It's been a while since a cult book saga took hold, but The Eyre Affair created a new one for the absurdist crime adventures of Fforde's fictional literary spy, Thursday Next. Those new to her world will undoutably be confused for the first third of the novel, as Fforde backtracks to connect the dots between Next's first outing and this sequel. Once absorbed in the fray, it's not much easier, but certainly entertaining, as Next tracks clues in an Alice in Wonderland world where fictional settings and the real world collide, where the characters of Great Expectations can change Dicken's ending, and Larry the lamb reveals a dark side. Douglas Adams would be proud.
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