Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: "...officers Hurdyew, Tolkien and Lissning heard you talking and listening..."(page 277 in the paperback edition) Okay, maybe all the puns, word-plays, and literary allusions are so blatant, but this book is literally full of them. Not to mention the names, which include Harris Tweed (a member of Jurisfiction, a police-type agency inside books), Spike Stoker (a vampire killer), and Cordelia Flakk (an overbearingly loud and flashy PR agent). That should give you some idea of the overall tone of the book - fun, quick, light, and unbelieveably SMART. Fforde writes with a great wit, keeping the reader intrigued, laughing, and on the edge of his or her seat. It's not often that you find a book that accomplishes this: usually all books that are amazingly fun to read are, well, slightly lacking in the intellectual areas. However, this book has it all - along with mystery, a little bit of romance, and some serious book-jumping.
Rating: 
Summary: Thursday Next: The Next Adventure
Review: Thursday Next is back, and she has more problems, when the first time around. Not least among them are the fact that her husband was eradicated (not killed, just the nearly fatal accident he had at the age of two was made COMPLETELY fatal) and the end of the world, which is imminent in a matter of days.
This sequel to "The Eyre Affair" has all the fun of the original novel and even more characters from literature, including Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations" and Cheshire Cat. There is also a visit to Kafka's "The Trial" and many otther, not so obviouse, references and puns.
Those who loved the original novel will be immensely pleased by this one. The characters are two-dimensional, but it's deliberate here, so can't be considered a drawback. And also, does it really matter if the characters are two-dimensional, if we have so much fun with them?
The plot is solid (if yo accept jumping in and out of books, genetically ingeneered dodos and charecters from Jane Austin asking for AA batteries), but is a bit below the high plank of the first one. That's due to two things:
1) the lack of novelty, due to the fact that mostly the novel develops the ideas introduced in the first one;
2) there is no great opponent on par with Asheron Hades here. Still, this is one of the rare breed of books - humor written for people, who like to read. And it's written by a person who shares our love for books. If i could jump into any book, I guess a Thursday Next adventure will be my first choice.
Rating:
Summary: Thursday Next Returns
Review: Reading a book that makes you laugh and think at the same time is an odd situation, but this book, like the first in its series, is that type of work. The author has included so many literary people, places and hints that you really have to be "up" on literature to get everything that's thrown at you. Of course, you don't have to be that erudite to enjoy the puns and the play on names that are encountered. There's a Mr. Schitt-Hawse therein, but also expendible characters known variously as Phodder, Kannon, Walken and Dedman. That's only the "tip of the iceberg", as they say. We also get very well acquainted with Miss Havisham, the Cheshire Cat, and the Red Queen, not to mention King Pellinore and the Questing Beast. A little aside about Shelley caused gales (sorry about the pun) of laughter from me. This series is quite something, and I look forward very much to following Thursday's many future (or past?) adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Find Your Way to Thursday Next
Review: Lost in a Good Book is just that--a good book--a fun, lighthearted read that thankfully never takes itself too seriously. Jasper Fforde has again provided us with an engaging tale, narrated by Thursday Next, a SpecialOps literary detective who inhabits a parallel universe where time travel is prevalent and literature has great value. Thursday's problem this time is that her husband has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. As Thursday tries to rescue him, she finds help along the way with Great Expectation's Miss Havisham. They jump from book to book, even to a care label, to rescue her beloved. This book is just fun to read, never serious, always tongue-in-cheek. My favorite character is her time-travelling father, who pops in to see her occasionally, always with a little gem for the reader. At one point, he asks her if she has heard of Winston Churchill yet. When she says no, he time travels away with more work to do. This one is great fun. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Scintillating
Review: Thursday Next has become a fifteen minute legend for stopping the multinational Goliath Corporation from extending the Crimean War in order to sell weapons (see The Eyre Affair). However, fame proves nasty for Thursday especially following her Monday appearance on the Lush show. However, Thursday has more pressing matters than making TV appearances (considered heresy for a literary type) because her archenemy Goliath has deleted her beloved Landon. To reconstitute Landon, Thursday must first enter the taboo Poe pages of the Raven. Feeling initially hopeless, Thursday receives Great Expectations when Miss Havisham takes her under her wings. Thursday next starts a book-hopping journey as an obtruding character with more than just Landon at stake. She struggles LOST IN A GOOD BOOK with the world in grave danger. Fans of classic literature will either love or hate Jasper Fforde's latest literary jabbing. The story line is satirical at its most humorous best as Mr. Fforde leads the laughs at what is a masterpiece and how society shreds and re-shreds every line looking for generation nuances to reinterpret. From the Bard to Kafka to Poe, no work is safe from the amusing interloping of Jasper Fforde, who makes his cast especially Thursday fit quite comfortably inside some of the masterpieces. Readers wanting something different or a chance to strike back at that English teacher who nuked literature will say evermore lost in this great book. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: I HATE the Landen character
Review: Okay, first off, let me compliment Mr. Fforde in writing entertaining books. I first started reading this type of sci-fi fiction with the incredible Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and To Say Nothing About the Dog by the same, and found Mr. Fforde to be just as skilled and extremely weird. It's fun to read, but I loathe, loathe, loathe the Landen character. SPOILER!
Please, lord, don't make me get one of Uncle Mycroft's devices and travel back to the first book and prevent them from successfully meeting up at the bar. She forgave him far too easily and I really can't stand his character.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Escape
Review: Anyone who loved the first one, will definitely enjoy this one. The book is fun. A great escape from the real world. The book won't change your life, but is a wild ride through an amazing imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding followup. When's the next one getting here?
Review: I absolutely devoured this book. Within three days of receiving it from the Sci-Fi Book Club, I was done, licking my chops and waiting for the Well of Lost Plots to arrive. If you didn't like the first book, my advice is don't waste your time and money with this one. The jokes are similar, the attitude toward literature is the same, the characters (and most of the characterization) are the same. This is an easy world to get lost in. I've found myself wondering, as I read other books, about what the characters would do if they were in our world, or how they would interact with other fictional characters. The idea of Jurisfiction is brilliant, and there is no limit to the adventures that are available in this universe. Add to that the potential plot lines with the ChronoGuard .... No plotline givaways here (you can read the other reviews for that). Just a few comments:
I LOVED the names of the expendable SO-15 agents. Slorter and Lamb were my favorites.
Ascheron's sister seems to be unbeatable. Should make for great drama later on.
I HOPE Thursday gets better at jumping from book to book -- although she SHOULD get a medal or something for jumping solo into Poe. Through it all, Fforde displays the same wit that made me love The Eyre Affair. I'm ready for the next one. I just wish there was a contest that fans in the States could get in on! By the time I got my book and looked at the crossword puzzle on the back, the contest was over!
Rating:
Summary: A Book that Knows No Boundaries
Review: Filled with action and concepts that make the mind go wild. Fforde creates not one world but many that inticately tie into each other. Time travel, Vampires, Armageddon, Secret Agents, Big Brother Type Organizations, and jumping in and out of books all take place in "Lost In A Good Book". Fforde's powerful usage of wordplay keeps readers entertained and wanting more. I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Monty Python meets the literary world
Review: Oh my. Not only does Thursday have her more normal difficulties--vampires, time interruptions, dodo care, and the aftermath of changing the ending to Jane Eyre--but now she's apprenticed to Miss Havisham in the Jurisfiction department. She's having to learn book jumping for a reason that I won't divulge, but I will say it has to do with Jack Schitt and is extremely important. Add book jumping apprenticeship to talk show appearances, entropy and an abnormal amount of coincidences, a new Shakespeare discovery, unhappy Neanderthals and her day job at SpecOps. Fforde reminds me of literary minded Douglas Adams--he can throw so many different, bizarre, amusing situations into a pot, give it a good stir and ladle out a hilarious novel that doesn't stop. (I can't wait to see how he handles the next Next novel. I hope he can keep up the pace!) If you like literary jokes, lots of silly puns, impossible realities and alternate universes, all in a plot that Monty Python would be proud of, start with The Eyre Affair and then grab this one. You'll be wanting a dodo too!
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