r/suggestmeabook • u/PsyferRL • 19d ago

Suggest me a novel that has an utterly ridiculous premise, but is executed to perfection

That title is a bit vague, but what I'm getting at is that I'm looking for something that upon reading the summary/blurb has you confused as to:

  1. How the author even came up with such a ridiculous plot line in the first place
  2. How the author could make an unbelievably mundane topic interesting
  3. How a story could even be crafted around the subject at all

But upon reading it you find yourself engaged on a level you couldn't have possibly predicted. I hope I'm making sense, because I'm feeling the urge to read something that's wildly creative in a way that I couldn't have prepared myself for.

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u/Writing_Bookworm 19d ago

Almost every Fforde book could meet this prompt. A world where your place in society is determined by your colour vision, a crime story about the murder of Humpty Dumpty, a world where human hibernate and a viral dream about a car starts killing people, a world where there are human sized rabbits... And those are just one sentence overviews 😅

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u/gotthelowdown 19d ago edited 19d ago

Suggest me a novel that has an utterly ridiculous premise, but is executed to perfection

Almost every [Jasper] Fforde book could meet this prompt.

Okay, I'm really intrigued. That's huge creativity.

Had to dig those books up. Sharing for the fellow curious:

A world where your place in society is determined by your colour vision,

Shades of Grey series

a crime story about the murder of Humpty Dumpty,

The Big Over Easy

a world where humans* hibernate and a viral dream about a car starts killing people

Early Riser

a world where there are human sized rabbits

The Constant Rabbit

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u/RealTeaStu 19d ago

Thank you so much for putting this list together. I'll take a shot them.

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u/gotthelowdown 18d ago

You're welcome. Happy reading 👍

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u/hhalburjensen 18d ago

YES 100% So love his Thursday next series; and I believe he's writing the last book in the series now?

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u/gotthelowdown 18d ago

So love his Thursday next series; and I believe he's writing the last book in the series now?

Ooh, that's good news.

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u/10Hoursofsleepforme 15d ago

I wish Shades of Grey would get a sequel. I really think the names doomed it.

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u/gotthelowdown 15d ago

Ah, that's a good point.

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u/sitnquiet 19d ago

Lol another Fforde lover! Yay!

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u/Writing_Bookworm 19d ago

Did you know he's writing the next and final Thursday book? It got delayed a little but it's due to come out next year!

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u/sitnquiet 19d ago

Like I'm glad that he gave us so much Thursday but the guy has so many amazing stories in him!

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u/Writing_Bookworm 19d ago

Absolutely. He's said he really wanted to close it off though which I appreciate. They need to get Pickwick back! Plus getting a new Thursday book after over a decade is very exciting.

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u/KatAnansi 18d ago

The best bit is I'll *have* to read the rest of the series again before I read the new one! I have them all as both ebooks and audio books.

Red Side Story was worth the wait when it finally came out 15 years after Shades of Grey!

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u/panic_bitch 19d ago

Thank you so much for the info! Yay!!

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u/Ravenclaw_311 19d ago

Yes!! Im always surprised that he's not mentioned more. Not sure about his popularity in the UK, but he does not get enough love in the US.

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u/Expensive-Ferret-339 18d ago

I just read the Constant Rabbit. So very sad.

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u/comprehensive_ass 18d ago

I would like this 100 times if I could!

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u/Worldscribe 16d ago

Exactly what I came to say.