Chapters 1-12 (and a bit about The Eyre Affair)

[Bon]

I'm significantly further than this now, but I wanted to loop back and start a discussion about the first part of the book.

Did it seem really slow to anyone else? I completely understand that it generally takes a hundred to a few hundred pages for a book to really start. With a book this short, however, I feel like it's almost done before it's even started!

I do enjoy Jasper Fforde, though, and how creative he is. I read the first four books in The Eyre Affair/Thursday Next series earlier this year and loved how creative and original he was with his dialogue and plots in the first two. Sadly, the 3rd and 4th books just didn't compare with the first two. And, while I know The Last Dragonslayer is teen/young adult, I felt like it was missing ...something.

[Allison]

I agree with that somewhat. With Last Dragonslayer, I so enjoyed the environment of Kazam,and the quirks of the place that the plot didn't bother me so much. This is, in fact, VERY rare for me. Usually I huff at environment and just want Character! Or Plot! But this was the exception.

However, compared to the Eyre Affair, it is lacking. I think it's because Eyre Affair is so richly layered and filled with literary in-jokes. Love it. This one is fun, cute, and a smidge satirical. I do feel like the world could grow into something really cool, and I do want to give the further books a try.