Just as the "Away Game Special" entries cover games outside of my Game List, "Lay Away Book Special" entries will cover things not on my Book List. Today's topic is Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair.
I think the premise for the Thursday Next series of books is indeed fascinating. On the one hand, the barrier between fiction and reality getting a little soft and people exploiting that isn't anything new, but on the other having an agency form around it is refreshing. However, the book is quite slow to start.
The first three chapters paint the world for us readers. The setting is England in an alternate 1985 where the Crimean War wages on and time travel has been discovered and harnessed. Obviously there are other things going on as well, but the tone of all of these strange things seems overly contrived. It's an opening heavy on fantasy that, at every turn, refuses to acknowledge this. Until we're introduced to Acheron Hades.
The book's villain (at least as of chapter four) is a man who faked his own death and has since reappeared as a mass criminal. However, he also appears to have some superhuman abilities, not the least of which is the ability to hear his name (even whispered) at a radius of a thousand yards. I'm heartened to see that Fforde embraces the fantastic elements of his world in this character, and hope that he continues to do so.
Otherwise, this is going to be a lot like reading Clive Cussler (where the villains were more interesting than the heroes) all over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment