ISBN: 0-670-03064-3 Order from: Amazon.com
A fanciful, rich, and at times poignant litarary adevnture with science-fictional props, the novel has a likable heroine, but features cartoons for the other characters along with contrived if amusing plot.
Reviewed by David on February 14, 2004
Genre: Fantasy (Alternate Reality, Literary Quotations)
Synopsis: In an alternate universe where works of literature are widely revered, the Special Operations sections handle policing too ... strange for normal law enforcements. The secretive sections all specialize in narrow areas. SO-12 is the ChronoGuard, preventing anomalies due to time travel. SO-9 is antiterrorism. Thursday Next works in SO-27: Literary Detection. She investigates forgery of literary styles, among other things.
When a Dickens manuscript is stolen, Thursday's seconded to the secretive and deadly SO-5. They are hunting a deadly arch-villain, and they think he may have stolen the precious manuscript.
This starts a dangerous and breathtaking adventure through a twisted England, its sometimes too-real literature, time and old memories.
Full Review: From time travel to laser rifles, from alternate history to mad geniouses, this book uses and skillfully twists many science-fictional devices. It also mixes in plenty of humor, from low puns to weirdly apropos quotations. The world the author builds is both fantastic and familiar, from the Crimean War that lasts well over a century, to the vanishing dispensers of Shakespearean verse for a tuppence. It has joy and poignancy and a likable heroine, Thursday, that despite a low-key opinion of herself proves to be a very capable woman.
Unfortunately, this book also features plenty of flaws. Except for Thursday herself, all characters are all two-dimensional images from cartoons. The plot is twisted with invention—but complete lack of consistency—to support numerous puns and to allow references to leterature to be worked in. While skillful and amusing, this conceit is not strong enough to support a whole novel.
At the end, the reader is left with a smile for both the heroine and the lovely works so lovingly referenced and played with. Alas, beyond the smile, there is little to take away from the book, and little desire to read its sequel.
Overall: 5; Plot: 5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6; Originality: 7.5;
Copyright date 2001, Penguin Group (Viking), 2002, Cloth, 374 pages
ISBN: 0-670-03064-3 Order from: Amazon.com