The Woman Who Died a Lot is the seventh Thursday Next novel by Jasper Fforde. [Here are my reviews of the other books.]

Plot:
After an almost successful assassination attempt, Thursday is slowly recovering. Her body is still a wreck and she’s been in forced quasi-retirement for the last months. But that’s not the only thing that has changed: the time-engines have been shut down, leaving her son Friday feeling stranded and without a purpose – but instead with a dire prediction that he will shoot somebody. Meanwhile her daughter Tuesday is working hard to get the anti-smote shield working, which is a rather pressing issue as God has announced a smiting at the end of the week. And if that wasn’t enough, Aornis’ mindworm is still bothering Thursday and Thursday’s doppelgangers (crafted by Goliath) keep popping up all over the place.

The Woman Who Died a Lot is again absolutely fantastic. It’s a joyride, a whole damn lot of fun and the only real drawback it has, is that it’s way too short. But as there will be a next book, I can live with that.

Fforde really has his world down and he manages to make the consequences of his premises utterly convincing. Of course God would feel the need to make a stand after the church of the Global Standard Deity gains in power. Of course time travel couldn’t happen anymore, when it’s discovered that against all odds it was never invented in the first place. The logic might be warped, but it makes complete sense. And as usual, the book is just bursting with ideas that fit into this world perfectly.

I couldn’t really shake the feeling, though, that Fforde kind of cleared the slate to be able to take the next book in fresher directions. Which I didn’t mind at all. In fact, I was pretty happy to see the Aornis plotline finished – I don’t think I would have liked another book with her.

In any case, I was engaged in the story, I could barely stop reading and I just really can’t wait to read what happens next.

Summarising: I just love this entire series.