings. Heroine Thursday Next, has saved Jane Eyre from disaster, imprisoned Jack Schitt in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," and ended the Crimean War, but she has also made enemies of some powerful criminals, one of whom has gone back in time and killed off her husband when he was just a small child. Now, pregnant, she is the only person who can remember him as an adult, and her memory is failing. Anxious for a rest, she decides to go with her dodo Pickwick to visit the Well of Lost Plots, where all book characters, plots, and settings reside until they are chosen for novels. In this most literary of Fforde's three novels, Thursday is an apprentice agent-in-training for JurisFiction, the policing agency that works inside books, her mentor and guide being Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Living inside an unpublished crime thriller, Thursday explores the Great Library, where the Cheshire Cat is librarian, sees the workshop for backstories (some used, some not), meets generic characters ("human canvases without paint") and "orals" (nursery rhyme characters), tours available settings (high-capped mountains, arched stone bridges, ruined castles), and watches as Miss Havisham joyrides in "Chitty Bang Bang." Holesmiths work there fixing holes in narratives, grammatacists try to prevent grammacites (gerunds) and mispeling vyruses from infecting novels, and pace-setters, moodmongers, and plot speculators work on new creations. As the Well considers installing the UltraWord operating system, which will expand the basic eight-plot architecture into thirty-two plots, Thursday tries to preserve the memory of Landen, fight against her enemies, and win her trial for a fiction infraction. Fforde pulls out all the stops here, creating a carnival ride through books and the creative process with surprises and delights on every page. Less plot-driven than the previous novels, this novel is episodic, with scenes ranging from a Star Wars-type bar scene to a group counseling session for the characters in Wuthering Heights. While Thursday's exact role is not always clear, Fforde's ability to free the reader's imagination and keep him/her involved in the literary world with its infinite possibilities is daunting. Full of satire, parody, puns, literary jokes, and word play, this latest in the Thursday Next series provides hours of entertainment for anyone interested in books and how they "work." Mary Whipple
|
