MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Thursday Next: First Among Sequels (2007)
Jasper Fforde
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As Vijay Fafat points out, the eponymous heroine of this series of humorous, fantasy mysteries has a daughter who is a math prodigy. Among other things, in this novel she finds a counter-example to Fermat's Last Theorem, concludes that there are 17 more odd numbers than even, and that there is a largest number. The clever 9 year old seems at first worried that people are angry at her (she was not supposed to find a solution satisfying the statement of Fermat's Last Theorem -- the teacher had only put it on the board to explain that there was no solution), and then a bit annoyed at the mathematicians who come to seek insight from the young genius ("They're all a bit slow...some of them can barely count.")

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Thursday Next: First Among Sequels
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. After Math by Miriam Webster
  2. Schaurige Mathematik by Alexander Mehlmann
  3. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
  4. An Angel of Obedience by John Giessmann
  5. Numberland by George Weinberg
  6. The Better Mousetrap by Tom Holt
  7. Barking by Tom Holt
  8. Monster's Proof by Richard Lewis
  9. The Translated Man by Chris Braak
  10. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Ratings for Thursday Next: First Among Sequels:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
1/5 (1 votes)
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Literary Quality:
3/5 (1 votes)
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Categories:
GenreMystery, Humorous, Fantasy,
MotifProdigies,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
MediumNovels,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)