Early riser /
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Viking, 2018Copyright date: 2018Description: 402 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- text
- unmediated
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780670025039
- 0670025038
- 9781643581477
- 823/.92 23
- PR6106.F67 E37 2018b
Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Loan | Coeur d'Alene Library Adult Fiction | Coeur d'Alene Library | Book | FFORDE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 50610021656991 | |||
Standard Loan | Hayden Library Large Print | Hayden Library | Book - Large Print | FFORDE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 50610021944231 | |||
Standard Loan | Hayden Library Adult Fiction | Hayden Library | Book | FFORDE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 50610022067628 | |||
Standard Loan | Newport Library Adult Fiction | Newport Library | Book | FFORDE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 50610021208355 | ||||
Standard Loan | Rathdrum Library Adult Fiction | Rathdrum Library | Book | FFORDE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 50610022067610 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
An instant New York Times bestseller
The latest standalone novel from Jasper Fforde, the bestselling author the Thursday Next series and the forthcoming standalone The Constant Rabbit
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 committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses.
You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky 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 the 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, whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food; and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk.
But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you'll be fine.
First published in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton.
"Imagine a world where all humans must hibernate through a brutally cold winter, their bodies dangerously close to death as they enter an ultra-low metabolic state of utterly dreamless sleep. All humans, that is, apart from the Winter Consuls, a group of officers who diligently watch over the vulnerable sleeping citizens. Charlie Worthing is a novice, chosen by a highflying hero Winter Consul to accompany him to the Douzey, a remote sector in the middle of Wales, to investigate a dream which is somehow spreading amongst those in the hibernational state, causing paranoia, hallucination and a psychotic episode that can end in murder. Worthing has been trained to deal with Tricksy Nightwalkers whose consciousness has been eroded by hibernation, leaving only one or two skills and an incredible hunger; he's been trained to stay alive through the bleakest and loneliest of winters - but he is in no way prepared for what awaits him in Sector Twelve. There are no heroes in Winter, Worthing has been told. And he's about to find out why."--Publisher's description.
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Each winter, much of humanity hibernates during the deep cold and snow, relying on the protection of an elite crew known as the Winter Consuls. Some villains prey on the sleeping, such as nightwalkers who eat the living, and the Wintervolk are a lot less mythical than they should be. Many first-time Winter Consul members barely survive the first freeze, much less volunteer to be out in the subzero temperatures. But not Charlie Worthing. When Charlie attempts to deliver a nightwalker to the often dangerous Sector 12, he gets caught both in an investigation of viral dreams that kill people and a conspiracy involving the major corporation HiberTech and splinter group RealSleep. Veiled commentary on corporate greed, sleep and dreaming, and twisted popular culture highlight why Fforde, perhaps best known for his "Thursday Next" series, is on par with authors such as Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. VERDICT Fforde's masterly, real-world, and socially conscious prose is filled with running jokes, amusing footnotes, and smart wordplay in this stand-alone novel. [See Prepub Alert, 8/27/18.]-Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Review
In this richly detailed, dystopic novel from Fforde (the Thursday Next series), most of the population of Wales hibernates in huge Dormitoria through the unbearable Winter. The poor hope not to end up Dead in Sleep, while the elite, benefiting from the designer drug Morphenox, fare better but also risk becoming barely functional nightwalkers, used for manual labor and spare body parts. Charlie Worthing, awake as the newest member of the order-maintaining team of Winter Consuls, is thrown into chasing the mystery of a killer viral dream in opposition to government and business forces alike. The sprightly characters, such as the murderous Villains maintaining the habits of English sophisticates, and the intimately feuding pair of Chief Consul Toccata and Aurora, the head of HiberTech security, bring absurdity into the ambiance, but behave understandably enough to be credible. Charlie's confused but determined mundanity is a relatable anchor in this wild winter world, leavened by Fforde's surrealistic humor. Douglas Adams fans will enjoy the vibe. Author tour. Agent: Will Francis, Janklow & Nesbit U.K. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.Booklist Review
Charlie Worthing is a Winter Consul novice, tasked with ensuring the safety of his fellow Welshmen who hibernate through the bitter winter with the help of the wonder drug Morphenox. A routine assignment involving a nightwalker, the essentially dead, zombie-like result of Morphenox gone wrong, takes a strange and deadly turn when he is stranded in Sector 12, aka Douzey, where winter is its most brutal and the inhabitants including the Winter Consul are the most hearty. And foolhardy. As Worthing blindly stumbles equally into lifesaving victory and deadly defeat, he becomes entwined with Aurora, the head of Hiber Tech security, an artist named Brigitta, who may or may not be dead and with whom he may or may not be in love, and dreams of a blue Buick that have driven greater men insane. Readers familiar with Fforde's (The Woman Who Died a Lot, 2012) gleefully pun-heavy world building will relish this stand-alone novel, confident that everything will work out in the end for the underdog. Give it to fans of John Scalzi and Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series.--Susan Maguire Copyright 2018 BooklistKirkus Book Review
Fforde (The Eye of Zoltar, 2014, etc.) returns from his "creative hiatus" with a madcap adventure through the Welsh winter, which has grown so deadly most humans literally sleep through it.Charlie Worthing has just volunteered to join the brave (or, perhaps more accurately, insane) members of the Winter Consul Service, the select group of people who don't hibernate through winter in order to keep the sleepers safe until they wake up in the spring. The sleepers, at least the rich and well-connected ones, are aided by a drug called Morphenox, which sometimes has the unfortunate side effect of turning the sleeper into a nightwalker, which is more or less a zombie that can perform menial tasks (or, in one notable case, play Tom Jones songs on the bouzouki). Constantly warned of the high likelihood of his death by his fellow Winterers, Charlie must quickly learn to navigate the various dangers that come with his new job, such as the probably mythical Wintervolk, like the Gronk, which often leaves victims with strains of Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes running through their heads; roaming groups of faded English aristocrats bent on villainy and kidnapping; strange co-workers he isn't sure he can trust; and a "viral dream" about a blue Buick. Charlie's journey through the especially isolated and dangerous area called Sector Twelve, where there's "always something weird going on," is so absorbing, and Fforde's wit so sharp, the reveal that the narrative is also a commentary on capitalism comes across as a brilliant twist. Fforde writes in the acknowledgments that he hopes to return to a quicker publishing schedule, but this wonderful tale was well worth the wait.Whip-smart, tremendous fun, and an utter delight from start to finish. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
He worked for many years in the film industry as a camera technician. He was raised in England, he lives & works in Wales.(Publisher Provided)
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