| First Among Sequels | |
| Author: | Jasper Fforde |
| Cover Artist: | Mark Thomas |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | Thursday Next series |
| Genre: | Alternate history, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher: | Hodder & Stoughton (UK) Viking Press (US) |
| Release Date: | 2007 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages: | 416 (Hardcover) |
| Isbn: | 978-0-340-83575-3 |
| Oclc: | 85828957 |
| Preceded By: | Something Rotten |
| Followed By: | One of our Thursdays is Missing |
First Among Sequels is an alternate history, comic fantasy novel by the British author Jasper Fforde. It is the fifth Thursday Next novel, first published on 5 July 2007 in the United Kingdom, and on 24 July 2007 in the United States. The novel follows the continuing adventures of Thursday Next in her fictional version of Swindon and in the BookWorld, and is the first of a new four-part Nextian series.[1]
The title was originally announced, at the end of Fforde's novel The Fourth Bear, as The War of the Words.
In order to save the future, undercover SpecOps investigator Thursday Next attempts to convince her son Friday to join the ChronoGuard. To complicate matters, she'll have to deal with renegade apprentices, ruthless corporations, and a sting operation from the Cheese Enforcement Agency.
The title First Among Sequels was met with stiff resistance from Fforde's publishers because it had 'sequel' in the title, and it was felt that telegraphing the 'sequelness' of the book might be a bad move. It was decided, however, to capitalise on the fact that this was a series - a sort of 'Have you discovered Thursday Next yet?' approach to marketing.[1]
First Among Sequels is the first part of a new four-part Thursday Next series, which is continued with One of our Thursdays is Missing[1] and The Woman Who Died a Lot.
The title is a parody of First Among Equals, which is the title of a best-selling Jeffrey Archer novel, but also comes from the English translation of the Latin phrase primus inter pares. It is traditionally used to describe the position of the British Prime Minister, since in the British Constitution the position of prime minister has no official existence, and the office holder is simply the 'most powerful' of the Queen's advisors in Cabinet.
As with the other Thursday Next novels, time travel forms a central part of the plot for First Among Sequels. Fforde has, however, stated that:
"I was getting slightly browned off with the whole time travel idea, and like you do with less popular characters, I wanted to kill it off." – Jasper Fforde.[1]
It emerges that SO-12, the ChronoGuard have been travelling through time, even though time travel hasn't yet been invented, on the basis that it will be at some time. One of the main plot lines in this novel follows Thursday's and Friday's attempts to ensure that invention never happens, thereby avoiding the end of the world.
The other major theme of this novel is the translation of reality television to the literary world. With book readership numbers dropping drastically, the governing body of the BookWorld comes up with the idea of setting a novel's central characters a series of tasks, and allowing readers to choose how the novel should proceed, vote out unpopular characters and decide which plot lines should be followed. This idea is first attempted on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. Fforde, not a fan of reality TV, uses the popularity of such shows, shorter attention spans, and falling levels of reading to illustrate the "diminishing Now" of instant gratification:
"The Now is a bit short at present, and I think it needs lengthened - read books, plan ahead, and watch less junk TV." – Jasper Fforde.[1]
Upon release, First Among Sequels reached number 45 in the Amazon sales ranking in the UK,[2] while on the US site it reached number 105.[3] The novel entered USA Today's best seller list on 2 August 2007, at number 60[4] and at number 10 in the New York Times Best Seller list.[5]
Reviews of the novel have been complimentary, although it has been noted that it is best to read the series in order to avoid confusion.[6] As with other Thursday Next books, the novel is peppered with literary references to 'classic' (and not so classic) novels, which may put readers off. Fforde himself was initially concerned about this, but "now I don’t worry so much. I don’t use really obscure characters. They’re ones people have heard of even if they haven’t read the book." – Jasper Fforde.[7]
Reviews
"Grab a cup of tea, some chocolate biscuits, and settle down in a very comfortable chair for a long, funny, and quite witty read." – Greenman Review.[8]
Additionally, the UK version of the audiobook was released on 8 October 2007 by Hodder & Stoughton, .[10]
An alternate-reality game was commissioned from Coney by UK publishers Hodder & Stoughton to promote the launch of First Among Sequels in the UK. The campaign won a Book Industry 'Nibby'.[11]
The entire first print run of the UK Hodder edition of First Among Sequels is missing the footnoterphone speech. These should be on pages 194, 195, 332, 333, 339, 392 and 393.[12] Since the books are already in the shops and thus too late for error slips, the missing text can be found on the Jasper Fforde website in the 'Book Upgrades' section.[13]
