My thanks once again to Ben Tymens and the rest of the forum for putting together the following explanatory notes for Something Rotten. I have appended a few notes of my own, where appropriate or to clear up burning questions that had, until now, no answer. Updated: 5th Jan This being the fourth book in the series, many of the references will have appeared before in other guides, so if a character name isn't explained it may be as well to search one of the previous guides for example this one does not explain the relevance of Lydia Startright And won't - Jasper.
As ever, this guide has been written to try and avoid revealing any of the plot, but I cannot guarantee there aren't any spoilers within it. Page numbers are those for the cheaper UK hardback, as that's what I could afford. If you need to find a reference, chapter numbers are included, and you can always hit ctrl-f to find a given word. Finally it remains only for me to say that feedback and corrections are always welcome, if not listened to a major rewrite of the information below will only be considered if enough errors are sent to psd at terrascope.
However, without further nonsense, I present Something Rotten: Decomposed Preliminary nuggets: There are a couple of references that escape the general confines of the book itself, if you know what I mean. The first is the title, and if you don't recognise it from Hamlet Act One, Scene IV, then I suggest you go away and mug up on Hamlet before you even start reading the rest of the book. I believe that the Mel Gibson version comes highly recommended as a primer. Incidentally, does anybody else spend sleepless nights wondering what Ned Kelly's Hamlet would have been like?
I digress Another reference worth drawing your attention to is the Kaine Publishing Stamp, certifying the book as having an energy content of btu. This was actually worked out by one of Mr Fforde's fans using data collected from a government paper on future methods of generating electricity and the known weight of an American hardback copy of LIAGB. Be afraid. Be very afraid This obviously varies throughout the world, in Britain the lack of plumbers anywhere south of Birmingham means that more energy is required for the same amount of heating or at least until someone figures out how to make a turbine small enough to harness the steam coming out of your ears when they give you a quote.
However, I haven't actually read it, so I'm willing to be corrected Anyone wishing to provide a better synopsis can feel free, but for now the best information I can give you is that it has a raven in it that apparently inspired Poe - another neat Nextian link.
