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The Last Dragonslayer #3
The Eye of Zoltar
The Mighty Shandar, the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, returns to the Ununited Kingdoms. Clearly, he didn't solve the Dragon Problem, and must hand over his fee: eighteen dray-weights of gold.
But the Mighty Shandar doesn't do refunds, and vows to eliminate the dragons once and for all - unless sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekicks from the Kazam house of enchantment can bring him the legendary jewel, The Eye of Zoltar.
The only thing that stands in their way is a perilous journey with a 50% Fatality Index - through the Cambrian Empire to the Leviathan Graveyard, at the top of the deadly Cadir Idris mountain. It's a quest like never before, and Jennifer soon finds herself fighting not just for her life, but for everything she knows and loves . . .
But the Mighty Shandar doesn't do refunds, and vows to eliminate the dragons once and for all - unless sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekicks from the Kazam house of enchantment can bring him the legendary jewel, The Eye of Zoltar.
The only thing that stands in their way is a perilous journey with a 50% Fatality Index - through the Cambrian Empire to the Leviathan Graveyard, at the top of the deadly Cadir Idris mountain. It's a quest like never before, and Jennifer soon finds herself fighting not just for her life, but for everything she knows and loves . . .
401 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
215 people are currently reading
5242 people want to read
About the author
Jasper Fforde
51 books13k followersFforde began his career in the film industry, and for nineteen years held a variety of posts on such movies as Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro and Entrapment. Secretly harbouring a desire to tell his own stories rather than help other people tell their's, Jasper started writing in 1988, and spent eleven years secretly writing novel after novel as he strove to find a style of his own that was a no-mans-land somewhere between the warring factions of Literary and Absurd.
After receiving 76 rejection letters from publishers, Jasper's first novel The Eyre Affair was taken on by Hodder & Stoughton and published in July 2001. Set in 1985 in a world that is similar to our own, but with a few crucial - and bizarre - differences (Wales is a socialist republic, the Crimean War is still ongoing and the most popular pets are home-cloned dodos), The Eyre Affair introduces literary detective named 'Thursday Next'. Thursday's job includes spotting forgeries of Shakespeare's lost plays, mending holes in narrative plot lines, and rescuing characters who have been kidnapped from literary masterpieces.
Luckily for Jasper, the novel garnered dozens of effusive reviews, and received high praise from the press, from booksellers and readers throughout the UK. In the US The Eyre Affair was also an instant hit, entering the New York Times Bestseller List in its first week of publication.
Since then, Jasper has added another six to the Thursday Next series and has also begun a second series that he calls 'Nursery Crime', featuring Jack Spratt of The Nursery Crime Division. In the first book, 'The Big Over Easy', Humpty Dumpty is the victim in a whodunnit, and in the second, 'The Fourth Bear', the Three Bear's connection to Goldilocks disappearance can finally be revealed.
In January 2010 Fforde published 'Shades of Grey', in which a fragmented society struggle to survive in a colour-obsessed post-apocalyptic landscape.
His latest series is for Young Adults and include 'The Last Dragonslayer' (2010), 'Song of the Quarkbeast' (2011) and 'The Eye of Zoltar' (2013). All the books centre around Jennifer Strange, who manages a company of magicians named 'Kazam', and her attempts to keep the noble arts from the clutches of big business and property tycoons.
Jasper's 14th Book, 'Early Riser', a thriller set in a world in which humans have always hibernated, is due out in the UK in August 2018, and in the US in 2019.
Fforde failed his Welsh Nationality Test by erroneously identifying Gavin Henson as a TV chef, but continues to live and work in his adopted nation despite this setback. He has a Welsh wife, two welsh daughters and a welsh dog, who is mad but not because he's Welsh. He has a passion for movies, photographs, and aviation. (Jasper, not the dog)
Series:
* Thursday Next
* Nursery Crime
* Shades of Grey
After receiving 76 rejection letters from publishers, Jasper's first novel The Eyre Affair was taken on by Hodder & Stoughton and published in July 2001. Set in 1985 in a world that is similar to our own, but with a few crucial - and bizarre - differences (Wales is a socialist republic, the Crimean War is still ongoing and the most popular pets are home-cloned dodos), The Eyre Affair introduces literary detective named 'Thursday Next'. Thursday's job includes spotting forgeries of Shakespeare's lost plays, mending holes in narrative plot lines, and rescuing characters who have been kidnapped from literary masterpieces.
Luckily for Jasper, the novel garnered dozens of effusive reviews, and received high praise from the press, from booksellers and readers throughout the UK. In the US The Eyre Affair was also an instant hit, entering the New York Times Bestseller List in its first week of publication.
Since then, Jasper has added another six to the Thursday Next series and has also begun a second series that he calls 'Nursery Crime', featuring Jack Spratt of The Nursery Crime Division. In the first book, 'The Big Over Easy', Humpty Dumpty is the victim in a whodunnit, and in the second, 'The Fourth Bear', the Three Bear's connection to Goldilocks disappearance can finally be revealed.
In January 2010 Fforde published 'Shades of Grey', in which a fragmented society struggle to survive in a colour-obsessed post-apocalyptic landscape.
His latest series is for Young Adults and include 'The Last Dragonslayer' (2010), 'Song of the Quarkbeast' (2011) and 'The Eye of Zoltar' (2013). All the books centre around Jennifer Strange, who manages a company of magicians named 'Kazam', and her attempts to keep the noble arts from the clutches of big business and property tycoons.
Jasper's 14th Book, 'Early Riser', a thriller set in a world in which humans have always hibernated, is due out in the UK in August 2018, and in the US in 2019.
Fforde failed his Welsh Nationality Test by erroneously identifying Gavin Henson as a TV chef, but continues to live and work in his adopted nation despite this setback. He has a Welsh wife, two welsh daughters and a welsh dog, who is mad but not because he's Welsh. He has a passion for movies, photographs, and aviation. (Jasper, not the dog)
Series:
* Thursday Next
* Nursery Crime
* Shades of Grey
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 782 reviews
November 20, 2015
I've been listening to this on Audio for the last couple days when I do stuff around the house, sign books for our online store, and (to be honest) when I spend time crafting and building stuff in Fallout 4.
First off, the narrator is a good fit. That's something I notice more and more as I listen to audiobooks. The narrator can really make or break the whole experience.
I read the first two of these a while back, but I was able to pick the story back up without too much trouble. Jasper Fforde has a gentle, delightful sense of the ridiculous that I've never seen in any other author. And it shines through here.
This book is billed as YA. And I suppose that Genre fits it as well as any other. But it departs from a lot of what I've come to think of as Standard YA Tropes. The world changes, for example. Bad things happen to people. But it's handled in a light way that doesn't batter you emotionally...
The result is an interesting narrative experience. The entire story is whimsical. War and death are persistent elements of the story. But it's not dark and grim like you might expect. But it's not dismissive of these dark things either.
As I've said. It's odd. It's a unique combination of elements. This isn't dystopian YA. Or if it is, it's not like any dystopian YA I've ever read before...
Would I recommend it? Yes. But perhaps not as universally as I might recommend other books. I tend to step more carefully with books designed specifically for kids' consumption....
I can say this: I enjoyed it. And if the next in the series was out, I'd be listening to it right now.
First off, the narrator is a good fit. That's something I notice more and more as I listen to audiobooks. The narrator can really make or break the whole experience.
I read the first two of these a while back, but I was able to pick the story back up without too much trouble. Jasper Fforde has a gentle, delightful sense of the ridiculous that I've never seen in any other author. And it shines through here.
This book is billed as YA. And I suppose that Genre fits it as well as any other. But it departs from a lot of what I've come to think of as Standard YA Tropes. The world changes, for example. Bad things happen to people. But it's handled in a light way that doesn't batter you emotionally...
The result is an interesting narrative experience. The entire story is whimsical. War and death are persistent elements of the story. But it's not dark and grim like you might expect. But it's not dismissive of these dark things either.
As I've said. It's odd. It's a unique combination of elements. This isn't dystopian YA. Or if it is, it's not like any dystopian YA I've ever read before...
Would I recommend it? Yes. But perhaps not as universally as I might recommend other books. I tend to step more carefully with books designed specifically for kids' consumption....
I can say this: I enjoyed it. And if the next in the series was out, I'd be listening to it right now.
May 19, 2025
Actual rating: 4.5 stars.
Sorry, what did you just say? The crustaceans are feeling overly murderous this morning and keep clicking their pincers with homicidal glee, so I didn’t hear a thing. Mind saying that again, at the top of your puny lungs this time? [insert massive barnacled intake of air here] “But Sarah, this is YA,” you shout and squeal and shriek! YA? This? Oh, please, don’t be silly. Of course this isn’t YA, this is Jasper Fforde! *eyeroll* I have no idea who this person named YA is, but I can assure you he/she/they/it/whatever is NOT the author of this book. I know my two ever-decaying grey cells are ever-decaying, but the Goodreads page for this book says the author is Jasper Fforde and makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of this YA person you’re talking about, so QED and stuff.
See? Noharm YA, no foul. Ha.
Sooooooo, this book. It is slightly super fun and entertaining and awesome and stuff. Because Jasper Fforde’s book are always super fun and entertaining and awesome and stuff. And also because Jasper Fforde always creates super original, super creative, super witty, super hahahaha, super cool worlds and characters and stuff.Even YA ones . This moderate display of fanFfordegirling might make you wonder why I waited four bloody shrimping years to read this book. Because I’m an idiot, that’s why. The thing is, this is the last book Fforde published, and the only work of his I hadn’t yet read before reading it, so I was kinda sorta reluctant to, um, you know, read it and stuff, until I knew for sure another book of his was in sight and stuff. It just so happens that Early Riser will be released in August, ergo the world will not end just yet, also ergo the time for me to um, you know, read this book hath cometh and stuff.
Why thank you, Spocky dear!
Sooooooo, this book. It’s the third in a series so I won’t bother to recap what happened so far becauseI’m lazy as fish it would take too long and I know how much you value your worthless time. You’re quite welcome and stuff. All you need to know is that the book is about 16-year-old Jennifer Strange, head of the Kazam House of Enchantment, and her quest to find the Eye of Zoltar, a jewel with Grade III legendary status (meaning its existence is “really not very likely at all”). Wait, I just remembered it’s not a quest Jennifer and her Most Excellent Sidekicks (MES™) are on, it’s a mission. I mean, all quests have to be approved by the Questing Foundation, and believe me when I tell you you do NOT want them involved. Ever. Anyway, Jennifer and her MES™ go off on their quest mission, and stuff happens. Lots of stuff. And I am joyously happy to report that there is much enjoyment and fun and merriment and eccentricity to be had here. Much indeed. So yay and stuff. Let’s dance and stuff.
As in all Fforde Books of Totally Delicious Inventiveness and Utterly Fun Freshness (FBoTDIaUFF™), the story is jam-packed with funny, clever, wacky ideas. I could tell you about them, but we’d be here a week or so if I did, so I won’t. Yeah, I’m kind and considerate and charitable like that. Sometimes. Not today though. Ergo, behold the Slightly Never-Ending List of Ffordesomeness (SNELoF™), Lovely Arthropods Mine!
✔ Rocket-propelled liquorice launchers.
✔ Tralfamosaurs (cute, fluffy, cuddly, pea-brained pets that are “a lot like Tyrannosaurus Rex, but without the sunny disposition and winning personality”).
✔ Despot Awards. I’m afraid I wasn’t nominated in the ‘Worst Teeth’ or ‘Despot most likely to be killed by an enraged mob with agricultural tools’ categories this year, but I did make it to the ‘Most Hated Tyrant,’ ‘Most Corrupt King of a medium-sized Kingdom,’ and ‘Best original act of despotism adapted from an otherwise fair law’ short lists. Go me and stuff.
✔ Troll wars that are like Batman movies: “repeated at regular intervals, featuring expensive hardware, and broadly predictable.”
✔ The Blessed Ladies of the Lobster Orphanage. Ladies of the bloody shrimping LOBSTER, my Little Barnacles!!! Crustaceans FTW!!
✔ Jeopardy Tourism (for those seeking life-threatening situations) and Fatality Indexes (“32% chance of being devoured, but good scenery with ample picnic spots”).
✔ The best multi-tool sincesliced bread the Swiss Army knife, aka the hairy Helping Hand™. I want one for Christmas!!! Hmmm, a Helping Pincer™ might be more adapted to my special needs, come to think of it. I need to ask the Evil Scientists™ on my payroll to work on it post haste and stuff. Pretty sure threatening them with moderately excruciating bodily harm will get me a Helping Pincer™ before the day is over. Funny how efficient my minions can be when appropriately motivated and stuff.
✔ Undisciplined, infantile, argumentative, barely sane sorcerers whose magic only works when they really concentrate (“which isn’t that often”).
✔ Violent Medieval monarchy vs. benevolent dictatorship. I’m more inclined towards violent dictatorship myself, but to each his/her/their/its/whatever own and stuff.
[Sorry for the interruption, but I think we’re in dire need of a celebratory dancing break here.
Woo-bloody-hoo, now did that feel great or what?!]
✔ Highly motivated homingpigeons snails (looks like those modified TV fitness instructor spells really are worth the money).
✔ Royal Dog Mess Removal Operatives (don’t ask).
✔ Cannibalistic savages “with an unhealthy enthusiasm for taxidermy.”
✔ The 18.02 teatime ‘Express Battle’ special and the 12.07 ceasefire, courtesy of the Railway militia. Real sticklers for punctuality, these guys. And they have great customer service, too. I mean, if the ceasefire is really late, you can even apply for a refund and stuff.
✔ Thespoilt, conniving, cruel, bullying little brat princess option market.
✔ Müller’s Guide to Kidnappable Personages (I’m featured in it, obviously).
✔ Also: Weaponized bacon, the fastest recorded gossip ever (clocked at 47.26 mph), acceptable (albeit mildly simplistic) alliterations, a steam-powered Isle of Wight, “Meals on Wheels” (aka four-storey armoured tracked vehicles, aka a fine example of troll humor) and limited-edition goats for collectors.
✔ Also, also: Awesome stuff, more awesome stuff, and even more awesome stuff.
⚠️ Daaaaaaaannnnnnce alert⚠️
➽ And the moral of this If AllRevoltingly Juvenile YA Was Like This Maybe I Wouldn’t Be So Bloody Shrimping Allergic to the Vile Stuff Crappy Non Review (IARJYAWLtMIWBSBSAttVSCNR™) is:
· Book 1: The Last Dragonslayer ★★★★
· Book 2: The Song of the Quarkbeast ★★★★
· Book 4: The Great Troll War ★★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
I bet you're under the illusion that I just read a novel aimed towards Revoltingly Juvenile Readers (RJR™). Hahahaha. Go home, my Little Barnacles, you're quite obviously drunk.
➽ Full Jasper Fforde Makes Everything Better Even Bloody Shrimping YA Crappy Non Review (JFMEBEBSYACNR™) to come.
Sorry, what did you just say? The crustaceans are feeling overly murderous this morning and keep clicking their pincers with homicidal glee, so I didn’t hear a thing. Mind saying that again, at the top of your puny lungs this time? [insert massive barnacled intake of air here] “But Sarah, this is YA,” you shout and squeal and shriek! YA? This? Oh, please, don’t be silly. Of course this isn’t YA, this is Jasper Fforde! *eyeroll* I have no idea who this person named YA is, but I can assure you he/she/they/it/whatever is NOT the author of this book. I know my two ever-decaying grey cells are ever-decaying, but the Goodreads page for this book says the author is Jasper Fforde and makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of this YA person you’re talking about, so QED and stuff.
See? No
Sooooooo, this book. It is slightly super fun and entertaining and awesome and stuff. Because Jasper Fforde’s book are always super fun and entertaining and awesome and stuff. And also because Jasper Fforde always creates super original, super creative, super witty, super hahahaha, super cool worlds and characters and stuff.
Why thank you, Spocky dear!
Sooooooo, this book. It’s the third in a series so I won’t bother to recap what happened so far because
As in all Fforde Books of Totally Delicious Inventiveness and Utterly Fun Freshness (FBoTDIaUFF™), the story is jam-packed with funny, clever, wacky ideas. I could tell you about them, but we’d be here a week or so if I did, so I won’t. Yeah, I’m kind and considerate and charitable like that. Sometimes. Not today though. Ergo, behold the Slightly Never-Ending List of Ffordesomeness (SNELoF™), Lovely Arthropods Mine!
✔ Rocket-propelled liquorice launchers.
✔ Tralfamosaurs (cute, fluffy, cuddly, pea-brained pets that are “a lot like Tyrannosaurus Rex, but without the sunny disposition and winning personality”).
✔ Despot Awards. I’m afraid I wasn’t nominated in the ‘Worst Teeth’ or ‘Despot most likely to be killed by an enraged mob with agricultural tools’ categories this year, but I did make it to the ‘Most Hated Tyrant,’ ‘Most Corrupt King of a medium-sized Kingdom,’ and ‘Best original act of despotism adapted from an otherwise fair law’ short lists. Go me and stuff.
✔ Troll wars that are like Batman movies: “repeated at regular intervals, featuring expensive hardware, and broadly predictable.”
✔ The Blessed Ladies of the Lobster Orphanage. Ladies of the bloody shrimping LOBSTER, my Little Barnacles!!! Crustaceans FTW!!
✔ Jeopardy Tourism (for those seeking life-threatening situations) and Fatality Indexes (“32% chance of being devoured, but good scenery with ample picnic spots”).
✔ The best multi-tool since
✔ Undisciplined, infantile, argumentative, barely sane sorcerers whose magic only works when they really concentrate (“which isn’t that often”).
✔ Violent Medieval monarchy vs. benevolent dictatorship. I’m more inclined towards violent dictatorship myself, but to each his/her/their/its/whatever own and stuff.
[Sorry for the interruption, but I think we’re in dire need of a celebratory dancing break here.
Woo-bloody-hoo, now did that feel great or what?!]
✔ Highly motivated homing
✔ Royal Dog Mess Removal Operatives (don’t ask).
✔ Cannibalistic savages “with an unhealthy enthusiasm for taxidermy.”
✔ The 18.02 teatime ‘Express Battle’ special and the 12.07 ceasefire, courtesy of the Railway militia. Real sticklers for punctuality, these guys. And they have great customer service, too. I mean, if the ceasefire is really late, you can even apply for a refund and stuff.
✔ The
✔ Müller’s Guide to Kidnappable Personages (I’m featured in it, obviously).
✔ Also: Weaponized bacon, the fastest recorded gossip ever (clocked at 47.26 mph), acceptable (albeit mildly simplistic) alliterations, a steam-powered Isle of Wight, “Meals on Wheels” (aka four-storey armoured tracked vehicles, aka a fine example of troll humor) and limited-edition goats for collectors.
✔ Also, also: Awesome stuff, more awesome stuff, and even more awesome stuff.
⚠️ Daaaaaaaannnnnnce alert⚠️
➽ And the moral of this If All
“Death cannot be avoided for ever, but it can be postponed – in that respect it’s very like the washing-up.”
· Book 1: The Last Dragonslayer ★★★★
· Book 2: The Song of the Quarkbeast ★★★★
· Book 4: The Great Troll War ★★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
I bet you're under the illusion that I just read a novel aimed towards Revoltingly Juvenile Readers (RJR™). Hahahaha. Go home, my Little Barnacles, you're quite obviously drunk.
➽ Full Jasper Fforde Makes Everything Better Even Bloody Shrimping YA Crappy Non Review (JFMEBEBSYACNR™) to come.
October 17, 2014
UPDATE: 10/16/2014: AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME and AWESOME!!! Full review here: http://oplteenpicks.blogspot.com/2014...
p.s.
p.p.s. I still want a pet Quarkbeast
UPDATE 10/8/2014: Finally, finally, FINALLY!! The book is in my hands! Tonight, I begin reading!!
I am BEYOND excited for this one! I'd even go as far as to say my excitement for it is reaching such a pitch it near matches that which I felt while anticipating the 7th Harry Potter book. Jasper Fforde's "Dragonslayer" series is creative, hilarious, inventive, entertaining, and all-around awesome!
p.s. I totally want a pet Quarkbeast!
p.s.
p.p.s. I still want a pet Quarkbeast
UPDATE 10/8/2014: Finally, finally, FINALLY!! The book is in my hands! Tonight, I begin reading!!
I am BEYOND excited for this one! I'd even go as far as to say my excitement for it is reaching such a pitch it near matches that which I felt while anticipating the 7th Harry Potter book. Jasper Fforde's "Dragonslayer" series is creative, hilarious, inventive, entertaining, and all-around awesome!
p.s. I totally want a pet Quarkbeast!
September 28, 2014
The Eye Of Zoltar is the third book in the Chronicles of Kazam series by Welsh author Jasper Fforde. Aimed at the Young Adult reader, the heroine is a 16-year-old foundling raised by the Blessed Ladies of the Lobster, Jennifer Strange. This book is set some weeks after the events of The Song of the Quarkbeast, and while it is not essential to have read that book, it does help with understanding this one, and it, too, is a brilliant read. Jennifer is summoned by the Mighty Shandar, who is annoyed with her Dragon saving exploits (see book 1). He gives her an ultimatum: either she and all the wizards battle against him for the two remaining Dragons (sure to end badly for both wizards and Dragons); or she finds for him the Eye of Zoltar. A bit of research reveals that this legendary magical jewel was last seen by ex-sorcerer, Able Quizzler, around the neck of the legendary Sky Pirate Wolff. Legend has it that Wolff had tamed a Cloud Leviathan and had a hideout in the Leviathans Graveyard on the mountain Cadair Idris, near Llangurig in the Cambrian Empire, but most believe it highly unlikely. Undaunted, Jennifer heads to Cambria with newly minted wizard Perkins in tow, as well as the very spoiled Princess Shazine (luckily in not quite recognisable form), entrusted to Jennifer for a bit of character-building by Queen Mimosa. Their secondary mission is to retrieve the Once Magnificent Boo from the Ransom Clearing House in Cambrianopolis where she is being held for importing a captured Tralfamosaur. Colin, the Dragon, will back them up aerially. They pose as adventure seeking tourists, Cambria being a popular Jeopardy Tourism destination, and soon acquire the services of young Addie Powell as their guide into a dangerous region where their estimated chance of survival is 50%. This instalment features a riddling gravedigger, a trial that lasts less than 20 seconds, quite a lot of human drones, a Bugatti Royale, a succinct lesson in basic economics, and a slug farm; someone turns to stone; another to rubber, many turn to lead, others are eaten and stuffed and one regenerates into an Australopithecine; a hand is lost in battle; an ornithologist and wizard give their lives to save others; the reader learns about the importance of licquorice, angel feathers, goats and homing snails; about the tenacity of Railway companies; and the Cambrian penalty for share market manipulation. Fforde gives the reader a clever plot with plenty of turns and an ending that leaves ample scope for further books. Readers will look forward to the fourth instalment, Strange and the Wizard. The illustrations by Roger Mason are excellent. Once again, Fforde does not disappoint.
January 17, 2018
Well I can say this novel certainly upped the ante! In this one Jennifer is sent on a quest in the neighboring Cambrian Empire to look for an artifact that everyone else believes is a legend. If she doesn't find it the dragons are doomed. The Cambrian Empire prides itself on being dangerous and sells adventure packages for adrenaline seekers. Ye buy packages based on the Fatality Index - the likely number of people in yer party who are going to die. Arrr!
Scary things in the Cambrian Empire include Tralfamosaur, slugs, a war between railroad companies, and market economics. But luckily Addie Powell is their awesome tour guide. Seriously I love her and think she is one of the best parts about the novel. No major spoilers but this book was a pure whimsical delight. I want book four!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
Scary things in the Cambrian Empire include Tralfamosaur, slugs, a war between railroad companies, and market economics. But luckily Addie Powell is their awesome tour guide. Seriously I love her and think she is one of the best parts about the novel. No major spoilers but this book was a pure whimsical delight. I want book four!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
June 24, 2014
Typical Jasper Fforde fare - quirky, funny and lighthearted. Not quite as brilliant as the Thursday Next series, but close. I thought this was going to be the last book in this particular series but it did seem to end very much in the air with the opportunity for much more to come. I hope so!
October 19, 2014
I gave this book three stars, even though I really wanted to give it 4 (or 5), as (well, there's no easy way to put this) the book is a severe downer. Don't get me wrong, Fforde's writing is as funny and satirical as in the previous two books in the series, but whereas in those books he balances his morbid humor with a generally up-beat ending, in this book at the end several major characters die and the entire UnUK goes through a sudden dramatic (and brutal) regime change, essentially wiping the slate clean of some awesome world-building (also, there's a severe lack of quarkbeast (or the Kazam crew in general) after the first few chapters). Frankly, after the first 90 or so pages, I started getting a lurking feeling that this wasn't going to end well, and such proved to be the case. It's a sad fact that I told one of my sisters that this book deserved a 5 star rating just for the humor in the first few chapters even if the rest of the book was tripe. Strangely (no pun intended), it wasn't tripe, it was even all really well written with humor throughout, but it kept pushing further and further away from its predecessors, developing a serious side that just didn't appeal to me, and didn't work. Not only did it lessen the fun of the humor but it was hard to fully appreciate the gut-wrenchingly (weird auto-correct side-note, Goodreads wanted me to put "gut-enchantingly" instead of gut-wrenchingly... bizarre) tragic moments when characters are inexplicably cracking jokes moments later. I truly don't know what Mr. Fforde was thinking, this has all the parts of a great book, but between the questionable tonal flip-flops (the sudden convenient shift in the princess from loathsome egocentric hapless brat to helpful economically-knowledgeable self-effacing side-kick for instance), the unnecessary cliffhanger ending, and the brutal offing of central (and well-developed) characters (), it almost feels like the author is trying to recast his odd-ball silly sarcastic YA fantasy as some sort of epic, and what we, the audience, are left with is a mish-mash of two very different books that doesn't quite succeed as either.
Hmmm... I suppose I ought to give a story synopsis, so the Eye of Zoltar picks up with Shandar the sometimes-living sorcerer contacting our hero Jennifer Strange (teenage manager of Kazam, the only licensed purveyor of magic in the Kingdom of Snood, ambassador to dragons, etc etc) and offering to spare the last two dragons (see book 1) which he was contracted to exterminate (and whose plot she foiled) and for which the kingdoms of the UnUK are now demanding refunds if she will obtain for him the semi-mythical EYE OF ZOLTAR (it needs capitals, it really does). Not wishing to see Kazam crushed by Shandar in some pathetic attempt to fight off Shandar's drakocidal agenda, she agrees and heads into the Cambrian Empire accompanied by her sort-of boyfriend Perkins (the youngest sorcerer in Kazam), a rubberized dragon, and the crown-princess of Snood (whose mage-trained mother the Queen switched her brain into the body of a lowly servant and thrust her on Jennifer in hopes of teaching her responsibility). Cambria is a strange place (even by UnUK standards) as it makes its wealth on jeopardy tourism thanks to its large wilderness area inhabited by all manner of hostile life-forms: human, animal, and monstrous, but it is where the few rumors about the EYE OF ZOLTAR all point (leviathans and sky-pirates are involved, obviously). Along the way they pick up a surprisingly young and competent tour guide, a group of tourist idiots (to balance out their chances of survival since their guide assures them that half of their number will certainly die or be lost), and encounter all manner of fell beasties.
Hopefully this is just a bump on the road and the next (last?) book in the series will be a return to the awesomeness of the first two. We can only hope.
Hmmm... I suppose I ought to give a story synopsis, so the Eye of Zoltar picks up with Shandar the sometimes-living sorcerer contacting our hero Jennifer Strange (teenage manager of Kazam, the only licensed purveyor of magic in the Kingdom of Snood, ambassador to dragons, etc etc) and offering to spare the last two dragons (see book 1) which he was contracted to exterminate (and whose plot she foiled) and for which the kingdoms of the UnUK are now demanding refunds if she will obtain for him the semi-mythical EYE OF ZOLTAR (it needs capitals, it really does). Not wishing to see Kazam crushed by Shandar in some pathetic attempt to fight off Shandar's drakocidal agenda, she agrees and heads into the Cambrian Empire accompanied by her sort-of boyfriend Perkins (the youngest sorcerer in Kazam), a rubberized dragon, and the crown-princess of Snood (whose mage-trained mother the Queen switched her brain into the body of a lowly servant and thrust her on Jennifer in hopes of teaching her responsibility). Cambria is a strange place (even by UnUK standards) as it makes its wealth on jeopardy tourism thanks to its large wilderness area inhabited by all manner of hostile life-forms: human, animal, and monstrous, but it is where the few rumors about the EYE OF ZOLTAR all point (leviathans and sky-pirates are involved, obviously). Along the way they pick up a surprisingly young and competent tour guide, a group of tourist idiots (to balance out their chances of survival since their guide assures them that half of their number will certainly die or be lost), and encounter all manner of fell beasties.
Hopefully this is just a bump on the road and the next (last?) book in the series will be a return to the awesomeness of the first two. We can only hope.
January 10, 2019
I love this series! It’s so punny and ridiculous. This book was a particularly great adventure. I can’t wait for the next one. I’ll be sad when the series ends. The narrator is excellent too.
November 18, 2024
Okay yeah this is the best one so far, and I'm not sure it's close. A classic quest but with 3 stoners, a friendly neanderthal, a rubber dragon, the Crocodile Hunter, and a Princess-Switch-meets-Wall-Street -insider-trading-but -with-goats was everything I needed to be listening to.
I'm still laughing at "would you like to take the deposed and penniless King Zigsman VII in lieu of change?"
It's not just a silly take on fantasy tropes with hilarious lines and biting commentary. The plot is seriously smart, even considering it's playing fast and loose with the rules it just made up. I kept thinking "one of these random tangents is going to be the key to the story" and I'm still surprised at how clever it is.
It's a must listen. This is a top tier entertaining narrator.
I'm still laughing at "would you like to take the deposed and penniless King Zigsman VII in lieu of change?"
It's not just a silly take on fantasy tropes with hilarious lines and biting commentary. The plot is seriously smart, even considering it's playing fast and loose with the rules it just made up. I kept thinking "one of these random tangents is going to be the key to the story" and I'm still surprised at how clever it is.
It's a must listen. This is a top tier entertaining narrator.
October 15, 2014
This is the third in Jasper Fforde’s YA series featuring Jennifer Strange, the competent 16-year-old running an agency of magicians in the Ununited Kingdom, a highly skewed alternate world UK. Jennifer’s the kind of girl who takes disasters in stride, which is fortunate because just as she is about to have her first date she and her young man have to alter their plans to act as bait for a crazed dinosaur-sized magical creature on a rampage, and almost immediately after they must embark on a quest across the border with a petulant self-absorbed princess in tow to find the Eye of Zoltar, though they’re be careful to not refer to their expedition as a quest because that would bring on reams of paperwork and substantial fees.
Romance is not Fforde’s strong suit, but brilliant not quite absurd absurdities with frequent enough wisps of truth to make them irresistibly funny are, and that’s on full display here. I’ve been missing the Neanderthals from the early books of Fforde’s wonderful Thursday Next series (a favorite of mine because it’s full of literary references) so I was thrilled to find a new Australopithecine character here. There’s a satisfying ending to Eye of Zoltar, but the good news is it’s a to-be-continued story so there will be at least one more of these books packed with nonstop action, strong female characters, unrelenting wit.
Romance is not Fforde’s strong suit, but brilliant not quite absurd absurdities with frequent enough wisps of truth to make them irresistibly funny are, and that’s on full display here. I’ve been missing the Neanderthals from the early books of Fforde’s wonderful Thursday Next series (a favorite of mine because it’s full of literary references) so I was thrilled to find a new Australopithecine character here. There’s a satisfying ending to Eye of Zoltar, but the good news is it’s a to-be-continued story so there will be at least one more of these books packed with nonstop action, strong female characters, unrelenting wit.
February 18, 2017
I received an advanced readers copy (after publication) as my first Goodreads giveaway. YAY!!
Jennifer Strange, now Court Mystician to the King, is summoned to the palace and asked to help the rude and spoiled princess become a humble ruler. Then, the Mighty Shandar threatens to kill the two remaining dragons (Feldspar and Colin) that Jennifer has spared from extinction (in an earlier book) unless Jennifer finds the mysterious Eye of Zoltar. She and her assembled team, including the princess, have to go to the Cambrian Empire, a place where perilous tourism keeps the national economy stable and everything can kill you. Unlike
the first two book were an escalating juggling act, this book is linear, as Jennifer's expedition gains and loses members and fights through more travails and dangers than can be described here. Highlights were the princess, who was bright and matured during the quest, and the tour guide, Adele.
Other things I liked were: (1) All-Rise, the combined bakery/courthouse in Llangurig, (2) "Being a clairvoyant is 10% guesswork and 90% probability mathematics," and (3) the grading system for reality: Grade I "proven non-existent", Grade II "no proof of existence", Grade III "really not very likely at all", Grade IV "not very likely, to be honest", and Grade V "okay some basis in fact, but still partly unexplained."
Jennifer Strange, now Court Mystician to the King, is summoned to the palace and asked to help the rude and spoiled princess become a humble ruler. Then, the Mighty Shandar threatens to kill the two remaining dragons (Feldspar and Colin) that Jennifer has spared from extinction (in an earlier book) unless Jennifer finds the mysterious Eye of Zoltar. She and her assembled team, including the princess, have to go to the Cambrian Empire, a place where perilous tourism keeps the national economy stable and everything can kill you. Unlike
the first two book were an escalating juggling act, this book is linear, as Jennifer's expedition gains and loses members and fights through more travails and dangers than can be described here. Highlights were the princess, who was bright and matured during the quest, and the tour guide, Adele.
Other things I liked were: (1) All-Rise, the combined bakery/courthouse in Llangurig, (2) "Being a clairvoyant is 10% guesswork and 90% probability mathematics," and (3) the grading system for reality: Grade I "proven non-existent", Grade II "no proof of existence", Grade III "really not very likely at all", Grade IV "not very likely, to be honest", and Grade V "okay some basis in fact, but still partly unexplained."
October 12, 2015
Another fun and light hearted read in the Chronicles of Kazam series, and to my mind the best so far. This one is set a couple of weeks after the 2nd book, 'The Song of the Quarkbeast'. In this tale Jennifer Strange actually has an audience with the 'Mighty Shandar', the greatest sorcerer who ever lived. Once upon a time he was paid 18 dray-weights of gold to rid the world of Dragons, Jennifer rather spoilt that plan, and he doesn't give refunds.
In a twenty-four hour period, Jennifer Strange has to deal with a lot of oddness (well, slightly odder than usual):
1. She has to deal with a runaway Tralfamosaur with a licorice launcher.
2. She has to babysit a spoiled, bratty Princess who has been body-swapped with a lowly servant girl, since the Queen wants her taught some humility and compassion.
3. The Mighty Shandar blackmails her into finding a mythical ruby called the Eye of Zoltar, and threatens to kill the young dragons if she doesn't find it for him.
Even though this series is aimed at the YA readership, I am going to miss these characters until the next book in the series is released sometime next year. This is the type of book which I would like my children to have read when they were younger, plenty to keep an imagination alive.
In a twenty-four hour period, Jennifer Strange has to deal with a lot of oddness (well, slightly odder than usual):
1. She has to deal with a runaway Tralfamosaur with a licorice launcher.
2. She has to babysit a spoiled, bratty Princess who has been body-swapped with a lowly servant girl, since the Queen wants her taught some humility and compassion.
3. The Mighty Shandar blackmails her into finding a mythical ruby called the Eye of Zoltar, and threatens to kill the young dragons if she doesn't find it for him.
Even though this series is aimed at the YA readership, I am going to miss these characters until the next book in the series is released sometime next year. This is the type of book which I would like my children to have read when they were younger, plenty to keep an imagination alive.
October 24, 2014
Before I wrote this review, I looked up what I said for book #2 in the series, and realized most of my thoughts for this book are the same. This is a super fun, very entertaining read.
Picking up not long after the end of book 2, this story sees Jennifer headed to another country on a quest, but don’t call it a quest because that would involve paperwork. She’s accompanied by an eclectic cast of characters, which shrinks and grows as the story progresses. She encounters one adventure after another, each one stranger and more entertaining than the last.
With such a light hearted feel to the story, it is quite remarkable to still see such well developed characters and plot. This is a solid story, with fully formed personalities. It just happens to take place in a crazy magical world where literally anything could happen.
I really liked this latest book in the series, and with the announcement of one final book in the series to be published in 2015 (hopefully), I can’t wait to see what the final adventure holds. This is a very fun series that is sure to delight any fantasy loving readers, young or old.
Picking up not long after the end of book 2, this story sees Jennifer headed to another country on a quest, but don’t call it a quest because that would involve paperwork. She’s accompanied by an eclectic cast of characters, which shrinks and grows as the story progresses. She encounters one adventure after another, each one stranger and more entertaining than the last.
With such a light hearted feel to the story, it is quite remarkable to still see such well developed characters and plot. This is a solid story, with fully formed personalities. It just happens to take place in a crazy magical world where literally anything could happen.
I really liked this latest book in the series, and with the announcement of one final book in the series to be published in 2015 (hopefully), I can’t wait to see what the final adventure holds. This is a very fun series that is sure to delight any fantasy loving readers, young or old.
January 11, 2021
I always enjoy Jasper Fforde's style of silly and puntastic adventures but this one was kind of a downer. Jennifer Strange is just as responsible as ever heading to a neighboring kingdom on a quest that has ramifications for the future of dragonkind. I still enjoyed my time in this world where magic is computerlike and the absurd is commonplace but I was less happy about the rather shocking cliffhanger ending.
August 5, 2016
Loved it more than book 2. Avery is off on a mission (don't call it a quest because there is too much paperwork) in a neighboring kingdom to rescue one of her magicians and find a magical item. What could go wrong? Everything. The action is face paced and well written. These books are a great way to introduce teens to the joys of off beat sci-fi.
November 19, 2019
Nicht ganz so schrullig verschroben wie die Vorgänger, dafür aber mit so vielen aberwitzigen Ideen, dass es einfach nur ein magisch abenteuerliches Feuerwerk ist :)
August 18, 2025
Я смело ставлю Джаспера Ффорде в список любимых авторов. Но вот с его циклом «Последняя охотница на драконов» у меня так и не сложилось той самой любви, которая была в других циклах автора. Мне очень нравятся тонкий юмор и шутки автора, его любовь к несуразностям в духе "Алисы в стране Чудес". Но вот именно этот цикл имеет чёткий крен в подростковую аудиторию, что мешает мне получить истинное наслаждение от прочитанного.
В третьей книге Дженнифер получает чёткий квест - найти Око Золтара, чтобы спасти драконов из первой части. Артефакт находится неизвестно где и непонятно как выглядит. Как оказалось, это скорее сказка и слухи о ней ходят в соседней Империи, которая живёт по своим законам. Вместо свидания с Перкинсом, Дженнифер Стрэндж вынуждена решать проблемы, обрушившиеся на голову не только "Казама", но и короля с королевой.
Из интересных новых героев - вредная принцесса, которую переселили в тело служанки в воспитательных мерах. Принцесса в теле Золушки, мне кажется, отлично вписалась в историю и местами весьма позабавила своими высказываниями.
В остальном вроде всё типично для цикла - постоянно попадаются странные персонажи, герои вляпываются в новые проблемы, не успев выбраться из старых.
Читается легко, книгу умял за 3 дня, но не могу сказать, что она меня чем-то зацепила. Читал бы я её в лет 14-15... Как по мне, история слишком простая и подаётся примерно так же. Сколько я уже перечитал этих походов за артефактами... Но фирменный стиль автора сохранился, конечно же. В конце даже неожиданно Ффорде решил "зажестить" и выдал весьма неожиданный финал с отличным заделом на следующую книгу, которую там и не выпустили на русском языке.
Также не могу не отметить эпический косяк с книгой, которая вышла 2018 году в Э - в ней отсутствует около 50 страниц, которые потерялись при вёрстке. В издании 2019 года это было уже исправлено. Печально, но факт.
Хорошая подростковая фэнтезятина с нотками стёба и юмора, но простоватая для взрослых. Из цикла не выбивается. Обложка, кстати, красивая.
7/10.
В третьей книге Дженнифер получает чёткий квест - найти Око Золтара, чтобы спасти драконов из первой части. Артефакт находится неизвестно где и непонятно как выглядит. Как оказалось, это скорее сказка и слухи о ней ходят в соседней Империи, которая живёт по своим законам. Вместо свидания с Перкинсом, Дженнифер Стрэндж вынуждена решать проблемы, обрушившиеся на голову не только "Казама", но и короля с королевой.
Из интересных новых героев - вредная принцесса, которую переселили в тело служанки в воспитательных мерах. Принцесса в теле Золушки, мне кажется, отлично вписалась в историю и местами весьма позабавила своими высказываниями.
В остальном вроде всё типично для цикла - постоянно попадаются странные персонажи, герои вляпываются в новые проблемы, не успев выбраться из старых.
Читается легко, книгу умял за 3 дня, но не могу сказать, что она меня чем-то зацепила. Читал бы я её в лет 14-15... Как по мне, история слишком простая и подаётся примерно так же. Сколько я уже перечитал этих походов за артефактами... Но фирменный стиль автора сохранился, конечно же. В конце даже неожиданно Ффорде решил "зажестить" и выдал весьма неожиданный финал с отличным заделом на следующую книгу, которую там и не выпустили на русском языке.
Также не могу не отметить эпический косяк с книгой, которая вышла 2018 году в Э - в ней отсутствует около 50 страниц, которые потерялись при вёрстке. В издании 2019 года это было уже исправлено. Печально, но факт.
Хорошая подростковая фэнтезятина с нотками стёба и юмора, но простоватая для взрослых. Из цикла не выбивается. Обложка, кстати, красивая.
7/10.
October 25, 2017
Keine Ahnung, was diesmal los war, aber ich fand das Buch größtenteils einfach nur langweilig und sehr langatmig. Es gab einige witzige Stellen, aber Das Auge des Zoltars konnte mich leider nicht so begeistern wie seine Vorgänger.
January 28, 2023
Lighthearted and entertaining. I enjoy Fforde's writing style. It reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett. The princess turned out to be a really fun character, and of course I love all of the regulars. Looking forward to the next one!
September 20, 2020
Good silly fun, written for young adults, but I enjoy anything by Fforde. Excellent for reading during lockdown. It finishes with a great cliffhanger, so no doubt his heroine will have another outing before too long.
I love Fforde's absurd juxtapositions: a Quarkbeast is described as being a creature "often described as a cross between a labrador and an open knife drawer, with a bit of velociraptor and scaly pangolin chucked in for good measure. Despite its terrifying appearance and an odd habit of eating metal, the Quarkbeast was a loyal and intelligent companion." Another example is of two young dragons who play their part in the story: one has the very dragonlike name of Feldspar Axiom Firebreath IV, but the other is called Colin.
I love Fforde's absurd juxtapositions: a Quarkbeast is described as being a creature "often described as a cross between a labrador and an open knife drawer, with a bit of velociraptor and scaly pangolin chucked in for good measure. Despite its terrifying appearance and an odd habit of eating metal, the Quarkbeast was a loyal and intelligent companion." Another example is of two young dragons who play their part in the story: one has the very dragonlike name of Feldspar Axiom Firebreath IV, but the other is called Colin.
July 13, 2014
Brilliant series!
November 2, 2019
A wonderful book! Although the whole series of adventure books about Jennifer Strange is aimed at young people (and I'm not a young girl), I really liked it! I can't wait for the fourth book!
August 30, 2015
library copy
February 1, 2021
It’s always a pleasure to visit Jasper Fforde’s Last Dragonslayer world. With its satire and funny wizards it will always face competition from Discworld, but there is a certain matter-of-factness that sets it apart, and a sense that Fforde is more invested in his world and how it works than in using it to satirise ours.
Jennifer Strange, long suffering employee at Kazam (a low end magical service who mainly fix people’s plumbing) this time finds herself working to appease the dubious wizard Shandar, who threatens to follow through on his original threat (see Book 1) to kill all dragons unless Jennifer locates the mythical Eye of Zoltar. She accepts and pretty much the whole book is her search (for legal reasons, it’s not a quest) to find it.
Much danger and excitement is had, and the plot (as is usual for Fforde) comes together very neatly. It’s a good story for Jennifer and the rest of her hastily assembled gang, with some surprisingly grim and emotional pitfalls. But there is something a bit middling about taking a whole book to essentially run an errand. The feeling nagged at me throughout this good but rather long-for-what-it-is entry, as Jennifer is repeatedly informed that bad things are happening at home which presumably we want to know more about. Sure enough, this book isn’t a complete story, and with few pages to go the status quo is very different, the stage set for what is apparently the final Dragonslayer book. Given this was published about 7 years ago and there are no immediate signs of book 4, I feel a bit sorry for anyone who read it on release!
The Eye of Zoltar will probably work better when it’s part of a complete set. As it is, necessarily leaving out several major parts of the Dragonverse because Jennifer isn’t with them (the books are first person), it’s a polished, entertaining bit of unfinished business.
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
Jennifer Strange, long suffering employee at Kazam (a low end magical service who mainly fix people’s plumbing) this time finds herself working to appease the dubious wizard Shandar, who threatens to follow through on his original threat (see Book 1) to kill all dragons unless Jennifer locates the mythical Eye of Zoltar. She accepts and pretty much the whole book is her search (for legal reasons, it’s not a quest) to find it.
Much danger and excitement is had, and the plot (as is usual for Fforde) comes together very neatly. It’s a good story for Jennifer and the rest of her hastily assembled gang, with some surprisingly grim and emotional pitfalls. But there is something a bit middling about taking a whole book to essentially run an errand. The feeling nagged at me throughout this good but rather long-for-what-it-is entry, as Jennifer is repeatedly informed that bad things are happening at home which presumably we want to know more about. Sure enough, this book isn’t a complete story, and with few pages to go the status quo is very different, the stage set for what is apparently the final Dragonslayer book. Given this was published about 7 years ago and there are no immediate signs of book 4, I feel a bit sorry for anyone who read it on release!
The Eye of Zoltar will probably work better when it’s part of a complete set. As it is, necessarily leaving out several major parts of the Dragonverse because Jennifer isn’t with them (the books are first person), it’s a polished, entertaining bit of unfinished business.
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
October 23, 2018
I have docked this book half a star (to 3.5) for leaving us hanging - I found the ending a little lacklustre. It’s obviously to set up the fourth book but given this has been out for 4 years it’s just mean ;) it’s not actually a cliffhanger really, more of a “and now what happens??” moment.
With that said, I really loved the search/quest. I liked all the new characters too - the princess seemed to acclimatise a little quickly, but she rocked and Addie was awesome. And there are a couple of moments of obvious sadness.
I love the devious craziness of Shandar and I’m looking forward to seeing all that play out in book four. And Jaspers brand of awesome nonsensical reality really does continue to work brilliantly. It’s fun getting to see another of the ununited kingdoms too
There are just so many unanswered questions in this book about what happens off page while Jennifer is off on her quest. It makes the whole book feel like a massive set up to a sequel, which I found a bit of a shame, as up until then I’d enjoyed the adventuring nature of the story.
With that said, I really loved the search/quest. I liked all the new characters too - the princess seemed to acclimatise a little quickly, but she rocked and Addie was awesome. And there are a couple of moments of obvious sadness.
I love the devious craziness of Shandar and I’m looking forward to seeing all that play out in book four. And Jaspers brand of awesome nonsensical reality really does continue to work brilliantly. It’s fun getting to see another of the ununited kingdoms too
There are just so many unanswered questions in this book about what happens off page while Jennifer is off on her quest. It makes the whole book feel like a massive set up to a sequel, which I found a bit of a shame, as up until then I’d enjoyed the adventuring nature of the story.
November 15, 2022
The plot in this volume was a bit slower than in the first two. Still quirky but not as light-hearted rompy. Sometimes the quirkiness comes off as chaotic aimlessness in the narrative which can interfere with what is sometimes otherwise a compelling and somewhat heavy (sometimes unsettling) plot, which makes it difficult to emotionally invest in a way I think it deserves. Some new characters to love and some new characters to hate. A lot happens at the very beginning, and then there is a steady (somewhat sloggy) progression with a lot of hints and very brief adventures with world-building tidbits and then a LOT happens in the last 7ish chapters and dramatically changes the scope of the stakes going forward. Looking forward to what I hope will be a lot of magical ass-kicking and out-maneuvering in the fourth one.
April 4, 2019
It seems this series is going on, which is good because this one leaves you up in the air on many fronts. I usually try to wait until all books in a series have been published so I read them back to back. I hate this waiting to find out what comes next. I had sveral issues with this one, but only because, like the first, I don't like to lose anyone or anything I have grown attached to. The events go downhill rapidly right from the beginning and unlike the first two, pretty much stays down even at the end. The "quest" ends satisfactorily, with one or two quibbles over losses, but you are left on the cusp of anxiety over what happens next.
October 27, 2020
I am still enjoying this YA series, although I'm sorry I caught up with the series and now have to wait for the next book which apparently is coming out sometime in late 2021. Mr. Fforde certainly takes his time between books! This one is about a quest (but we can't call it that because there's too much paperwork involve in questing) to the neighboring kingdom. Since most of the book takes place there, we don't have many of the usual characters (and beasts). Still, there's lots of action and magic and it's a rollicking good story. Sadly the end includes a new crisis which won't be resolved until the next book. Still, it's a fun and quick read.
July 3, 2022
All quite lovely...if you have a hazy recollection of the ending of book 2 and by NO MEANS go back and read the last 2 chapters. Don't do it, even if you have the niggling feeling in chapter 2 that events were not so described at the end of the final chapter of book 2, or if a certain character who recently came back into possession of 2 fingers is also...different.
This is the way to full enjoyment!
I also am reminded that the ending of the book made one hope the next would be released poste haste. 8 years later I have my copy.
Re-read of the already available books done, off to Book 4!!
This is the way to full enjoyment!
I also am reminded that the ending of the book made one hope the next would be released poste haste. 8 years later I have my copy.
Re-read of the already available books done, off to Book 4!!
May 24, 2020
A bit slow to start, but the story eventually picked up its pace and really hooked me (even if that did mean through tragedy).
I loved Addie, and by the end I really liked the Princess too, but did think the start of the Princess' character shift could have been fleshed out more (or perhaps she could have been less comically obnoxious to begin with).
As usual Fforde's snark and humour is awesome, and I can't wait for the next book in the series....
I loved Addie, and by the end I really liked the Princess too, but did think the start of the Princess' character shift could have been fleshed out more (or perhaps she could have been less comically obnoxious to begin with).
As usual Fforde's snark and humour is awesome, and I can't wait for the next book in the series....
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