The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Title: The Eyre affair : a novel

Author: Jasper Fforde

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: Master criminal Archeron Hades has stolen the original copy of Jane Eyre and recklessly endangers the outcome of Mr. Rodchester and Jane. SpecOp Thursday Next is determined to get him out of the novel with minimal damage.

The Take-Away: Yep, you read that right, Mycroft Next, Thursday's genius uncle (named after Sherlock Holmes' brother,) has created a Prose Portal that allows readers to enter a book. Depending upon which manuscript version they enter, the damage could extend to every known copy or limited to the version in your hand.

The book was filled with obscure references that are somewhat helpfully explained on the Thursday Next site; however, it's unbearably large and a browser could waste several hours in there (fair warning.) I found Jon Brierly's Guide helpful, to make sure that I got most of the jokes. It's very understandable without it, but some of the humor is quite subtle, especially for those without a British background. The best place to start is the Index.

My favorite character is Thursday's father, who's name I don't recall, nor can I find it on the website. Perhaps Thursday only refers to him as "Dad." Anywho, he's a member of the ChronoGuard. Or they are always looking for him, at any rate. He's a rather mysterious figure for whom the normal rules of time do not apply. I quite liked him.

Recommendation: A good first in the series. I've been told that the second title is even better.

Bonus Review: Word Nerd

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