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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Good to read again, but so different from the first book.
Almost better than the first one, as it has less of a rigid story structure to cling to. The magic is way more fun - and powerful. It is full of humor and a great read.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a fairy tale, meaning it contains all the perks and faults of the genre. It is a fun light reading, filled with lovely characters and a wonderful world filled with magic, but with dark vibes running under the surfice. The academy itself is marvelous and as real as any school of the humanities in our world. The ending is lovely but with too much paring and the last conversation would not be written like this nowadays. Grooming is not as romantic as the conversation makes it sound.
Really enjoyable send-up of the campus novel, I could read about Elda and the rest being inept university freshers forever.
I think I loved this even more than The Dark Lord of Derkholm. While I read the last book as a deconstruction of fantasy in general, this book is a fantasy campus novel! Ha! I imagine kids reading this book then six or seven years arriving at college and going "oooooh shit! this is what Diana was on about!"
After years of cranking out wizards to serve as glorified tour guides for visitors from our dimension, the wizarding school welcomes new students for a brand new world free of their accountant overlord. Except there is a problem - the teachers are the same narrow benighted students compressed down into technical little boxes and still teach the same limited magic. Everything taught is practical and job specific, there is no core theory or history or creativity in this educational institution. The glorious job of the new students, a griffin and a dwarf amongst them, is to subvert all this crap and think for themselves, perhaps even encourage the professors to think for themselves.
The only thing that makes this book a fantasy book is that there is light at the end of the tunnel for these students. Unfortunately the children who read this book today will undoubtedly have to contend with cash strapped colleges and universities under great pressure to churn out technocrats trained in their narrow field rather than rounded, creative human beings.
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Now the the above might make this book sound like some sort of dry allegory or novel of ideas. But while not a page of Jones' work passes without the whip-smack of her intellect, she is also shockingly good at creating living, breathing, sometimes cranky individuals. I especially love Elda, the griffin of the title and her crush on a particular professor - and the scathing portrait of that professor is my next favourite thing. Really a stunningly, yet quietly subversive, book!
After years of cranking out wizards to serve as glorified tour guides for visitors from our dimension, the wizarding school welcomes new students for a brand new world free of their accountant overlord. Except there is a problem - the teachers are the same narrow benighted students compressed down into technical little boxes and still teach the same limited magic. Everything taught is practical and job specific, there is no core theory or history or creativity in this educational institution. The glorious job of the new students, a griffin and a dwarf amongst them, is to subvert all this crap and think for themselves, perhaps even encourage the professors to think for themselves.
The only thing that makes this book a fantasy book is that there is light at the end of the tunnel for these students. Unfortunately the children who read this book today will undoubtedly have to contend with cash strapped colleges and universities under great pressure to churn out technocrats trained in their narrow field rather than rounded, creative human beings.
----------------
Now the the above might make this book sound like some sort of dry allegory or novel of ideas. But while not a page of Jones' work passes without the whip-smack of her intellect, she is also shockingly good at creating living, breathing, sometimes cranky individuals. I especially love Elda, the griffin of the title and her crush on a particular professor - and the scathing portrait of that professor is my next favourite thing. Really a stunningly, yet quietly subversive, book!
I think part of the reason I like it so much is that I read it before Dark Lord of Derkholm, so I didn’t have expectations. It’s the book I think of whenever writing essays; I can’t imagine writing 40 pages, and not even for the term paper! It’s a fun picture of idyllic university life, and also somehow kind of reminds me of The Enchanted Chocolate Pot.
A group of students comes to learn magic in the crumbling University full of disinterested or outright abusive teachers. Through set of unhappy circumstances and neglect, their stories become more complicated...
This was a humorous, comforting read about friendship that had quite a few punches. It was outright infuriating at times, and some of the choices were a bit weird (democracy is bad?), but I enjoyed coming back to the world healing from the abuse of the first book.
If you liked The House in the Cerulean Sea, check this out!
This was a humorous, comforting read about friendship that had quite a few punches. It was outright infuriating at times, and some of the choices were a bit weird (democracy is bad?), but I enjoyed coming back to the world healing from the abuse of the first book.
If you liked The House in the Cerulean Sea, check this out!