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What if you could visit the world of fiction, interacting with characters like Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights and Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, all at the same time? And what if Miss Havisham was running anger-management classes for Heathcliff and his fellow Heights characters? We get to find out in The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde's third novel in his Thursday Next series, following intrepid literary detective Next as she gets involved with literary conspiracies that will affect how you and I read books, as well as teaching two blank slate "generics" how to become true fictional personalities. Fforde, as ever, is irreverent and full of great concepts. However, this time his lack of true characters hinders the reader's enjoyment just a little bit.

Jasper Fforde is the master of imagery and a very creative man. In his previous books, The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book , Fforde has created a world where fiction is real and can be traveled through, but he also created an alternate reality where history isn't quite the same, where the Crimean War between Russia and Britain has been going on for 150 years. This time, while the Crimean War setting is very vital to one plot point, Fforde immerses us entirely in the fictional world, with characters from bad detective novels interacting with characters from Wuthering Heights. As always, Fforde's trademark wit and humour make the book a lot of fun and a joy to read.

In previous books, I've said that Fforde stays away from characters in favour of providing a strong setting and vivid images. In The Well of Lost Plots, Fforde does the same, but he goes a bit overboard. The one well-realized character has always been Thursday Next, but this time even she isn't that well done. Sure, she's still a strong character, but Fforde seems to be drifting on her past characterization, depending on the fact that we've probably read the previous two books to provide her character. With the exception of her having to relive the last day of her brother's life over and over again, she receives no development whatsoever. The other characters are the same way, relative ciphers that interact with the plot but that's about it. Fforde is hampered in this by the fact that all of the other characters in this novel (save one) are already established literary characters, or they are literary cliches on purpose. Inevitably, these characters are established by having a couple of traits different from their "on-screen" personalities in their books (i.e. Miss Havisham is still a prickly old lady like she is in Great Expectations, but she actually does have a true heart beneath her harsh exterior). The detective novel characters fit their stereotypes, but they are just slightly different to show off the same effect. Thus, there are not truly memorable characters. Instead, there are memorable character differences ("Oh, Prometheus is really like that!).

Without characterization, what are we left with? Plot and imagery. For a long while, there didn't seem to be much of a plot, though Fforde does an admirable job of making the wandering about in the first part of the book actually mean something. In the meantime, while we are wandering, the settings and concepts that Fforde has created are still top notch. I really enjoyed learning about all the different aspects of fiction, and how the characters are able to interact. When a character is not front stage in a book, they can do pretty much what they want. It sort of begs the question of how this is possible, considering the fact that, especially in the classics or bestsellers, each page in the book is inevitably being read by somebody somewhere. But it's a conceit the reader makes to revel in the world Fforde has created. It's a fun place, with some wacky events. Who but Fforde could imagine Miss Havisham trying to break the land-speed record in a souped-up car? Or an assassination squad trying to take out Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights because he's such an arrogant scoundrel? Fforde really brings his world alive, and the reader is carried along with the flow.

One problem that Fforde has, however, is how to tell the reader about this fabulous world. Exposition is very heavy as Fforde has the fictional characters explain what is happening to Thursday, a Jurisfiction novice. While this is much better than having two characters talk to each other about things they should already be aware of, even having them explain it to Thursday becomes old after awhile. There are just so many new things (something we probably shouldn't complain about) that I don't know how else it could have been done, but it was starting to get annoying.

Still, The Well of Lost Plots is a satisfying read, just not as much so as the previous books. I really enjoyed it, and plan on coming back for the next one. Don't worry if you're not the most literary reader. Most of the literary references are either obvious or will zoom by without you even knowing about it. Give this series a chance. I think you'll enjoy it.

David Roy

In his previous two novels, Fforde created a wacky, fictional universe in which "real world" characters could transport themselves into books, associate with the characters there, turn back the clock, and even change the endings. Heroine Thursday Next, has saved Jane Eyre from disaster, imprisoned Jack Schitt in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," and ended the Crimean War, but she has also made enemies of some powerful criminals, one of whom has gone back in time and killed off her husband when he was just a small child. Now, pregnant, she is the only person who can remember him as an adult, and her memory is failing. Anxious for a rest, she decides to go with her dodo Pickwick to visit the Well of Lost Plots, where all book characters, plots, and settings reside until they are chosen for novels.

In this most literary of Fforde's three novels, Thursday is an apprentice agent-in-training for JurisFiction, the policing agency that works inside books, her mentor and guide being Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Living inside an unpublished crime thriller, Thursday explores the Great Library, where the Cheshire Cat is librarian, sees the workshop for backstories (some used, some not), meets generic characters ("human canvases without paint") and "orals" (nursery rhyme characters), tours available settings (high-capped mountains, arched stone bridges, ruined castles), and watches as Miss Havisham joyrides in "Chitty Bang Bang." Holesmiths work there fixing holes in narratives, grammatacists try to prevent grammacites (gerunds) and mispeling vyruses from infecting novels, and pace-setters, moodmongers, and plot speculators work on new creations.

As the Well considers installing the UltraWord operating system, which will expand the basic eight-plot architecture into thirty-two plots, Thursday tries to preserve the memory of Landen, fight against her enemies, and win her trial for a fiction infraction. Fforde pulls out all the stops here, creating a carnival ride through books and the creative process with surprises and delights on every page. Less plot-driven than the previous novels, this novel is episodic, with scenes ranging from a Star Wars-type bar scene to a group counseling session for the characters in Wuthering Heights. While Thursday's exact role is not always clear, Fforde's ability to free the reader's imagination and keep him/her involved in the literary world with its infinite possibilities is daunting. Full of satire, parody, puns, literary jokes, and word play, this latest in the Thursday Next series provides hours of entertainment for anyone interested in books and how they "work." Mary Whipple

From the first chapter of Jasper Fforde's third novel, you can tell that the author had a blast writing this satiric mystery that explores the creation of fiction. Thursday Next - pregnant by her eradicated husband, haunted by a Hades sister intent on destroying her memory, and a Jurisfiction apprentice to none other than Miss Havisham of Dickens fame - takes refuge in a poorly written and unpublished crime novel called Caversham Heights. Thursday expects to rest there until the birth of her child, but she and Miss Havisham discover that the death of another agent by a Minotaur attack might not be the accident it seems. Meanwhile, nursery rhyme characters threaten a strike for not being treated like other fictional characters, two generic characters living with Thursday begin to become more well-rounded, and Thursday tries to save Caversham Heights from being destroyed by the Council of Genres for being so hopelessly bad.

The more you know about literature, the more hilarious you'll find this fantasy. Characters are being manufactured in record numbers because Vikram Seth is planning a new novel, and no one wants a return to minimalism simply because of a character shortage. Heathcliff, Catherine, and the rest of the characters from Wuthering Heights attend anger management classes, and Mr. Toad is relentless in his competition with Miss Havisham for the fastest driver in both the Book World and the Outland. And if you're interesting in writing, you'll gain tips for keeping your novel out of the Text Sea, as Fforde pokes fun at hackneyed writing and incomplete character development.

Because this is my first Fforde novel, I started reading this without any knowledge of what has happened previously in the series, but the author provides enough of a synopsis in the beginning to give a new reader the proper bearings. Despite this, there remains a disjointedness at times as so much satire is pumped into the book that does little to advance the plot. Sometimes Thursday seems to be there purely as a straight man, raising the question that perhaps Fforde should have heeded some of his own lessons in fiction writing. Fortunately, these lapses are few and don't hinder the enjoyment of the novel as a whole. This relatively long novel is not demanding and can be read more quickly than the page count might indicate.

As a literary joke, The Well of Lost Plots is a triumph. As a mystery/fantasy, it is less successful. Readers will nonetheless delight in Fforde's imagination as he takes them through the land of the unpublished and the more solid, though more turbulent, ground of the classics.