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The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1 Kindle Edition
“Fforde’s talent for world-building, his skewed sense of humor and his searing satire come through full force.”—New York Times Book Review
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.
“Smart, funny, and abundantly imaginative.”—Horn Book
“Humor abounds, but so does heart, as readers are introduced to a heroine who is practical, smart, and true.”—School Library Journal (starred review)
“Readers both young and adult will get hours of pleasure visiting these Ununited Kingdoms, and riding around in the Rolls-Royce Slayermobile with the Last Dragonslayer and her stalwart sidekick, Tiger Prawns.”—NPR.org
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level6 - 12
- Lexile measure850L
- PublisherClarion Books
- Publication dateOctober 2, 2012
- ISBN-13978-0544104716
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Review
"With 'The Last Dragonslayer' fans of Jasper Fforde's best-selling 'Thursday Next' and 'Nursery Crime' series will be delighted that Fforde's talent for world-building, his skewed sense of humor and his searing satire come through full force."
—New York Times Book Review “Features the same delightful mix of magic and everyday absurdity that characterizes [Fforde’s] other books. . . . Readers both young and adult will get hours of pleasure visiting these Ununited Kingdoms.”
—NPR Books, online review "Fforde's foray into children's books will delight readers who like their fantasy with a dash of silliness.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review "Humor abounds, but so does heart, as readers are introduced to a heroine who is practical, smart, and true."
—School Library Journal, starred review "Fforde's fantasy is smart, funny, and abundantly imaginative in its critique of commercial culture. . . . Reminiscent of Pratchett in tone, this is nevertheless Fforde’s own creature entirely—and entirely satisfying.”
—Horn Book “Fantasy readers with a taste for the silly should appreciate the subverted tropes.”
—Kirkus "Thoroughly entertaining . . . readers will easily sit back and enjoy the fun.”
—Booklist —
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
ONE
Practical Magic
It looked set to become even hotter by the afternoon, just when the job was becoming more fiddly and needed extra concentration. But the fair weather brought at least one advantage: dry air makes magic work better and fly farther. Moisture has a moderating effect on the mystical arts. No sorcerer worth their sparkle ever did productive work in the rain—which probably accounts for why getting showers tostart was once considered easy, but getting them to stop was nearly impossible.
We hadn’t been able to afford a company car for years, so the three sorcerers, the beast, and I were packed into my rust-and-orange-but-mostly-rust Volkswagen for the short journey from Hereford to Dinmore. Lady Mawgon had insisted on sitting in the passenger seat because "that’s how it will be," which meant that Wizard Moobin and the well-proportioned Full Price were in the back seat, with the Quarkbeast sitting between the two of them and panting in the heat. I was driving, which might have been unusual anywhere but here in the Kingdom of Hereford, which was unique in the Ununited Kingdoms for having driving tests based on maturity, not age. That explained why I’d had a license since I was thirteen, while some were still failing to make the grade at forty. It was lucky I could. Sorcerers are easily distracted, and letting them drive is about as safe as waving around a chain saw at full throttle in a crowded nightclub.
We had lots to talk about—the job we were driving to, the weather, experimental spells, King Snodd’s sometimes eccentric ways. But we didn’t. Price, Moobin, and Mawgon, despite being our best sorcerers, didn’t really get along. It wasn’t anything personal; sorcerers are just like that—temperamental, and apt to break out into petulant posturing that takes time and energy to smooth over. My job of running Kazam Mystical Arts Management was less about spells and enchantments, diplomacy and bureaucracy, than about babysitting. Working with those versed in the Mystical Arts was sometimes like trying to knit with wet spaghetti: just when you thought you’d gotten somewhere, it all came to pieces in your hands. But I didn’t really mind. Were they frustrating? Frequently. Were they boring? Never.
"I do wish you wouldn’t do that," said Lady Mawgon in an aggrieved tone as she shot a disapproving glance at Full Price. He was changing from a human to a walrus and then back again in slow, measured transformations. The Quarkbeast was staring at him strangely, and with each transformation there wafted an unpleasant smell of fish around the small car. It was good the windows were open. To Lady Mawgon, who in better days had once been sorceress to royalty, transforming within potential view of the public was the mark of the hopelessly ill-bred.
"Groof, groof," said Full Price, trying to speak while a walrus, which is never satisfactory. "I’m just tuning up," he added in an indignant fashion, once de-walrussed or re-humaned, depending on which way you looked at it. "Don’t tell me you don’t need to."
Wizard Moobin and I looked at Lady Mawgon, eager to know how she was tuning up. Moobin had prepared for the job by tinkering with the print of theHereford Daily Eyestrain. He had filled in the crossword in the twenty minutes since we’d left Kazam. Not unusual in itself, since theEyestrain’s crossword is seldom hard, except that he had used printed letters from elsewhere on the page anddragged them across using the power of his mind alone. The crossword was now complete and more or less correct—but it left an article on Queen Mimosa’s patronage of the Troll War Widows Fund looking a little disjointed.
"I am not required to answer your question," replied Lady Mawgon haughtily, "and what’s more, I detest the termtuning up. It’s quazafucating and always has been."
"Using the old language makes us sound archaic and out of touch," replied Price.
"It makes us sound as we are meant to be," replied Lady Mawgon, "of a noble calling."
Of a once noble calling, thought Moobin, inadvertently broadcasting his subconscious on an alpha so low, even I could sense it.
Lady Mawgon swiveled in her seat to glare at him. "Keep your thoughts to yourself, young man."
Moobin thought something to her but in high alpha, so only she could hear it. I don’t know what he thought, but Lady Mawgon said, "Well!" and stared out the side window in an aggrieved fashion.
I sighed. This was my life.
Of the forty-five sorcerers, movers, soothsayers, shifters, weather-mongers, carpeteers, and other assorted mystical artisans at Kazam, most were fully retired due to infirmity, insanity, or damage to the vital index fingers, either through accident or rheumatoid arthritis. Of these forty-five, thirteen were potentially capable of working, but only nine had current licenses—two carpeteers, a pair of pre-cogs, and most important, five sorcerers legally empowered to carry out Acts of Enchantment. Lady Mawgon was certainly the crabbiest and probably the most skilled. As with everyone else at Kazam, her powers had faded dramatically over the past three decades or so, but unlike everyone else, she’d not really come to terms with it. In her defense, she’d had farther to fall than the rest of them, but this wasn’t really an excuse. The Sisters Karamazov could also claim once-royal patronage, and they were nice as apricot pie. Mad as a knapsack of onions, but pleasant nonetheless.
I might have felt sorrier for Mawgon if she weren’t so difficult all the time. Her intimidating manner made me feel small and ill at ease, and she rarely if ever missed an opportunity to put me in my place. Since Mr. Zambini’s disappearance, she’d gotten worse, not better.
"Quark," said the Quarkbeast.
"Did we really have to bring the beast?" Full Price asked me.
"It jumped in the car when I opened the door."
The Quarkbeast yawned, revealing several rows of razor-sharp fangs. Despite his placid nature, the beast’s ferocious appearance almost guaranteed that no one ever completely shrugged off the possibility that he might try to take a chunk out of them when they weren’t looking. If the Quarkbeast was aware of this, it didn’t show. Indeed, he might have been so unaware that he wondered why people always ran away screaming.
"I would be failing in my duty as acting manager of Kazam," I said, in an attempt to direct the sorcerers away from grumpiness and more in the direction of teamwork, "if I didn’t mention how important this job is. Mr. Zambini always said that Kazam needed to adapt to survive, and if we get this right, we could possibly tap a lucrative market that we badly need."
"Humph!" said Lady Mawgon.
"We all need to be in tune and ready to hit the ground running," I added. "I told Mr. Digby we’d all be finished by six this evening."
They didn’t argue. I think they knew the score well enough. In silent answer, Lady Mawgon snapped her fingers, and the Volkswagen’s gearbox, which up until that moment had been making an expensive-sounding rumbling noise, suddenly fell silent. If Mawgon could replace gearbox bushings while the engine was running, she was tuned enough for all of them.
I knocked on the door of a red-brick house at the edge of the village, and a middle-aged man with a ruddy face answered.
"Mr. Digby? My name is Jennifer Strange of Kazam, acting manager for Mr. Zambini. We spoke on the phone."
He looked me up and down. "You seem a bit young to be running an agency."
"I’m sixteen," I said in a friendly manner.
"Sixteen?"
"In two weeks I’ll be sixteen, yes."
"Then you’re actually fifteen?"
I thought for a moment."I’m in my sixteenth year."
Mr. Digby narrowed his eyes."Then shouldn’t you be in school or something?"
"Indentured servitude," I answered as brightly as I could, trying to sidestep the contempt that most free citizens have for people like me. As a foundling, I had been brought up by the Sisterhood, who’d sold me to Kazam four years before. I still had two years of unpaid work before I could even think of applying for the first level that would one day lead me, fourteen tiers of paperwork and bureaucracy later, to freedom.
"Indentured or not," replied Mr. Digby, "where’s Mr. Zambini?"
"He’s indisposed at present," I replied, attempting to sound as mature as I could. "I have temporarily assumed his responsibilities."
"‘Temporarily assumed his responsibilities’?" Mr. Digby repeated. He looked at the three sorcerers, who stood waiting at the car. "Why her and not one of you?"
"Bureaucracy is for little people," retorted Lady Mawgon in an imperious tone.
"I am too busy, and paperwork exacerbates my receding hair issues," said Full Price.
"We have complete confidence in Jennifer," added Wizard Moobin, who appreciated what I did perhaps more than most. "Foundlings mature quickly. May we get started?"
"Very well," replied Mr. Digby, after a long pause in which he looked at us all in turn with ashould I cancel? sort of look. But he didn’t, and eventually went and fetched his hat and coat. "But we agreed you’d be finished by six, yes?"
I said that this was so, and he handed me his house keys. After taking a wide berth to avoid the Quarkbeast, he climbed into his car and drove away. It’s not a good idea to have civilians around when sorcery is afoot. Even the stoutest incantations carry redundant strands of spell that can cause havoc if allowed to settle on the general public. Nothing serious ever happened; it was mostly rapid nose hair growth, oinking like a pig, blue pee, that sort of stuff. It soon wore off, but it was bad for business.
"Right," I said to the sorcerers. "Over to you."
They looked at each other, then at the ordinary suburban house.
"I used to conjure up storms," said Lady Mawgon with a sigh.
"So could we all," replied Wizard Moobin.
"Quark," said the Quarkbeast.
None of the sorcerers had rewired a house by spell before, but by reconfiguring the root directory on the core spell language of ARAMAIC, it could be done with relative ease—as long as the three of them pooled their resources. It had been Mr. Zambini’s idea to move Kazam into the home improvement market. Charming moles out of gardens, resizing stuff for the self-storage industry, and finding lost things was easy work, but it didn’t pay well. Using magic to rewire a house, however, was quite different. Unlike electricians, we didn’t need to touch the house in order to do it. No mess, no problems, and all finished in under a day.
I stood by my Volkswagen to be near the car radiophone, the most reliable form of mobile communication we had these days. Any calls to the Kazam office would ring here. I wasn’t just Kazam’s manager; I was also the receptionist, booking clerk, and taxi service. I had to look after the forty-five sorcerers, deal with the shabby building that housed us all, and fill out the numerous forms that the Magical Powers (amended 1966) Act required when even thetiniest spell was undertaken. I did all this because (1) the Great Zambini couldn’t because he was missing, (2) I’d been part of Kazam since I was twelve and knew the Mystical Arts Management business inside out, and (3) no one else wanted to.
Product details
- ASIN : B00819G3TO
- Publisher : Clarion Books (October 2, 2012)
- Publication date : October 2, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 4.5 MB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Print length : 296 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #103,662 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Jasper Fforde is the critically acclaimed author of The Last Dragonslayer series: THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER, THE SONG OF THE QUARKBEAST and THE EYE OF ZOLTAR, SHADES OF GREY, the Nursery Crime books: THE BIG OVER EASY and THE FOURTH BEAR and the Thursday Next novels: THE EYRE AFFAIR, LOST IN A GOOD BOOK, THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS, SOMETHING ROTTEN, FIRST AMONG SEQUELS, ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING and THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT.
After giving up a varied career in the film world, he now lives and writes in Wales, and has a passion for aviation.
To find out more visit Jasper's website www.jasperfforde.com, Facebook page www.facebook.com/jasperffordebooks or follow him on Twitter @jasperfforde.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book delightful and entertaining with witty humor. They praise the clever, original plot twists and whimsical feel of the story. The writing quality is described as well-written, easy to read, and conversational. Readers appreciate the engaging characters and their connection to the heroine. Overall, they describe the book as a wonderful, satisfying read suitable for young adults and older readers alike.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the humor in the book delightful, entertaining, and clever. They appreciate the witty writing style with silly word jokes. The writing is peppered with brilliant use of words and satire, making it charming and cute.
"This is such a fun book, the plot is unique, the characters are loveable, and every scene was a surprise!" Read more
"...to sum up with a list of adjectives, the book is fast-paced, humorous, witty, and entertaining. My book group has been meeting for almost 25 years...." Read more
"...The characters and made up creatures were fun and believable in a fantasy sort of way and I felt a true connection to the heroine, Jennifer Strange...." Read more
"...It's a funny, witty, clever, unique and truly delicious book. I immediately loved Jennifer and Tiger...whose last name is Prawns...do you get it?..." Read more
Customers enjoy the clever and original plot twists. They find the whimsical and believable creatures fun and interesting. The book is described as imaginative and hard to put down.
"This is such a fun book, the plot is unique, the characters are loveable, and every scene was a surprise!" Read more
"...None of it is real, but it is interesting and amusing. I will not give a plot summary, because that would spoil things for you...." Read more
"...The characters and made up creatures were fun and believable in a fantasy sort of way and I felt a true connection to the heroine, Jennifer Strange...." Read more
"...All of the characters are original, comical and interesting, but the reader learns little about them...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written and easy to read. They appreciate the conversational style and how it can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. The language is simple with few language issues, and the worlds are well-crafted. The child characters are well-developed and there are many humorous twists and wordplay.
"...I love, love, love the detailed descriptions and the colorful language..." Read more
"...of character, more interesting relationships/conflicts and the language sparkles...." Read more
"...I would consider this book is only for light reading, such as a summer or beach read...." Read more
"...A very easy read and full of imagination and truly paints a picture...." Read more
Customers find the characters engaging and well-developed. They connect with the heroine, Jennifer Strange, who is independent, clever, and resourceful.
"This is such a fun book, the plot is unique, the characters are loveable, and every scene was a surprise!" Read more
"...fun and believable in a fantasy sort of way and I felt a true connection to the heroine, Jennifer Strange...." Read more
"...All of the characters are original, comical and interesting, but the reader learns little about them...." Read more
"...They're fun stories but we get a lot more with this book--more layers of character, more interesting relationships/conflicts and the language..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's value for money. They find it a satisfying read with clever plot points and well-crafted characters. The book is described as a great adventure, though some felt the ending was lacking.
"...not a book that will change my life; however, it was fun and worth the purchase price and reading time. I will be looking for a third installment." Read more
"...the fresh and subtle plot and the twists along the way which kept me engaged...." Read more
"...The dragon...Maltcassion...is old yet magnificent. His chats with Jennifer are some of my favorite parts of this book...." Read more
"The Last Dragonslayer, is another amazing `trip.' Somehow Fforde is able to mingle the ordinary with the extraordinary, and he's a wiz at it...." Read more
Customers find the book suitable for young adults and older children. They appreciate the simple plot suited for younger teens but with a whimsical style. The characters seem to come alive on the pages. Readers describe it as an enjoyable read for fans of the author.
"...This book is suitable for a bright young adult reader...." Read more
"...I recommend this book to young people, it will expand your horizons, and to adults, it will renew your belief in goodness." Read more
"...Sigh! Final thoughts... This is a fantastic book for young readers...actually for all readers! I loved every chapter...." Read more
"The Last Dragonslayer is a good YA novel with a simplistic plot best suited for younger teens, but a whimsical style and satirical humor that is..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's whimsical and satirical style. They find it charming, creative, and consistent with the author's writing style. The characters are enjoyable and the absurd humor is delightful. Readers describe the book as a fun read that paints a picture.
"...I love, love, love the detailed descriptions and the colorful language..." Read more
"...It's a funny, witty, clever, unique and truly delicious book. I immediately loved Jennifer and Tiger...whose last name is Prawns...do you get it?..." Read more
"...novel with a simplistic plot best suited for younger teens, but a whimsical style and satirical humor that is probably way over their heads...." Read more
"This book was interesting from the get-go. The author wrote a cute, funny intro to the story, giving a preview of what would happen in the book and..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it fast-paced, humorous, and a quick read. The author blends the ordinary with the extraordinary in an enjoyable way.
"...my life; however, it was fun and worth the purchase price and reading time. I will be looking for a third installment." Read more
"...of the best elements of this story in my humble opinion is the melding of old and new...." Read more
"...The second half of the book is fast paced and filled with very funny jabs at pop culture, capitalistic greed and corrupt politicians, but there is..." Read more
"...Somehow Fforde is able to mingle the ordinary with the extraordinary, and he's a wiz at it. This book is no different than his others...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2025This is such a fun book, the plot is unique, the characters are loveable, and every scene was a surprise!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2013As a mother of three terrific, now adult, sons I have been introduced to some really great young adult books. The guys are big fantasy fans and they have introduced me to some of their favorites. That is how I came to Brandon Sanderson, Ursula LeGuin, Megan Whalen Turner, and Patrick Rothfuss and learned not to skip over books that are labeled young adult. I introduced them to the Eyre Affair after they had to read Jane Eyre as school assignments. It was that book that made me a fan of Jasper Fforde. Let me start by saying that I like most of Jasper Fforde's books. I laughed out loud on an airplane reading The Eyre Affair. I did tire of that series and I barely touched the nursery rhyme books. But I really enjoyed the Last Dragonslayer and the Song of the Quarkbeast, its second installment. Both are clever and entertaining. Mr. Fforde plunges the reader into a fantastic society with magic on the wane (or on the rise, depending). I like that he does not feel that he has to explain every created word or elements of quasi "techno-babble". Explanations would be tedious and his writing is clever enough that the reader does not get lost. None of it is real, but it is interesting and amusing. I will not give a plot summary, because that would spoil things for you. This book is suitable for a bright young adult reader. I say, bright, not because the writing is ponderous or complicated, but because the humor is witty and it takes some level of maturity to "get" all of it. Our young heroine, a foundling is likeable and very resourceful and those factors would probably add to its appeal to young adults. She works hard, does not whine and takes a practical problem-solving approach to most of the crisis that arise. She does seem to be the only mature person sometimes and that would also appeal to young readers. The book is light and quirky, but it manages to avoid being silly even when it approaches the absurd. I think that takes great talent and precision in a writer. So to sum up with a list of adjectives, the book is fast-paced, humorous, witty, and entertaining. My book group has been meeting for almost 25 years. This book would not be the kind of book that could be a book group selection for us because there is so little to talk about. Not every book is a book group book. This is not a book that will change my life; however, it was fun and worth the purchase price and reading time. I will be looking for a third installment.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013I chose this book and bought a copy because I won the second in the series in Goodread’s ‘First Reads’ and I just had to read the first in the series! Although I do enjoy dragon stories, I may not have selected this book to read without some other motivation, personally I prefer Westerns or horse books, and I must say that without this author and these books my reading experience has been lacking.
I enjoyed the fresh and subtle plot and the twists along the way which kept me engaged. I love, love, love the detailed descriptions and the colorful language (which was used as a point to separate the classes and was distained to the point of humor). The characters and made up creatures were fun and believable in a fantasy sort of way and I felt a true connection to the heroine, Jennifer Strange. One of the best elements of this story in my humble opinion is the melding of old and new. Medieval dragons, trolls, [and what in the world is a Quarkbeast?] and magic all combined in a world of cars, telephones, and computer code is just cool. And I appreciated the very hidden messages of conservation, loyalty, and standing up for one's own beliefs.
I quickly got into the story as young Jennifer, an orphan, a foundling indentured into work as manager of magic in the aging hotel full of mostly retired sorcerers. She faces her challenges with wit and courage that belies her age. I laughed with her, I feared for her, and I grieved as she faced her greatest challenge.
I recommend this book to young people, it will expand your horizons, and to adults, it will renew your belief in goodness.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2012The Last Dragonslayer
By
Jasper Fjorde
My" in a nutshell" summary...
Jennifer works with wizards...from what I can gather she drives them around, keeps tabs on them...sort of run things at the wizard house. She was a former orphan and now works with and for the wizards. I believe that she might be sort of endentured.
My thoughts after reading this book...
It's a funny, witty, clever, unique and truly delicious book. I immediately loved Jennifer and Tiger...whose last name is Prawns...do you get it? Tiger Prawns! Jennifer and Tiger are foundlings who after a period of time in an orphanage get to work with wizards as sort of wizard keepers...they drive wizards around and do the books, answer phones...the usual sort of work...lol. There are so many very clever facets to this book...for example...the wizards are hired to rewire houses and unplug drains but in magical wizard like ways. To get to your room you step into the elevator shaft and shout your number and you are just whooshed to it. Tiger's room doesn't allow itself to get messy...there is a Quarkbeast and a transparent moose and much much more. And magic is measured in gigashanders? OMG!
Every story must have a problem and the problem in this story is that everyone is waiting for the last dragon to die so they can snatch up his land. Everyone wants the dragon to die with the exception of Jennifer. The dragon...Maltcassion...is old yet magnificent. His chats with Jennifer are some of my favorite parts of this book. Everything leads up to a showdown on Sunday afternoon. It's deliciously exciting!
What I loved about this book...
It's just so clever!
What I did not love...
Absolutely nothing...each chapter was fun. Each chapter was filled with humor. Well...there are one or two really sad things that happen...I didn't like either one. Sigh!
Final thoughts...
This is a fantastic book for young readers...actually for all readers! I loved every chapter. I personally can not wait for Book 2.
Top reviews from other countries
- John BlenkinsopReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Wacky, wild and wonderful
This is the first Jasper Fforde book I've read, and I am mightily impressed. I know it's marketed as a book for children, but you'd have to be a pretty literate child (there are many to be found). I would have read it and enjoyed it at age 9.
As it is, I read it at age 67, and enjoyed it hugely. The writing style suits the subject perfectly, with a constant ripple of humour and bad puns underlaying a well-knitted plot and intriguing characters.
To a very small extent, the plot and the humour does impact on the dvelopment of the characters, but the do develop, albeit it slowly. I've read the next two books in the series, and they are excellent too; and yes, the main characters are more filled out and the plots even more exciting!
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D. BaryReviewed in Germany on June 16, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasievoll bis zum Bersten
Wieder ein mal beweist der Autor sein unglaubliches Talent für fantastische stories. Mit viel Liebe zum Detail absurder Zusammenhänge und Hintergründe erzählt er eine faszinierende in sich logische Geschichte eigentlich unvorstellbarer Handlungen, Personen und Ereignisse. Die humorvolle Absurdität in einem noch akzeptablen Grad an realitätsnähe zeichnet ihn für mich als Nordstern dieser Art von Kunst aus, an dem auch andere nur orientieren können, aber selbst kaum zum Orientierungspunkt herhalten können.
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in Australia on March 18, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, quirky and funny
Fforde is a master of his craft. This book is a satire, but as engrossing and richly imagined as the best fantasy. It will surprise and delight you.
- Jennifer L. BartonReviewed in Canada on October 25, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Read!
Reading Jasper Fforde since the Thursday Next series, I just saw this title by chance and snapped it up to read at once. It follows in his style, which is to say there are side notes in the prose, not-so-subtle puns for names and titles and best of all, strange beasts, crabby old people talking crankily and enough similarities to our actual time to make anyone laugh out loud. I have loved all his other books that I have read (which I estimate at 90% since I didn't discover this one until yesterday) and this one was no exception. Will a run-of-the-mill reader enjoy reading this? Possibly but I'm guessing not many. If, however, you enjoy a good plot (though this one is somewhat less complex than his adult novels, which I will assume was intended since it is a Young Adult title), Mr. Fforde will not disappoint. For those of you lucky enough to already be introduced, this is a Jasper Fforde work through and through, nothing to fault with the less complicated plot. Very likely you, too, will consume these pages readily and snap up the second, just as I did.
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Claire qui dévore les livresReviewed in France on January 14, 2011
5.0 out of 5 stars Toujours aussi bon!
Comment dire? Jasper Fforde c'est la capacité de nous emmener dans un univers parallèle, merveilleux et en même temps si proche du nôtre; ce qui en fait un univers déjanté dans lequel j'aimerais bien plonger tête la première ! C'est d'ailleurs ce que je fais dès que j'ouvre le livre, mon monde s'estompte et je me retrouvre dans celui du Last Dragonslayer. Boris Vian et son univers vianesque. Pour moi, Jasper Fforde c'est pareil, vocabulaire inclus !
The Last Dragonslayer, les Thursday Next et autres Nursery crimes : le bonheur est le même! A consommer sans modération! Et pour ceux qui n'y sont pas encore allés : courez vite voir son site, moments de pur bonheur en perspective là également!