Well, Jasper Fforde definitely does not disappoint. After introducing Acheron Hades and his mysterious powers, he jumps full on into the weird and wild. Though, it looks like it may be a chapter or two more before Thursday Next, the main character, catches on to just what the weirdness around her and around Acheron is.
Fforde also continues to use Victorian lit as a touchstone for the sort of writing people would form serious political factions around (as well as Shakespeare). Such use of Victorian literature is a pet peeve of mine, but given that this is the first book in the Thursday Next series, it would be perhaps too bold of Fforde to jump right into a Chaucer or Beowulf manuscript. I'm sure one or the other comes up in a later book - or at least that is my hope.
The Victorians may have written a few good things, but too many people admire the flower while forgetting the stem and the root. Neither may be as pretty as the blossom, but of all the parts of the edible flowering plant that is literature, the root and the stem are much more complex and nutritious.
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