I really liked this. Reminded me a bit of Terry Pratchett, but less annoyingly obviously trying to be clever. ( )

Fforde is one of those authors that I found quite by accident while looking another one up and than couldn't help but keep reading. His Thursday Next series (which has a sequel due out this year!) is a delightfully entertaining mystery quasi-fantasy that's full of clever puns and satirical renditions of our own world. The Last Dragonslayer is no different, just its a young adult fantasy series.

While I had no idea this was coming out I'm glad that I came across it because it was pure entertainment to read. The book has a very British feel to it, which it should since British author British environment, which includes the humor. There's a little slapstick (Gordon von Gordon taking care of some of the reporters was a good laugh), some irony (what happened to the Great Zambini...) and dry humor (The Blessed Sisterhood of the Lobster?). As the kid who grew up on the BBC more often than Nickelodeon it made me all warm inside.

Much of the world is built upon being like ours, but slanted a ways. The UnUnited Kingdoms? I'm guessing because of the magical influence, and the Dragons, things developed differently. The Dragons, after the Dragonpact some 400 years earlier, were each given a fairly large chunk of land, some of which sat in the middle of Kingdoms. Some things, like the Consolidated Useful Stuff business seems to be a direct jab at mega-corporations like Wal-Mart (aka The Evil Empire in my household).

Jennifer, indeed all the characters, don't act like you'd expect. There are several twists and clever plays on how the smallest idea can become a firmly entrenched belief. Or how prophecy will always find ways to make itself come true (though maybe not for the reason you expect). The last dragon, Maltcassion, reminds me of a grumpy old man with the mischievousness of a five year old. He certainly doesn't act like a maneater. He was probably my favorite, next to the Quarkbeast honestly.

In short if you're a fan of Terry Pratchett you will likely enjoy this book honestly. Its just this side of ridiculous with some weighty moral concepts strewn about to keep it from being utterly ridiculous. ( )

Familiar story: a poor but courageous orphan, magic and sorcerers, a wicked greedy despot, a Quest, and Doing the Right Thing. The ending, while cheerful and feel-good, was not really a surprise. Yet the first-person narrative has a witty perspective and a voice like many kids I know IRL. At 300 pages, a quick read and welcome diversion from reality. ( )

Jennifer is 15 (16 in two weeks) and an indentured servant, running an agency for wizards in the kingdom of Hereford, near the Welsh border. Magic is building up, strange things are happening, and a premonition about the death of the last dragon comes through. Suddenly, Jennifer finds herself in situations she doesn't want to be in, and expected to do things she doesnt want to.

Not the strongest Jasper Fforde book - some things are a little too easy (e.g. Jennifer finds the last dragonslayer and becomes the next one in a matter of chapters with a simple get out of jail free trick). However this is a strongly built alternative world and ripe for the books that follow ( )

It's that style of first-person narrative that I hate, where it feels like a slightly-neurotic 20 year old is trying to tell you a story, rather than a book's story is pulling you into its world.