The Eyre Affair
Genevieve
of a friend, and I'm enjoying it immensely. It has the feel of a Kage
Baker, leavened with Ian Fleming. Very fun, and I'll try to post more
when I finish it.
Genevieve
Rick Kleffel @ kleffel.com
It's also in a column I wrote:
http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/02-05-02.htm
Let me know what you think of the column and reviews. And finally, check out the author's website,
http://jasperfforde.com.
Thanks,
Rick Kleffel
Frossie
g> Anybody picked this one up yet? I just got it on the reccomendation
g> of a friend, and I'm enjoying it immensely. It has the feel of a Kage
g> Baker, leavened with Ian Fleming. Very fun, and I'll try to post more
g> when I finish it.
Original and funny, though not without its faults (read like a first
novel - was it?). Overall good light reading, especially if you are
fond of _Jane Eyre_.
I am boggled by the marketing though - the UK edition has a solid red
cover, but at least the pterry blurb places the content and style
quite effectively for the prospective buyer. The US edition, however,
has a blue cloudy pastel cover, nothing of note on the back cover and
is shelved under General Fiction in my local Borders - it looks a lot
more like Anita Shreve than Esther Friesner, and it shouldn't.
Frossie
--
Joint Astronomy Centre, Hawaii http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~frossie/
Language is the soul's ozone layer and we thin it at our peril --Sven Birkerts
Steven H Silver
Read it last year and found it very enjoyable, if light. I have a
review at http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/fforde.html
Steven
Steven H Silver
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag
Windycon XXIX Chairman
http://www.windycon.org
Midwest Construction 1 Chairman
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/Midwest_Construction.html
Mike Berro
subtle literary references, as well as some interesting subtexts. Author's
first book; the sequel is out, or coming out soon in the UK. It does pay to
be familiar with Jane Eyre, even if only from one of the many movies.
It is rather a famous (or notorious) book in collecting circles; the UK
hardcover is scarce, as they originally did not plan on printing it. Also,
the author had some limited edition (numbered) pictures, labels, and other
periphemera(tm) related to the book printed up (at his expense), and he goes
around inserting them into copies of the book. (I just had some books signed
by him thursday, and I got a bunch.)
---Mike
http://www.boooktouronline.com
"Genevieve" <gen...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Keith Stokes
>I am boggled by the marketing though - the UK edition has a solid red
>cover, but at least the pterry blurb places the content and style
>quite effectively for the prospective buyer. The US edition, however,
>has a blue cloudy pastel cover, nothing of note on the back cover and
>is shelved under General Fiction in my local Borders - it looks a lot
>more like Anita Shreve than Esther Friesner, and it shouldn't.
I thought the US cover was quite striking. Not so much the spine, but
the raised glossy image on the front and the dictionary stile page
with the entry for the main character circled in florecent gree on the
back.
That aside, there is little hint that the book is a fantasy farce,
unless you turn to the fly.
Keith
Keith Stokes
THE EYRE AFFAIR is a fantasy farce set in 1985, in an alternate
history England. England is still involved in the Crimean war, Wales
is a separate (hostile) country and the most common form of long
distance travel is by dirigible.
The heroine is Friday Next, a SO-27 (Special Operative). SO-27’s are
better known as literary detectives. Her father is a former SO-12, a
ChronoGuard, who has left the Guard without authorization to free
lance. He has a face that can literally stop a clock.
Thursday is a veteran of the Crimean. 10 years before, she was in a
disastrous charge of a light infantry brigade, and was one of the few
survivors. It changed her life and continues to disrupt her ways of
looking at the world and interacting with others.
Her nemesis is Acheron Hades, an evillll man with many unusual
attributes. He doesn't photograph. He can convince most people of the
most unreasonable things For example, for police officers to give him
their guns. (Not that bullets bother him very much.) He can also hear
his name whispered at a great distance and has other powers.
Thursday is brought into Hades’ case because he was her lecturer in
college and (since there are no photographs) is one of the few people
who can positively identify him.
The story involves thefts of original manuscripts, the maneuvering of
the grasping Goliath Corporation (which pretty much rules the
country), and Thursday’s brilliant eccentric Uncle (who has invented a
machine that allows people to enter story's or poems).
I think it would have been even better for someone more familiar with
our England and more familiar with the literary works, but it was very
entertaining for me.
One of the funniest sections is a theatre where Richard III is
performed every Friday night, ala "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Pick this one up and give it a try! I will be seeking Fforde's work in
the future.
Keith