Early Riser

A Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Thomas Hunt

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “hilarious” (The Guardian), “blindingly inventive,” (The Seattle Times) and “wonderfully weird dystopian thriller” (Shelf Awareness) from the author of The Constant Rabbit and the Thursday Next series

“A cause for celebration . . . Fforde writes witty, chewy sentences, full of morsels, and delivers them deadpan. . . . [His] relentless imagination and his affection for his characters are contagious and irresistible.”—The New York Times Book Review

Every Winter, the human population hibernates.

During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, devoid of human activity.

Well, not quite.

Your name is Charlie Worthing and it’s your first season with the Winter consuls, the group responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses. You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams, which you dismiss as nothing more than an artefact born of the sleeping mind.

When the dreams start to kill people, it’s unsettling.

When you get the dreams too, it’s weird.

When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity.

But teasing truth from Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping, and stamp collecting; ensure you aren’t eaten by Nightwalkers; and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical Wintervolk.

But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you’ll be fine.

Hilariously funny at time, but repetitive

This is a highly original novel. At times, it was hilariously funny, as in the phrase "hard of thinking". But it was ultimately so depressing and repetitive, I just gave up on it. Maybe if I had lived in Wales, it might have been funnier. Many of the jokes seem to be gently making fun of modern day Welsh culture and customs. Or even British culture overall. Or maybe if it had been edited and streamlined to better hold one's interest. In any case, do not let my review deter you. It just wasn't something I could get into.

Another dystopian gem by Fforde

Jasper Fforde has a knack for creating dystopian worlds and giving them such internal consistency that you understand why the characters (as ordinary humans) do what they do. For me, this was a notch below his excellent Shades of Grey, but an outstanding listen (read). The narrator was perfect, capturing Charlie’s self-deprecating heroism as well as the other protagonists and antagonists so well that I felt like I knew them. As usual, Fforde creates a relentlessly moral universe for his characters that is ultimately unassailable by even the most powerful and ruthless forces. Highly recommended.

Excellent story with a very unique premise

The unique nature of this story with a reluctant and timid protagonist may be a little difficult to get completely into as a reader but it is worth the time. The narrator was quite good and very easy to understand. The underlying metaphors for timely topics are also very thought provoking.

I wish there were more…

As always, Jasper Fforde delivers a quirky and highly entertaining story. I would love to see more of this alternative world- cannibals and all.

Strange, memorable and fun.

Guaranteed to be unlike anything you have read before. Fforde creates a compelling world that will leave ypu wanting more.