Synopsis:
"Imagine this. Great Britain in 1985 is close to being a police state. The Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing. The only recognizable thing about this England is her citizens' enduring love of literature. And the Third Most Wanted criminal, Acheron Hades, is stealing characters from England's cherished literary heritage and holding them for ransom.

***spoiler alert*** Bibliophiles will be enchanted, but not surprised, to learn that stealing a character from a book only changes that one book, but Hades has escalated his thievery. He has begun attacking the original manuscripts, thus changing all copies in print and enraging the reading public. That's why Special Operations Network has a Literary Division, and it is why one of its operatives, Thursday Next, is on the case.

She has been trying to trace Hades ever since he stole Mr. Quaverley from the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and killed him. You will only remember Mr. Quaverley if you read Martin Chuzzlewit prior to 1985. But now Hades has set his sights on one of the plums of literature, Jane Eyre, and he must be stopped."

Reserved for linguistkris as a wishlist tag.

Just a note that I've started reading:-)

What is there to say about a book so filled with event? Everything and nothing I guess.

I liked ut, but at the same time disliked it. What I liked was the unusualness of the story. People going in and out of books, characters coming into the real world and going out again.
I'll have to reread Jane Eyre to see what the real ending is, read it too long ago to remember.

What I disliked was, that while reading, it felt like I was reading a children's book from time to time. The biggest dislike, however, is the chaos. So much going on, so many plates to hold, that I had the feeling that a few did not get the attention they should have. For example the personal life of Next and the war. Will not write any more, otherwise I'd spoil the fun for other readers.

Summarizing, I'm a bit disappointed, I had different expectations from this book, but at the moment I'm not able to pinpoint precisely what causes the disappointment.

This book is now on its way to linguistkris in Germany, for the wishlist tag game.
I hope you like it!

Safe travels, little book, I hope you arrive safe and soon.

Aaaand here it is! Thank you so much, boekentrol! I actually happened upon a German translation of this right after you had offered me yours, which I then ended up reading in record time because I was so full of anticipation. ;) I was surprised how well the translation handled a few of the puns (thankfully didn't touch the names though!), but I think this is still a book very much worth to be read in the original. I actually think I enjoyed this even more then I did when I first read it some ten years ago. :)

(I'm keeping this PC for the while, until I'll have read the full series, in case I'll want to look up stuff or re-read the earlier volumes.)