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A review by book_concierge
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
3.0
Audiobook performed by Elizabeth Jasicki
From the dust jacket - In the good old days, magic was indispensable; it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets have been reduced to pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam Mystical Arts Management, an employment agency for magicians – but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If that’s true, everything will change for Kazam – and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as … Big Magic.
My reaction
This was a quick, entertaining young person’s fantasy read. My library shelves it in the Young Adult section, but like the Harry Potter books, I think this will appeal to children ages 9 and up. As he does in his adult series, Fforde uses interesting puns and slight twists on real history that older readers will appreciate. He also takes on big business, the advertising/marketing industry, and real estate developers. But it’s the silliness and the fantasy that are the focus of this book.
I did think that the plot was a tad too simplistic. There was at least one character that did a complete turnaround without any explanation. And I thought the ending was too fantastical – as if Fforde had written himself into a corner and just invented a secret passageway that mysteriously opens and gives him a way out. On the other hand, I liked that the heroine of this novel is a young girl who is intelligent, steadfast, caring, compassionate, strong and resourceful. I also loved the Quarkbeast, who is described as “nine-tenths velociraptor and kitchen blender and one-tenth Labrador.” For the genre and intended audience, I think it was a fine read.
Elizabeth Jasicki does a fine job on the audio book. I really like her voices for the Dragon Maltcassion, and for Jennifer. And I loved her Quarkbeast! (Though it did remind me of Thursday Next’s dodo, Pickwick.)
From the dust jacket - In the good old days, magic was indispensable; it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets have been reduced to pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam Mystical Arts Management, an employment agency for magicians – but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If that’s true, everything will change for Kazam – and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as … Big Magic.
My reaction
This was a quick, entertaining young person’s fantasy read. My library shelves it in the Young Adult section, but like the Harry Potter books, I think this will appeal to children ages 9 and up. As he does in his adult series, Fforde uses interesting puns and slight twists on real history that older readers will appreciate. He also takes on big business, the advertising/marketing industry, and real estate developers. But it’s the silliness and the fantasy that are the focus of this book.
I did think that the plot was a tad too simplistic. There was at least one character that did a complete turnaround without any explanation. And I thought the ending was too fantastical – as if Fforde had written himself into a corner and just invented a secret passageway that mysteriously opens and gives him a way out. On the other hand, I liked that the heroine of this novel is a young girl who is intelligent, steadfast, caring, compassionate, strong and resourceful. I also loved the Quarkbeast, who is described as “nine-tenths velociraptor and kitchen blender and one-tenth Labrador.” For the genre and intended audience, I think it was a fine read.
Elizabeth Jasicki does a fine job on the audio book. I really like her voices for the Dragon Maltcassion, and for Jennifer. And I loved her Quarkbeast! (Though it did remind me of Thursday Next’s dodo, Pickwick.)