The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (5/5 stars)

This is the first book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. This was a great book; it's wildly creative and very interesting to read with excellent characters.

Thursday Next is a Literatec; in a world where literature is more important than ever. She comes to the rescue when books are illegally copied or original copies are stolen. Literature is king in a world where Shakespeare vending machines are on every street corner. The world gets a bit more complicated when you consider that Time Travel is also possible. Thursday's father is a rebel ChronoGuard. The ChronoGuard helps to keep time right. One funny part in the book is where one of the Guard is talking about how he is 28 years old, has clocked 190 years of work hours, and has a wife in her 80's; he thought the benefits of the job would make up for all of that. Despite all the efforts of the Special Operatives (LiteraTec and ChronoGuard alike) their nemesis Acheron Hades has found a way to kidnap characters out of literature; making books change forever and stories cease to exist...it is Thursday's job to stop Hades.

There are a number of great characters in this book; all of them have great dimension and creative personalities. The world itself is wildly creative and takes a little bit getting used to at first; but once it gets going it is an amazing place to read about. The book is action packed, dryly comical, and very creative. It is the first book I have read the incorporates a military state, time travel, fantasy-bleeding into reality, mystery, action, high-brow literary discussion, werewolves, and vampires all into one book. If it sounds a bit packed, it is. This is a dense book and you need to keep your wits about you while you read it. While Thursday may not be the most charismatic character ever, you will find yourself loving her by the end anyway.

I am so glad I picked up this book. I just loved it. I love it when I get to read a book that is really different and stands out on it's own. I look forward to the rest of this series.