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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Funny, quirky series my youngest and I are reading together.
Fforde's books are always very readable, and enjoyable, but when you've seen an author's best work, you want the next book to improve one what's come before. This is the second 'Last Dragonslayer' book, Fforde's series aimed at kids/teens, following the further adventures of Jennifer Strange. However, she's no longer the Last Dragonslayer (and dragons don't feature at all), so perhaps naming the series after the first book in it was a bad move.
All of Fforde's books so far - the Thursday Next set, the Nursery Crimes, Shades of Grey[1], and
Last Dragonslayer - involve Earths unlike our own, with societies, norms, and creatures that seem unusual, curious, fantastical and funny to us, the readers, but are accepted as every day and familiar to the characters living in these worlds. The stories usually involve a large array of different plot threads which are all relevant to the main character and somehow tie together to make for an exciting and satisfactory climax.
The Last Dragonslayer series (including Song of the Quarkbeast) are aimed at a child/teen market, and this just means that there's fewer of these tangential plot threads, and the logic required to tie them together is clearer, and many explanations are given to the reader in the narration (whereas in the adult books, sometimes you have to work it out for yourself).
On the whole, I did enjoy the book, but it didn't quite live up to my memory of Last Dragonslayer, and is not nearly as satisfying as the early Thursday Next books, the Nursery Crimes, or Shades of Grey (which I consider to be Fforde's best work so far).
[1] Please note there is no number in front of this title. Fforde's Shades of Grey is a BRILLIANT book and is about a curious future where class is based on the colours you can see. I eagerly await the sequel, and wish he would get around to writing it instead of more Thursday Next, which has seriously gone down hill since book 4.
All of Fforde's books so far - the Thursday Next set, the Nursery Crimes, Shades of Grey[1], and
Last Dragonslayer - involve Earths unlike our own, with societies, norms, and creatures that seem unusual, curious, fantastical and funny to us, the readers, but are accepted as every day and familiar to the characters living in these worlds. The stories usually involve a large array of different plot threads which are all relevant to the main character and somehow tie together to make for an exciting and satisfactory climax.
The Last Dragonslayer series (including Song of the Quarkbeast) are aimed at a child/teen market, and this just means that there's fewer of these tangential plot threads, and the logic required to tie them together is clearer, and many explanations are given to the reader in the narration (whereas in the adult books, sometimes you have to work it out for yourself).
On the whole, I did enjoy the book, but it didn't quite live up to my memory of Last Dragonslayer, and is not nearly as satisfying as the early Thursday Next books, the Nursery Crimes, or Shades of Grey (which I consider to be Fforde's best work so far).
[1] Please note there is no number in front of this title. Fforde's Shades of Grey is a BRILLIANT book and is about a curious future where class is based on the colours you can see. I eagerly await the sequel, and wish he would get around to writing it instead of more Thursday Next, which has seriously gone down hill since book 4.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ich bin mir nicht ganz sicher, was ich zu dem Buch schreiben soll. Es ist, wie das Erste der Reihe Klasse, allerdings verhältnismäßig kurz. Es fühlt sich an wie eine Kurzgeschichte, die ein Sequel des ersten Teiles ist.
Drachen kommen nur noch am Rande in Form einer Bemerkung vor, ansonsten geht es wirklich mehr um das Zauberer(er)management - und, am Ende, um ein paar Quarktiere.
ABER: Gut und spannend zu lesen, daher noch 4 Sterne.
Drachen kommen nur noch am Rande in Form einer Bemerkung vor, ansonsten geht es wirklich mehr um das Zauberer(er)management - und, am Ende, um ein paar Quarktiere.
ABER: Gut und spannend zu lesen, daher noch 4 Sterne.
I seriously love Jasper Fforde.
As a follow up to The Last of the Dragonslayers, Fforde does not disappoint. I wasn't sure I would love it as much as the first, but I absolutely did! He has this amazing ability to create entire universes of whimsy, satire, and silliness in his books.
Jenny maintains her integrity and good-heartedness in this book as well, and sticks to her guns, when many lesser non-foundlings would give up, take the loot, and run (though I'm sure her indentured servitude also keeps her from running). Her character stays true to the first book and continues to build off of what we already know of her. We have the opportunity to be introduced to a few more loony characters and the more we meet, the more we love them!
This book is an extremely fun, whimsical adventure through the land of Snod - meeting new friends, fighting to save magic, and listening for the song of the Quarkbeast. Highly Recommended.
As a follow up to The Last of the Dragonslayers, Fforde does not disappoint. I wasn't sure I would love it as much as the first, but I absolutely did! He has this amazing ability to create entire universes of whimsy, satire, and silliness in his books.
Jenny maintains her integrity and good-heartedness in this book as well, and sticks to her guns, when many lesser non-foundlings would give up, take the loot, and run (though I'm sure her indentured servitude also keeps her from running). Her character stays true to the first book and continues to build off of what we already know of her. We have the opportunity to be introduced to a few more loony characters and the more we meet, the more we love them!
This book is an extremely fun, whimsical adventure through the land of Snod - meeting new friends, fighting to save magic, and listening for the song of the Quarkbeast. Highly Recommended.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What does one expect from a Jasper Fforde novel? For me, it's witty dialogue, clever wordplay, and a well-plotted adventure that keeps you engrossed in the action. The Song of the Quarkbeast certainly fits the criteria.
Thursday Next Jennifer Strange is back, still in control of her powerful wizards through Kazam. Sure, they're still doing things like fixing plumbing, or moving trees around huge estates, but with magic having been democratized and bureaucratized, there's not a whole lot of fantastic magic going on. In fact, when it comes down to a competition between Kazam and iMagic (*ahem*), the competition revolves around the rebuilding of a bridge, with the winner being the team who places the capstone at the middle (Brandon Sanderson this ain't, is what I'm saying). But as the competition draws closer, and the circumstances surrounding iMagic grow muddier, it's up to Jennifer and her wizards to figure out the source of the problem and, of course, how to solve it.
I have yet to read a Jasper Fforde novel that's disappointed me. I thought there was going to be a deus ex machina moment or two near the end of this novel, but I was surprised to realize that Fforde had laid all of the details out earlier in the story, and I just had to wait to see them fulfilled. I shouldn't have doubted him, though; as mentioned above, Fforde's skills include a well-plotted adventure, and this book was certainly so. In fact, the biggest complaint I have about this book is that it isn't the sequel to Shades of Grey. Come on, Fforde! Get it together!
Thursday Next Jennifer Strange is back, still in control of her powerful wizards through Kazam. Sure, they're still doing things like fixing plumbing, or moving trees around huge estates, but with magic having been democratized and bureaucratized, there's not a whole lot of fantastic magic going on. In fact, when it comes down to a competition between Kazam and iMagic (*ahem*), the competition revolves around the rebuilding of a bridge, with the winner being the team who places the capstone at the middle (Brandon Sanderson this ain't, is what I'm saying). But as the competition draws closer, and the circumstances surrounding iMagic grow muddier, it's up to Jennifer and her wizards to figure out the source of the problem and, of course, how to solve it.
I have yet to read a Jasper Fforde novel that's disappointed me. I thought there was going to be a deus ex machina moment or two near the end of this novel, but I was surprised to realize that Fforde had laid all of the details out earlier in the story, and I just had to wait to see them fulfilled. I shouldn't have doubted him, though; as mentioned above, Fforde's skills include a well-plotted adventure, and this book was certainly so. In fact, the biggest complaint I have about this book is that it isn't the sequel to Shades of Grey. Come on, Fforde! Get it together!