Recently (when not knitting Jayne hats like crazy) I’ve been sucked into a new book series. They’re called the “Thursday Next” series by Jasper Fforde. The first three were loaned to me by my friend, Jessica, and I was hooked from the start of the first one, “The Eyre Affair”. The books fall cleanly into the mystery genre but with a twist.

The main character is a woman named Thursday Next who works as a Literary Detective. The world is an alternate version of the mid 1980’s where cloning extinct species is normal, ducks don’t exist, time travel is quite real and books are a source of extreme joy and crime. Imagine a world where so many folks want to change their name to their favorite author that they end up having to be numbered. (Like Edgar Allen Poe 897) Imagine a world where fictional characters can jump out of their books for a short time and into the real world. Imagine a world where you might find yourself part of a special literary police force that trains you to jump in and out of books to keep the plots on track and arrest those who try to disrupt the narrative flow.

Sound interesting?

It sounds like my kind of world. As a bookworm myself, this series highlights so many things that I’ve dreamed of being able to do.

I’m currently on the third book in the first series, “The Well of Lost Plots” and I’m already looking forward to the fourth book. After that there is a second series that already has a first novel with a second one in the works. It looks like this is another series I’ll have to start collecting!

If you’ve never read them, go ahead and snag the first book “The Eyre Affair”. You don’t have to be well versed in other literature to enjoy these novels (though it adds a fun dimension to the reading). Once you’re done with it, drop me a line and let me know what you thought!