First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

I have waited a long time to read this book. It is the fifth in the Thursday Next series of books that Fforde originally churned out on a yearly basis. I picked up the first when there were already three published, and had to wait less than a year for the fourth to come out. But then Fforde turned his attention to a new series (which was also delightful, don’t get me wrong) for two years, and then when First Among Sequels came out last year I held myself back for a full year, waiting for the paperback edition to come out.

It was worth the wait. Trying to describe these books to other people is difficult. Thursday Next exists in a parallel universe in which home cloning kits allow people to own their own formerly extinct animals (like dodo birds) as pets, the supernatural (ghosts, werewolves, vampires) are a part of everyday life to be dealt with, Wales is a military state, intercontinental transportation takes place via Gravitubes that travel through the center of the earth, and the ever-paradoxical Chrono-Guard monitors the continuity of the timeline using time travel technology that hasn’t been invented yet, but presumably will be sometime in the future (they don’t quite know when). Most importantly, books are not just paper creations, but exist in a complex Bookworld, with characters acting out their parts and complex technology to aid in reader transferal, and intergenre disputes. Thursday Next is an outlander who can jump to the Bookword and is a member of Jurisfiction, the policing agency responsible for keeping order in Bookworld.

In the latest book the series, Thursday encounters the written (and not-quite-true-to-life) versions of herself in the Bookworld, a crisis in the Chrono-Guard who are nearing the end of time and still haven't found the invention of time travel, a recurring appearance by the ghost of her Uncle Mryon who has something important to tell her but can't remember what, and a plot to boost readership rates by turning English classics (beginning with Pride and Prejudice) into "reality book shows" where readers read as the characters engage in preset tasks, and then vote the characters one by one out of the books.

The plots of these books are complex, incredibly clever, and extremely funny. Part of the fun of the series is the literary references, even if you haven’t read the literature Fforde is referring to (I have yet to read Jane Eyre, and I still loved the first book, The Eyre Affair). I admit that it took me a couple chapters to get into the newest book, because some of the humor is downright silly and I had to remember the spirit of the books, and then let the plot unfold. Some of what seems to be pure silliness at the beginning comes to play an integral role later on.

I don’t know where Fforde gets all his ideas, but I’m glad to know he intends to keep writing them out for us for years to come, and he hasn't disappointed me yet.