The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde is one of my favorites. These are books that ingeniously flirt with several genres while shamelessly exploiting my love of books and literature. I am always astounded by the sheer size of Fforde’s imagination and his cleverness. Fans of the trade paperback will be pleased to hear that THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT, the seventh in the Thursday Next series, is being released late in September by Penguin. In this installment Thursday Next is vying to lead the recently reinstated Literary Ops division of Spec Ops, but is instead shuffled off to head the Swindon All-You-Can-Eat-At-Fatso’s Drink Not Included library. Thursday fears a slow death of boring meetings and a life of being relegated to the sidelines, but trouble–and old enemies–follow her wherever she goes.
Fforde was recently in the Milwaukee area for a book signing at the Cudahy Public Library. He is on tour here in the States for the US release of SONG OF THE QUARKBEAST, the second in the YA series THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER–a fantastic series dealing with the draining of magic from the world, and a young orphan of the Troll Wars named Jennifer Strange who is trying to save the band of wizards she is indentured to. Fforde talked for some time about his writing process–which involves writing himself out of self-imposed corners–the new series, and his upcoming projects. He also regaled the crowd with tales from the most recent Fforde Fiesta, a celebration of all things wacky and Fforde, where fans dress as characters from the books, or as lobsters and play Space Invaders. A Fforde signing–or a book–is not to be missed; check to see if he is stopping by a city near you.
