Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: The reviews I read, the book's description, was intriguing but, I just didn't know if I'd like this. So I picked it up, "The Eyre Affair", and WOW what a great tale! What a really different approach but what an entertaining read! I couldn't put it down. Jasper Fforde has put the fun back into reading and does it with style. If you like mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, or fiction of any kind you'll love the Thursday Next series. If you've read Jane Eyre, you may think that Mr. Fforde has some things wrong at first but patience dear reader, it all becomes clear near the end. I could tell you what the story is about much like my fellow reviewers but truth be known, you won't really appreciate how good it really is til you've read it yourself. I like the description on the book's cover, "Harry Potter for Adults" It is very much like Harry Potter but then not. You could make many comparisons here, but never get it quite right. Fforde has blazed a new tale, and deserves the credit for his discovery of a new fictional territory.
Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction/Fantasy Literary Satire and Love Story
Review: Thursday Next has been working on Shakespeare-related literary crimes in London as a Special Operative when she's summoned into a special assignment with a highly classified outfit. It all relates to a run-in she had with a professor while in college. The assignment leaves her literally flat on her back, and after recuperating she's off to return to her hometown to face her past and her future. She's been trying to escape from both since her unit was decimated in a terrible lost skirmish in the Crimea during which her brother was lost, and her relations with the love of her life were terminated. While there, important manuscripts begin disappearing in unexplained ways and she finds herself in the middle of the investigations. Helped by unexpected interventions from outside this time and dimension, she makes steady progress towards protecting Dickens and Bronte from unpopular bowlderizations. Talk about crossing genres. Mr. Jasper Fforde literally wrote the book on this subject with The Eyre Affair. I became interested in this book after reading and being delighted by the brilliant third book in the series, The Well of Lost Plots. Although both books can be easily understood as stand-alone efforts, you will probably be more thrilled by The Well of Lost Plots if you sneak up on it by reading the other two books first. Ultimately, these books most appeal to those who love literature as readers . . . and for whom classic characters seem like old trusted friends. Those who like science fiction, fantasy, mysteries and adventure stories will be much less pleased. Those aspects are icing on the cake rather than the cake. To me, The Eyre Affair seems like a literary update and enhancement of Alice in Wonderland with Thursday Next as Alice. The Britain you will read about in this book differs substantially from the current one. Although the reason is never stated, I inferred that this one that has been influenced by time travelers to the detriment of Britain. The Crimean War has been going on since the 19th century between Britain and Imperial Russia. Wales is not part of Britain and is a people's republic that is not sympathetic to Britain. Literary debates are more important than political ones. Britain has succumbed to the military-industrial complex in ways that are usually ascribed to the U.S.A. Much technology is primitive (such as air travel by dirigibles) while other technology is very advanced (time travel, cloning of extinct animals as pets, and dimension shifting). Although the book obviously involves Jane Eyre, please realize that the connection is perhaps slighter than the title suggests. The overall themes of the book involve the classic struggles between the light forces of good and the dark forces of evil, against a backdrop of unrequited love. The satire is layered on with a heavy hand. The names give you a sense of this. One character is named Braxton Hicks . . . and he's just a little jumpy!! One of the villains has a name that will make you chuckle every time you read it. The overall effect is a lot like Voltaire's Candide and occasionally has an element of Rabelais. Regardless of any temporary drawbacks in the book to your preferences as a reader, the charming moments will easily carry you forward wondering what marvelous writing innovation next awaits you. Plan to read this one in one sitting. It's hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: great book, and don't worry about lit references
Review: Jasper Fforde has made it to my "favorite authors" list! These books are clever, fun, and well-paced, and don't worry about the british lit references - you don't have to get them all, and if you've had any exposure to world literature, you'll get at least some of them. Either way, you'll enjoy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Plock! Plock! Trust me, it makes sense...
Review: Okay, first off, before anything else, massive thank yous to a friend who made me pinky-swear with thumb-press to read this book next. Next, the main character (heh, I couldn't resist), is superb - she's a young woman working for a SpecOps in an England just to the left of our own version of reality. Her full name is Thursday Next (she was born on a Thursday), and her father works with the time-travelling branch of the SpecOps - or did, till he went rogue, and is now hopping about through time, changing things.
Thursday works with the Literature division, or LiteraTec, in crimes involving literature. Fforde's world is awash in literary love (a world I'd love to visit for that aspect alone), and yet, enter the villain: Archeron Hades. This fellow is bad, bullet-proof, has powers of suggestion, never casts a shadow (nor does he show up on videotape), and a host of other abilities. Also, he nabbed Thursday's uncle, who has built a device to hop in and out of books. When Hades kidnaps Jane Eyre, things get a bit dodgy, and it's up to our intrepid heroine to go deep under cover - or between the book covers, as it were, to sort things out.
Hilarious and fun, and chock-o-block with puns, amusing character names, and odd out-of-synch bits and pieces about the world Thursday lives in (though, I must admit, some of her father's antics make me wonder if he's trying to 'fix' the timestream back to what would be our world, more or less). Also, she has a pet dodo. I want one. They say, 'plock plock!'
You won't regret this one. Really. Read it next - pinky swear that you will. With thumb-press.
'Nathan
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: 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.
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