Rating: 
Summary: Freaky--and Absolutely Unforgettable
Review: This has to be one of the weirdest, freakyest, most oddball books I've ever read, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book more. Unlike other reviewers, I found the book easy enough to get into, once you completely suspend your disbelief. There were enough quirks thrown in to keep me on my toes (like an agent who hunts vampires, or a temporal distortion solved by a basketball). The literary references were fantastic, and the names were both hilarious and unforgettable (from agent Braxton Hicks to Goliath's Jack Schitt). The ending did not feel contrived, although, having read "Jane Eyre" in the past month, I knew basically what was going to happen. Some of that is unavoidable when referring to such a well known work, but the way he wrapped up the "Who Wrote Shakespeare" question and Next's love life were completely unexpected.Fforde is extremely clever, but I appreciated it, rather than feeling he was too clever for his own good. You almost have to read the book more than once to appreciate all the little references, and sometimes a re-read of a chapter or paragraph clarifies some points (like the fact that there was no 38-year temporal distortion as is referred to by "A Reader," although it did take a quick re-read of the paragraph for me to catch that). I think this is a product of having so many threads in the book, rather than a failing on Fforde's part, and I am in total agreement with another reviewer--to take away one word would be a sad act indeed. Overall, it is completely weird and freaky, but not perverted. I was impressed at how Fforde kept it clever, but not sick, and I am definitely buying the next two in the series. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't Finish It
Review: I was excited to read this book. It sounded imaginative, fun and different; especially when somebody compared this to the works of the late Douglas Adams. Instead, it was just boring. I read about half this book and it just did not grab me. No, I'm sorry, not at all. I've since decided to move on to something different.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow, predictable, and too clever for its own good.
Review: I stumbled upon "Well of Lost Plots" at a bookstore, and it looked intriguing. I wanted to read the series from the beginning, so I waited (and waited) for "The Eyre Affair" at the library. I was expecting something witty, intelligent, and fun. I found it shallow, predictable, and too clever for its own good. First, a confession-- I'm not a fan of mysteries. That said, I love Edna Buchanan's Britt Montero and Peter Hoeg's Smilla Jasperson not because of their cases (I read "Smilla's Sense of Snow" 3 times, and I still had to watch the movie to figure out who the killer was), but because they're complex and interesting. Thursday Next is predictable, dull, and very one-dimensional. Fforde explains her family, losses (romantic and otherwise), and traumas, but doesn't do a single thing to make the reader care about them. The book has caricatures, not characters. Thursday is a The Tortured Detective Who Lives For Her Job. She's also Almost 40, Single, and Lonely. Her family consists of Bratty Brother Who Became An Upstanding Citizen, Brother Who Died Tragically, Bitter Mother, Father With A Mysterious Job, Shrewish Aunt, and Brilliant Uncle Whose Invention Imperils His Loved Ones. She's injured while fighting Pure Evil and His Minions. On assignment in The Hometown She Tried Desperately To Escape, she gets a Quirky But Valuable Partner. In a pub, she encounters The Ex She Still Has Feelings For. And so on. Even though I *hated* "Jane Eyre", I loved the literary references. Anyone who paid attention in British Literature (or any high-school Lit class) will get them. I found the self-aware "Jane Eyre" characters interesting. And I liked the idea of a society that values literature over all else. But the book seemed too self-conscious. When I encountered some things (like the character Jack Schitt), I could see Fforde saying "Ha! I'm so clever!" It's as if being clever overrode all attempts at character development. Cleverness is fine, but it only goes so far. The book also has some puzzling plot holes. She spends 38 years in a temporal anomaly, yet she doesn't age? Nobody outside aged either? In short, this book was a massive disappointment. I might read "Jane Eyre" again, but I'll leave Thursday Next alone.
Rating:
Summary: My recommendation of the year
Review: I found this book to be absolute joy to read. Not only was I amused at each off-hand reference to those books I had to read in high school English, I found myself inspired to pick some of those books up for a second (or third) read and found as much joy from those. I look forward with anticipation to each new Thursday Next book as great entertainment for the well-read. And for amusement on a slow day in the office, check out Jasper Fforde's website!
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait until Next Thursday
Review: What a fun read! I felt like this is what reading is all about. Good literature mixed in with sheer fun. Thursday is your typical mystery heroine, but one with a conscience and a penchant for shooting from the hip - literally. The characters from all the great novels make great guest appearances. The characters that Thursday works with are a wonderful eclectic bunch. What great imagination! A quick read to boot!
Rating:
Summary: Clever concept veiled in an average debut novel
Review: Jasper Fforde's EYRE AFFAIR was a much-anticipated read on my very long list of books. By the time I had decided to pick up a copy, my expectations were great to say the least. Having read it with some difficulties (which I will explain further), I can say without hesitation that it is an overhyped debut. While the concept is clever and original, the novel suffers from several deficiencies, for lack of a better word: * It is simply too long--the author spends many pages boring the reader with extraneous details that do not propel the story or this reader's interest. I was some 60 pages into it when the story's pace quickened, only to have it fall flat at about page 150! * I'm not a Jane Eyre scholar, so the author will forgive me for not remember my high school English classes where we read the original novel. Since some 20 years have passed, I have only a vague memory of the characters to which Mr. Fforde makes frequent and very specific references. I didn't pick up Eyre Affair, only to think "Gosh, I should go read Jane Eyre again, then I won't feel lost in this book!" * The ending was contrived, protracted and rather insipid. Like a souffle this novel collapsed the last 30-odd pages. It was quite a struggle to finish it. For lack of anything better to say, I shall leave the reader of this review with one final word of advice: SAVE YOUR MONEY!
Rating: 
Summary: Eyre Be Well
Review: This novel is a fun romp through an alternate reality that is topsy turvy in some unexpected ways. Thursday Next is a heroine that exhibits some of the independence and quirkiness of Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, even if she doesn't degenerate to violence quite as quickly. The premise lays the groundwork for leaps into great works on literature across the ages. This is a great book for summer. Find a nice shady spot and spend a few hours getting away from it all.
Rating:
Summary: Brit-Lits and Bibliophiles, this is a must-read!
Review: Finally, a fantasy novel where the world described is actually a literal fantasy of mine! A world where novels have replaced sports, movies, and television as the most popular form of entertainment: where proselytizers knock on your door and ask if you've found Sir Francis Bacon, schoolchildren trade Austen and Bronte playing cards, and "Richard III" is staged weekly as an audience-participation cult favorite a la "Rocky Horror". I LOVE this world, and all its quirks: 1980s England, in the midst of a 131-year war with Russia, where time-travel, vampirism, and jumping in and out of books are all commonplace. Thursday Next is the name of the reluctant heroine of this book, dragged into a first-class mess when it's discovered that she once rebuffed the future villain Acheron Hades in college. After he's turned to a life of crime, *no one* can resist Hades (who has several other supernatural powers), so when it's suspected he's stolen a first edition Dickens manuscript with the intent of causing harm to its characters, Thursday is brought in to help stop him. A host of secondary characters make appearances, from Thursday's mad-scientist Uncle Mycroft, to the wickedly delightful Acheron Hades, to the helpful and mysterious Edward Rochester from the eponymous book (also in peril) himself. The witty use of names and puns is always lighthearted, rarely dragging (as similar Douglas Adams jokes tend to be) and they never obscure the main plot. The in-jokes are numerous, but if you haven't read the books they're based on you won't really miss anything. If you love literature, you MUST read this book - at the very least to escape to a world where everyone shares your passion.
Rating:
Summary: Eccentric and whimsical, but I loved it :)
Review: In order to save your time and money, if you don't like books that require you to suspend your disbelief, don't buy this book. On the other hand, even if you are one of those who generally don't enjoy books that require the reader to use his imagination, you can enormously enjoy this book. So I guess it all comes down to whether or not you are willing to risk it... The plot is pretty strange. Fforde takes us to a surreal version of Great Britain, in the year 1985. We can recognize some aspects of his world, but not all of them. For example, in the author's world, technology is much more advanced (it is acceptable to clone extinguished animals and to have them as pets), the Crimean War didn't stop and everybody loves literature. It could be said that literature is for them what sports are to us: a national passion. Anyway, in that kind of world, that is already beginning to sound weird (but in a nice way), there is a Special Operations Network that was created in order to "handle policing duties considered either to unusual or too specialized to be tackled by the regular force". Most of the operatives are rather peculiar. There is a saying that explains that more clearly: "If you want to be a SpecOp, act kinda weird...". Miss Thursday Nexts is a Spec- Op 27 who loves literature and specializes in problems related to literature, like all Spec-ops 27. She is intelligent and capable, strong but also vulnerable, and she was a sense of humor I found delightful. Thursday is more or less bored with her job, due to the fact that she finds it too routinary. After all, how many book forges can you detect before getting bored?. However, something is going to happen that is going to change her ordinary tasks. Someone discovers a way to "jump" into books, and as a result a criminal mastermind has a strange idea: he devices a way to kidnap a character of one of the most beloved books. From that point onwards, the reader will accompany agent Next in her bizarre investigation. I can guarantee something: you won't be bored. The plot has a high degree of unpredictability, and some characters are not only atypical but also mystifying. As a result, "The Eyre Affair" has a dreamlike quality I consider enchanting and very appealing. You might be puzzled sometimes, but you will relish that feeling. I would like to highlight the fact that the author makes lots of literary allusions, but that is only to be expected, due to the fact that in Thursday's world literature is extremely important. An small example?: so many people change their names in order to have the name of a famous author, that they need to be also identified with numbers, to avoid confusions. From my point of view, the constant evident or implied references to literature (books and characters) was charming. I probably didn't catch all the allusions, but I caught enough of them in order to be interested and pleased. I don't think you need to be an "expert" in order to enjoy this book. Even if you don't have a high degree of knowledge regarding literature, you are bound to appreciate it... And who knows, you might end up learning a bit, as I did. Fforde style is eccentric and whimsical, but I loved it. This book was certainly something different, that made me think several times, and laugh a lot. I will continue reading the series, because I value a good book that is original, and Fforde is decidedly capable of writing them. On balance, I highly recommend this book to you. Enjoy it as much as I did !. Belen Alcat
Rating:
Summary: Very fun book, but not his best...
Review: Well, I did it again. I didn't get into "Star Trek" until "Star Trek III". The first Star Wars movie I saw was "Return of the Jedi", followed by "Empire Strikes Back". I read "Life, the Universe, and Everything" first in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy (of what, 5 books now?) I picked up "Lost in a Good Book" at the recommendation of a friend, even though I was unable to get "The Eyre Affair" at the same bookstore (it was showing in the database, but not on the shelves... oddly appropriate for the series). What this reinforced was the following: A) "Lost in a Good Book" was an _excellent_ novel.
B) "The Eyre Affair" is merely a very good one. It seems that Jasper wasn't quite sure of the writing style he wanted to use in "The Eyre Affair", and while he doesn't do it often, there are switches to 3rd person viewpoints involving people not near the usual 1st person protagonist. These are somewhat jarring as I prefer a book to stay in the same voice throughout. The overall tone is a bit more serious also than his second book, and I found I much preferred the breezier style in "Lost in a Good Book". Nevertheless, "The Eyre Affair" is a wonderfully fresh and unique style that isn't categorized easily. Alternate history, time travel, detective thriller, humor, romance elements, horror, are all present. The fun part of it all is that even someone who hasn't read the books/poetry referred to in the story can still somehow understand what the 'inside jokes' might be (warning, spoiler in the next part): *SPOILER*
For instance, Thursday Next changes the ending of Jane Eyre by her actions within the book itself. Well... she changes it in _her_ world, with camps falling into "The change was for the better" or those who despise her because of it. In actuality, she changes it to match with our reality. Yet, even never having read Jane Eyre, I somehow got the impression that that's what happened.
*END SPOILER* Simply put, in spite of some growing pains for the series, this is still a quite fun novel which can be enjoyed on a variety of levels.
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