I am re-reading the Eyre Affair (and the other 3, just give me time) looking for things that appear in later books ( the gun under the car, the Austin Allegro, etc.) and at the end chapter 9, Mycroft has to watch Jack Spratt's Case Files. Could it be that Mr Fforde was even then working in his (at the time unpublished) Nursery crime characters? I think so...

well i would like to think that any author worth reading,
plans ahead and is always looking for something to add on or something he can use later.its somewhat hard to imagine how they do it.and its odd to think that even though thtey have the buggest imagination in the world, some of them (ive heard)are quite boring.


p.s.
if you think that all the little things your reading now are strange when they turn up later, wait till finish reading Somethin Rotten.youll be blown away.

Jasper tell on several occasions that TBOE was actually the first book he wrote, but only could get published after the success of the Nextian books. Let me tell you: If you havn't yet compared WOLP and TBOE, you are in for a big surprise...

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Thanks for your comments guys. I have been a fan of Jasper's since 2002 when the books came out, and I have read them all. I am simply rereading them since it has been awhile since I actually read them. I just thought it was interesting that even before he actually implemented Nursery Crimes in WOLP, that he threw in Jack Spratt in TEA.

Yeah, I don't remember that at all--I'll have to go back and reread it! I'm not entirely surprised, though. It seems like he would be plugging his unpublished book as much as possible, or at least plundering it for plot ideas.

neither do i.you bring up some interesting points.

i should reread them as well.

i actually started reading Fforde when TBOE caught my attention.

(it was the artwork, never could say no to a giant egg murder)

Hey SL. Interesting thread. I, too, am doing the big re-read. I was going to mention Jack's Austin Allegro in the patch of bad time but, as expected, I was too late. :)

Hey Nicky! I am almost done with the reread. I didn;t notice anything out of ordinary in LIAGB or in WOLP, but by the time he wrote those it was obvious what he was doing. I have to finish Something Rotten (I seem to have misplaced it for the moment.) and then I will be ready for the new one.
I would also like to take this moment to lodge a complaint to the ether about the crap way the paperbacks are put together. I am glad i bought them, so my hardbacks still look good, but I expected a little more from the paperbacks than the covers falling off because the glue melted. Jeezums.

I'm halfway through SR now. Dibsy's in England so I have a lot more reading time.

I did ask Jasper at the last (4th Bear) signing if he'd written WOLP with the idea of getting TBOE published and he said that he had. But, of course, you're right -- he started a lot earlier. I had fun re-reading Granny Next in WOLP with the benefit of having read SR.

Complaint noted and duly filed in triplicate.

I think the whole thing with the Rambosians being Zhark's nemesis is a little weird, personally. They seem so peaceful and cheerful in the Spratt books. Doesn't make sense that Ashley never mentions it, or that only 130 (I think) Rambosians left the planet for 70s sitcoms, when surely they all needed to get away from Zhark to get to the sitcoms?

Well, Zhark is an evil emperor, and he probably oppresses them in horrible ways. I wouldn't be surprised they'd fight for their freedom.

Which is a perfect place to mention something I've just spotted:

Quote:

{Zark's} usual nemesis in the books was Colonel Brandt of the Space Corps, assisted by his alien partner Ashley.

Something Rotten, in the header to Chapter 17

Rob

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That statement is either so deep it would take a lifetime to fully comprehend every particle of its meaning, or it is a load of absolute tosh. Which is it, I wonder?
Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

I caught that on a recent reread of SR (even though I've reread both the Nursery Crimes and the Thursday Next series multiple times prior to that, and never caught it).

And almost three years later, I am once again rereading the series, and this time, I happen upon SommeWorld in LIAGB.