I have a confession: I read this half hoping to hate it so I could make some space on the physical library shelves. Alas, there is no way I could consign it to "the narrative doldrums of the suburbs." The reading references are too clever, the mystery too intriguing and the character-building too well-done. Don't tell Friday, but I think I might have to toss 'Something Rotten' instead.

I haven't read Thursday Next in about ten years, so I wasn't sure how confused I'd be. I remember a lingering sense of enjoying some of the series, but with other parts leaving a strange, vaguely unpleasant aftertaste. Happily, the mechanisms of BookWorld came back to me quickly, and Thursday (the written one) was kind enough to give background, in the guise of orienting a new stand-in Thursday, Carmine O'Kipper (you may now groan).

The meta-literary elements included in the story are surprisingly insightful, and frequently amusing as well. There's a moment early on when Thursday explains book detail to Carmine:

"Every novel as only as much description as is necessary. In years past, each book was carefully crafted to an infinitely fine degree, but that was in the days of limited reader sophistication. Today… Most books are finished by the readers themselves."
"The Feedback Loop?"
"Precisely. As soon as the readers get going, the feedback loop will start back washing some of their interpretations into the book itself... readers often add detail by their own interpretations."

It's that kind of insight that adds fun layer to the stories. In this book, BookWorld is rebuilt early on, restructuring the Book Universe along the lines of the Geographic model. It means Thursday will need to travel by physical means to get from one genre to the next instead of the more ambiguous 'reading in' technique. What this means for the reader is a fun little tour through BookWorld as Thursday (the written one) investigates a book accident. After crossing through Thriller, she heads into Conspiracy, where she runs into Sprocket, a robot about to be stoned by residents as a spy.

The written Thursday is very aware of her inadequacies compared to the legendary Thursday Next, but feels she brings emotional depth to Thursday's story. Others might characterize her as "the dopey one who likes to hug a lot." As she investigates the crashed book, she discovers that the real Thursday hasn't been seen in a suspicious number of days. The real Thursday is needed to broker peace talks between Racy Novel and Feminism/Dogma genres who are about to be in a cross-genre war.

The mystery here is fairly--narratively, at least--straightforward. The humor often has me smiling, particularly Agent Square from Flatland as he coaches Thursday (the written one), Sprockett's expressive eyebrow, a devastating minefield, the ongoing joke of keeping track who is speaking when there aren't any conversational markers, and the threat of a 'Bobby Ewing' ending. Despite all that, parts are definitely brainy and expositionary, and so it is surprisingly easy to fall asleep to for a four-star book. That said, it's definitely worth keeping. ( )

In this installment of the extremely unpredictable Thursday Next series, the titular protagonist is missing! At least, that is the suspicion of the actual protagonist, the written Thursday. After many years of portraying Thursday in print, the written Thursday barely knows her namesake, but receives a tip from a mysterious man on a train that something nefarious is going on.

Although her jurisfiction colleagues won't admit that Thursday is actually gone, no one is certain of where exactly she is. The written Thursday is soon on a semi-authorized investigation to discover the real Thursday's whereabouts before her presence is missed at an extremely important political meeting.

Along the way, the written Thursday will visit the real world, meet ghosts and villains, and enlist the help of countless bizarre allies in her pursuit of the real Thursday. But the more she investigates, the more she begins to wonder about her own identity. Is it possible that she's the real Thursday who has suffered some crippling accident that has rendered her delusional?

Okay, I'm saying it: this one might be too meta! Although I love Mr. Fforde's writing, this one was so insular and self-referential, I was occasionally lost. I think part of it is my general weariness around the Mystery genre, but I still enjoyed this journey enough to be fully satisfied. ( )

Barely a 4. It took me awhile to get hooked into the change of voice. ( )

The BookWorld has been built, there is a ban on travel between OutWorld and Bookworld, and there is a war brewing between many of the genres of Bookworld,many of whom are taking affront to RacyNovel's attempts to expand and encroach into WomFiction and Romance.

There are several prophetic moments in this, especially around the RacyNovel and (since the publication of this book), the popularity of softporn (such as 50 Shades of Grey) in the real world.

In all this Written Thursday - whom we met in the previous book as a Jurisfiction reject being mentored by the real Thursday Next - is narrating the book in the 1st person. She begins to realise that Real Thursday Next is missing and starts to investigate, thereby alienating a lot of people, and getting herself into trouble.

Not for those who have not read a Next book before. The story in itself is standalone, but the whole structure of the book and who the characters are would be difficult for a new reader to pick up with this book. I wouldn't say it was the strongest book in the series, though fair play to Fforde for trying to open up the way the story is written in an attempt to keep the series moving forward ( )

Book 6 in the Thursday Next Series. This time Thursday is missing, or is she? In the Book World, the written Thursday Next, is worried that the 5 books of the series aren't be read, but now she has to investigate what's going on with the real Thursday, time's running out, she has to be at the Peace Talks meant to put an end to the escalating Genre Wars. Oh and why are the Men in Plaid chasing after her? Another whacky adventure. ( )