Paperback: 383 pages
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (6 Jul 2006)
ISBN-10: 0340835729
ISBN-13: 978-0340835722
Category(ies): Comic Fantasy
I worry that Fforde is turning into the new Tom Holt.
Both writers write comic fantasy, based in a here-and-now Britain. But the complaint against Holt for a long time has been that his works are always the same - there is a formulaic centre to his work that never really progresses. In fact, that's a little unfair, since Holt has done work outside his normal area.
With this novel, the followup to The Big Over Easy, Jack Spratt has to cope with the escape of the GTingerbread Man, the most terrifying serial killer in history. Meanwhile, Goldilocks has been found dead at the house of the Three Bears. Yes, it's chaos in Reading again (that's Reading the Berkshire town, not Reading the activity). There's plenty of invention, but for me, somehow, it just all fell rather flat. Disappointing.
