Lost in a Good Book

A Thursday Next Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Emily Gray

The second installment in Jasper Fforde’s New York Times best selling series follows literary detective Thursday Next on another adventure in her alternate reality of literature-obsessed England - from the author of The Constant Rabbit.

The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with New York Times best-selling author Jasper Fforde’s magnificent second adventure starring the resourceful, fearless literary sleuth Thursday Next. When Landen, the love of her life, is eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday must moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction - the police force inside the BookWorld. She is apprenticed to the man-hating Miss Havisham from Dickens’s Great Expectations, who grudgingly shows Thursday the ropes. And she gains just enough skill to get herself in a real mess entering the pages of Poe’s “The Raven”. What she really wants is to get Landen back. But this latest mission is not without further complications. Along with jumping into the works of Kafka and Austen, and even Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink sludge from engulfing all life on Earth. It’s another genre-bending blend of crime fiction, fantasy, and top-drawer literary entertainment for fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse. Thursday’s zany investigations continue with The Well of Lost Plots.

Delve into Jasper Fforde's literary universe with the other books in his Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.©2011 Jasper Fforde (P)2011 Penguin Audiobooks

Awesome narrator and excellent book

Loved everything! Going to read his other books and if she’s narrating, even better! Fantastic!

Bring back the Sastre version!!!

Please bring back the narration by Elizabeth Sastre!
Her Thursday is how I imagine her voice! More importantly, she bring the side character (ESPECIALLY Miss Havisham) to life!!! Bring her audio back!

Great book!!

Such a fun book! I love this series. My only complaint is that the narrator made Landon sound bored or completely daft. Otherwise, completely enjoyed it!

Too unusual!

Any additional comments?

I had heard many good things about Jasper Fforde's writing and his Thursday Next series. I suppose the book is good but it just too unusual for me. I couldn't get into it or much understand the reasons for the things that happened. And oh, the things that happened. I think that I might label it science fiction or futuristic when I had thought it would be more literary.

Absolutely lovely

I heart the Jasper Ffordeverse--it's engaging, full of TERRIBLE jokes, suspenseful, creative. And Emily Gray is Thursday.

Great Alternate Literaverse

What a fun book to listen to. Sometimes fantastical, often thought-provoking and always entertaining. I forgot about my long commute. Ready to read #3 in the series.

Love the idea, first was great!

I really like the premise! I easily can get " lost in a book" For some reason now and then I literally got lost in here as I read and then reread. Much of it I truly enjoyed. Not giving up...on to the next! It sounds Great, and funny, and...

interesting Idea for a plot

This book starts with a unique concept - the ability to travel into printed material like novels and user manuals. It is very well written and fun to read.

I did get lost and I'm not coming back

One of the best books I have ever read. I can't tell you a best moment because it was the whole book.

Zany fun with action.

This is crazy fun listening - makes me chuckle and smile. My Rating 4.5.

Thursday Next is a spunky literary detective working for Spec Ops (Special Operations) in an alternate London. Thursday won notoriety in her successful investigation in Book 1, The Eyre Affair, when she took down a prime criminal, Hades. Thursday is dodging the division’s publicist who keeps seeking her presence for promotions.

During an investigation, Thursday is caught in a time slip that involves her with Neanderthals, who have been recreated and trapped as civil slaves. A second loop indicates that Thursday is the target of an assassin. Thursday’s father is fully aware of time jumps and time slips as he was a “Chronoguard” officer who went rogue and lives in an alternate timeline while trying to prove corruption in the system. He is willing to help Thursday but needs her help to prevent the eminent destruction of the world from a strange pink goo.

Meanwhile Thursday is also facing threats from the corrupt corporate giant, Goliath. Goliath’s leader has a step-brother who was trapped by Thursday in Poe’s The Raven. Now the leader has ‘eradicated’ Thursday's husband, Landon. He is blackmailing Thursday to show him how to get into the literary library world to rescue his step brother.

The prior portal to the literary realm was opened by Thursday’s uncle, a prolific inventor. Now it has been closed and Thursday doesn’t realize she can get to the realm without the portal until she is cornered. She finds herself in the world of Dicken’s Great Expectations where she becomes the apprentice to Miss Havisham. She is assigned to help with the internal police force, the Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction. During her tasks Thursday ventures into the worlds of Kafka, Jane Austen, and even Beatrix Potter. She makes enemies and friends of the Neanderthals who have been recreated and trapped as civil slaves.

If all of that sounds rather crazy, it is – zany, crazy fun especially for those of us bibliophiles who are familiar with the classic authors and works that make up part of the stories’ adventures. It had been a while since I read The Eyre Affair but I remembered that it was fun listening. As I began this story it took me only a few minutes to remember the characters and get back into the fast-paced, comical stream of Thursday’s world. I love her unique pet, Pickwick, a dodo bird. The author melds literary characters with a rather fantastical world of strange, and sometimes corrupt, police procedures.

I recommend this series to readers who want to enjoy light, fun, literature name-dropping entertainment. I will be picking up Book 3, The Well of Lost Plots: A Thursday Next Novel, for future listening fun.

Audio Notes: Emily Gray does a wonderful job narrating this craziness. Her tone conveys a perfect flighty atmosphere to enhance the characters and dialogue. Although I am sure this is fun in print, for me it is a hoot in audio.