Book Review: Early Riser

Early Riser, by Jasper Fforde

To be honest, TBR was a little disappointed in this highly anticipated novel.

The premise seemed promising: A world in which humans hibernate during the winter. And it is written by the wonderful Jasper Fforde, whose mind works in mysterious ways.

But the story seemed ... forced? Fforde said he had difficulty writing this book, saying it took him three times longer than normal, and it shows. The first draft, he said, was crap, I certainly would not go that far, but it is not his best work.

Here's the idea. Humans hibernate. They always have hibernated through the long cold winter, when temperatures drop to 40 below, winds hit 60 mph, and snow falls constantly. As a result, humans have evolved differently, both socially and physically. Still, they are mostly like us, with the same fears and hopes and dreams.

This is where the story is strongest, as Fforde describes the world with his trademark wit, subtle takes of our current world, and bizarre inventions. He introduces us to several characters, and we learn about both them and their environment.

It's when he gets into those dreams the story take a turn. When you sleep for weeks and months at a time, those dreams -- your hopeful desires and your actual sleep fantasies -- may have outcomes that are a wee bit different than expected. Especially when one of those dreams goes viral, affecting people all over, including our hero and narrator, Charlie Worthing.

So the story turns into a thriller, with a predictable format -- lots of characters deceiving each other, unexplained violent deaths, characters not really around long enough for you to care about what happens to them. This is not TBR's favorite genre, and, sad to say, this novel did not overcome that bias.