Jasper Fforde returns with new 'rich, dark' novel

Hodder’s Jasper Fforde has returned with a new novel, Early Riser, which sees 99.9% of the human population go into hibernation every winter.

The new book, set in Wales, has taken longer than any of his previous novels to write and, after four and a half years in the works, it will publish in August. Its main character is Charlie Worthing, a novice to an inafamous Winter Consul, Jack Logan, part of the elite group who protect the population for five months a year while they sleep.

The blurb reads: "Logan has warned his new recruit about the horrors of Winter, but nothing can prepare Charlie for investigating a viral dream in Sector Twelve, a remote region in the middle of Wales. They say there are no heroes in Winter, and Charlie is about to find out why."

Hodder bought British and Commonwealth rights from Will Francis at Janklow Nesbit.

Fforde' 2001 debut, The Eyre Affair, followed  20 years in the film industry. Since then he has written a further 12 novels. According to Hodder, his books mixing comedy, SFF, thriller, crime and satire have sold over 1.6m copies. 

Fforde said: “Early Riser turned out more complex than I imagined and quite dark - it’s winter after all - but it's weird, it’s rich, it’s set in Wales - and there are monsters, both real and imagined. Plus Carmen Miranda, stamp collecting, a painting of Clytemnestra and Tunnock’s tea-cakes. How much more interesting could life get? For Charlie Worthing, my protagonist - very interesting indeed, and not always in the good way.”

Carolyn Mays, m.d. of Hodder & Stoughton, said: “Jasper’s imagination, creativity and humour is unique, and I am absolutely thrilled that the new novel is publishing this summer to show his talents to such brilliant effect.  I can’t wait for readers to discover the world of Early Riser”.