In a world where literature is so valued that Richard III is memorized and enjoyed like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, war-veteran Thursday Next is part of Special Ops to keep literary crime down. Her uncle creates a machine that allows people to slip in... and out... of manuscripts, and when villain Acheron Hades kidnaps Jane Eyre, Thursday tries to stop further damage. Why have I never read Fforde before? Aside from some awkward moments when tough Thursday turns girly, it's brilliant and very enjoyable. A well-crafted world and a great adventure. ( )

This is a whimsical and funny story set in an alternate version of England where there exists an entire branch of special ops just for detecting and thwarting literary based crimes. Thursday Next is smart, funny, and compelling as the lead character and 'Literatec' who must stop the evil villain before he can ruin some of the great classics (including Jayne Eyre) by traveling into the books to commit unspeakable crimes. This book is a really great read, especially if you're a fan of the classics! ( )

I love books, and while i tend to stick to fantasy for the most part i have read a pretty wide variety. As with many literaphiles (?) i have always tended to treat fictional characters like real people and wondered what they are doing after the book is over. Jasper Fforde takes that curiosity and turns it nicely upside-down. It gives you the sense of being part of the world of books and brings to life characters in a way you never would have thought of. I enjoyed it immensely, and have enjoyed every Thursday Next novel i have gotten my hands on.

This is the first book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. This was a great book; it's wildly creative and very interesting to read with excellent characters.

Thursday Next is a Literatec; in a world where literature is more important than ever. She comes to the rescue when books are illegally copied or original copies are stolen. Literature is king in a world where Shakespeare vending machines are on every street corner. The world gets a bit more complicated when you consider that Time Travel is also possible. Thursday's father is a rebel ChronoGuard. The ChronoGuard helps to keep time right. One funny part in the book is where one of the Guard is talking about how he is 28 years old, has clocked 190 years of work hours, and has a wife in her 80's; he thought the benefits of the job would make up for all of that. Despite all the efforts of the Special Operatives (LiteraTec and ChronoGuard alike) their nemesis Acheron Hades has found a way to kidnap characters out of literature; making books change forever and stories cease to exist...it is Thursday's job to stop Hades.

There are a number of great characters in this book; all of them have great dimension and creative personalities. The world itself is wildly creative and takes a little bit getting used to at first; but once it gets going it is an amazing place to read about. The book is action packed, dryly comical, and very creative. It is the first book I have read the incorporates a military state, time travel, fantasy-bleeding into reality, mystery, action, high-brow literary discussion, werewolves, and vampires all into one book. If it sounds a bit packed, it is. This is a dense book and you need to keep your wits about you while you read it. While Thursday may not be the most charismatic character ever, you will find yourself loving her by the end anyway.

I am so glad I picked up this book. I just loved it. I love it when I get to read a book that is really different and stands out on it's own. I look forward to the rest of this series. ( )

The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde, is a unique combination of two genres: metafiction and police procedural.

In this novel, the villain is taking popular literary characters hostage and demanding ransom. Thursday Next, an investigator for a special branch of the force that investigates literary crimes, is tasked with rescuing the characters and bringing the captor to justice.

The novel is fairly typical of the police procedural genre and includes some decent chase scenes and gun play. What makes this story really interesting is the inclusion of so many classic literary works and their importance in the story. Just some of the works that play a role include:

Dicken’s Martin Chuzzlewit
Bronte’s Jane Eyre
Wadsworth’s poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
Shakespeare’s Richard III
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
and the works of Dylan Thomas and Edgar Allan Poe

Also interesting is the setting of the novel. It appears to be an alternative history to our world where place names are similar, but history is out of alignment. England is in the middle of a 131 year war with Russia and its Czar. There is also an element of steam punk in the writing as the major mode of distance transportation is dirigible instead of plane. The invention that is center to the story also evokes images of “Vernian” creations.

Keeping with the literary theme, there is an underlying discussion of who actually wrote Shakespeare’s plays. The debate is political in this story instead of scholarly. The Baconians are a para-military group and actively lobby their position.

I really enjoyed this book. The “inside jokes” and literary references weren’t too obscure to be caught by most. Some were very obvious, like a character named Paige Turner. Most valuable was the exposure to some new literary works. I’ve added a few of the referenced to my reading list for the year. ( )