You love Terry Pratchett and know why it is essential to carry a towel at all times? Then you will probably have a lot of fun reading the “Thursday Next” series by Jasper Fforde. Thursday Next is the main protagonist in these “comic fantasy, alternate history novels”.
In the beginning of the series Thursday is about 30 years old and works as a LiteraTec agent in Swindon. Literature has a lot of significance in her world, so it is not surprising that she has to endure a whole bunch of strange adventures. Her pet dodo Pickwick accompanies her throughout the series, as does her love and husband Landen Park-Laine and some of her friends and antagonists.
Her world looks rather different from our known world. You are able to travel back and fourth in time if you belong to Chronoguard. Some people are able to get inside books, like Thursday, and some book characters are able to visit the real world. Thursday spends a lot of time inside the bookworld and becomes part of Jurisfiction, a kind of police force of the bookworld. She has a powerful antagonist throughout the series and like in real life big business tries to exert influence on government and the people.
Trying to write a overview I realize just how confusing these stories are. It helps if you like to read and have read some of the classics. Thursday Next, for instance, is responsible for Jane Eyre having a fairly happy ending. 😉
Enough said, just give it a try.