[FicusFan]

Originally posted by Eventine


What's the difference (apart from the cover)?

The fake adds and the funny comments from Goliath are missing, or reduced. I think they are missing from The Eyre Affair , and only a few are listed in Lost in a Good Book.

[Erfael]

Well, I have to say that I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It's taken me half of the month to come to that point, but I think I was a little underwhelmed by Eyre Affair reading it right on the tail of Altered Carbon. I didn't read anything in between, and I don't think I made the transition well from the dark AC to the fairly light Eyre Affair.

This past weekend I got to hear Jasper Fforde give a talk in Raleigh, NC, on what goes into his writing and how he comes up with his ideas. I think that having heard him talk about his work, I have a better understanding of what angle he's coming from and have re-evaluated a lot of what I thought about the book. He says he's basically a gag comedian, and I can definitely see that in the book and appreciate some of what he does a lot more knowing that.

Take, for instance, Felix7: He says that Felix7 grew wholly out of his desire to use the line "Haven't I seen your face somewhere before?" Having looked back at the book in that sort of light, I can definitely see and appreciate a lot more some of the more seemingly rediculous and tangential aspects of the book, realizing that somewhere in there there is always a punchline.

On Fforde himself: The man is highly entertaining. He's a very good speaker and extremely funny. Hearing him talk was better than the last 10 or 20 standup comics i've seen combined. He took us through the very (il)logical way in which Thursday was created and answered everyone's questions thoroughly and with very entertaining answers (so it's not all canned).

[Nimea]

Originally posted by FicusFan


The fake adds and the funny comments from Goliath are missing, or reduced. I think they are missing from The Eyre Affair , and only a few are listed in Lost in a Good Book.

Bah, what a shame!

Did anyone read in his news stuff that the US version of 'Well of Lost Plots' will be a bit different that the UK version so that the US readers don't all order the UK one?
I just can't be bothered to look it up now - on the other hand, maybe it was my imagination. ;)

And Erfael, I envy you!
We don't get UK or US authors for book tours or cons here in Germany - at least not often (and surely no SF or Fantasy writers). Maybe I can hope because 'Eyre Affair' was published by a big literary publisher and is treated differently . . .

:)

[Erfael]

Originally posted by Nimea
Did anyone read in his news stuff that the US version of 'Well of Lost Plots' will be a bit different that the UK version so that the US readers don't all order the UK one?
I just can't be bothered to look it up now - on the other hand, maybe it was my imagination. ;)


Yes, he mentioned this one...apparently there is an extra chapter in the US version. As he put it, "The US was hemmoraging sales to Amazon.uk, so I offered to do everything I could to help Penguin keep the numbers up." Incidentally, this is the reason that both US and UK are getting book 4 on Aug 1 of this year and not months apart.

Did anyone else notice the complete absence of chapter 13?

[Eventine]

I can't say I ever pay much attention to chapter numbers or names.
Lucky they didn't include chapter 13... ;-)

[Erfael]

Chapter 13 does appear in the ToC, but it only a blank page in the book. On my read through I noticed the blank page for no apparent reason, but failed to notice that it was in place of chapter 13.

[FicusFan]

Well I will still order my book 4 from the UK. I don't use Amazon, my local bookstore gets UK imports for us, and we don't have to pay shipping. They have a deal with a UK distributor called Gardiners (which I am sure other non-chain stores could also have). In the UK they publish the book in Tradepaper, not in hardcover, so I can get an imported book from the UK and still pay less than the cost of a hardcover in the US, even with the higher exchange rate.

The other good thing they do in the UK is often publish a hardcover and a Tradepaper at the same time, so as the reader you can buy what best suits your needs, and you don't have to wait months or years for it.


I can't see the extra chapter making a difference, because most fans won't know about it, and if they find out (like me) then they will just read the missing chapter in the store. :D

[Nimea]

Thing is, I always have to decide which edition to buy: UK or US, both have to be imported (most of the time).

So I can't just go to the store and read the extra chapter. :( *sniff*

[FicusFan]

And This weekend I went to the store and read the extra chapter of the US edition of Well of Lost Plots. Very nicely put at the end and labeled as the extra chapter. It was nice, and cute, didn't really add to the story, but did fit in with it. I read the book a while ago (1-2 years ?) and still enjoyed it - but it was not enough to make me hold off on the UK edition and wait for the US edition. By the way the page after it ends says Thursday will return in March 2005. Wonder if they do bring out the next HC this summer in the US if this one will stay in HC also, or go into paper early.

[LordBalthazar]

As someone who enjoyed Jane Eyre when I first read it in high school, mainly on account of Bronte's surprisingly deft humorous touches, I really liked this book - though not as much as everyone else as I also found the character of Thursday somewhat flat in comparison to the incredibly colorful supporting characters. Still, a lot of fun with some wonderfully creative sequences (the time dilation ride through traffic was particularly memorable), but a little over-the-top for me.