There is an enormous amount of creativity on display in Jasper Fford's novel about a literary detective who lives in a world in which people are so obsessed with books that threat to England's classic works causes widespread horror. I found myself slipping into Fford's oddball alternate universe-complete with time-travel, vampires, and cloned dodos-with ease, and enjoyed the smart, funny writing and fast pace of this very entertaining novel.

Because of the book's overall tone, however, I was unprepared for the heavier sections involving the emotional trauma the main character experienced as a result of a protracted immoral war fueled by corporate greed. That part was just a little too real, I think. But the fiery integration of literature and reality at the ending of the Eyre Affair was so well done and pleasing I will round up my review to four stars, despite the fact that, while I had no problem accepting characters moving back and forth between books and reality, I can't imagine any woman-fictional or otherwise-introducing herself with the words "The name's Next."