The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1

"Quark!" is how we meet Jennifer Strange's strange pet, the Quarkbeast. He doesn't talk much, just an occasional "Quark!" inserted in key points in the script, in between which he devours a tin or two of sardines. He — I think it's a he, not that anyone would dare get close enough for a short arm inspection — eats the tins, not the sardines, and any other metal object which dares to get close to him. He would make an afternoon snack of R2D2, for example, or have a full meal of a VW Bug, which strangely is our heroine Jennifer's auto, shredding it with his mouth with several rows of sharp teeth which rotate as he eats metallic things. But who is this Jennifer Strange? Here is the teaser page placed before Page 1 to answer that question.Once I was famous. My face was seen on T-shirts, badges, commemorative mugs, and posters. I made front-page news, appeared on TV, and was even a special guest on The Yogi Baird Daytime TV Show. The Daily Clam called me "the year's most influential teenager," and I was the Mollusc on Sunday's Woman of the Year. Two people tried to kill me, I was threatened with jail, had fifty-eight offers of marriage, and was outlawed by King Snodd IV. All that and more besides, and in less than a week. My name is Jennifer Strange.When we meet her in action, the fifteen-year-old teenager is at the wheel of the VW Beetle shown on the cover of the book and she is driving between two of the Ununited Kingdoms, apparently in a Britain some time in the future or in a parallel universe which is replete with magic and sorcerers who can do such feats, for a price, as replace all the rusted and leaky pipes in a large building with brand-new ones in under an hour, without tearing up walls and such, all of whom work for the company she heads, Kazam.[page 1] 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.Suddenly the Quarkbeast made his presence known in the crowded VW Bug.[page 5] "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.We follow with interest Jennifer’s adventures as the orphan who heads up Kazam. Why does she run the large magic corporation? Because the Great Zambini went missing, because she had been there since age 12 and knew the Magical Art business, and because, as she so adroitly put it, "No one else wanted to." Suddenly the Last Dragonslayer is predicted to slay the last Dragon, Maltcassion, and Jennifer discovers to her chagrin that she has been chosen, pre-ordained it seems, to do the job. Just in time, her replacement, a new foundling, called Tiger, has been sent to learn Kazam's business , a process which occurs every four years.You've already heard about Full Price, whose twin brother, the skinny one, is called Half Price, and now you're ready to learn about the Transient Moose, Hector, another droll character conjured out of the ethers by Fforde. Jennifer enlightens Tiger.[page 35] "That's the Transient Moose," I said, looking through the mail, "an illusion that was left as a practical joke long before I got here. He moves randomly around the building, appearing now and then, here and there. We're hoping he'll wear out soon."When Hector was blocking someone's way, Jennifer suggested, "Just walk through him, and if you're ever wanted to know how a moose works, stop halfway and have a good look around." (Page 66)Tiger wants to know about what a sorcerer can do who is at the Spellmanager level of skill. Jennifer answers her probie this way:[page 48] I took a sip of hot chocolate. "Levitation of light objects, stopping clocks, unblocking drains, and simple washing and drying can all be handled pretty well at the Spellmanager level. There's no one below this status at Kazam except you, me, Unstable Mabel, the Quarkbeast, and Hector.We finally meet the dragon, Maltcassion, but millions of people are expecting the him to be killed at noon on Sunday by Jennifer and she tells him that she simply won't come. This leads him to explain the nature of mass events to her.[page 231] "Premonitions come true because people want them to. The observer will always change the outcome of an event; the millions of observers we have now will almost guarantee it. You and I are just small players in something bigger than either of us. Leave now. I will see you on Sunday."What Maltcassion says is similar to what Seth said in the Jane Roberts book, The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events. She explained that the steering currents of hurricanes, like Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy, are the collective psyches of the people in a given area who need a destabilizing force to pass through their area to clear the way for improvement. Maltcassion knew that his time had come and that Hurricane Jennifer was heading his way on Sunday, inexorably steered towards him by the psyches of millions of people.While the charm for finding lost hammers may have been lost, the charm of Jasper Fforde's writing is as strong as ever, weaving the warp and woof of Dragons and Magic into a crazy quilt of insight and fun for all his readers. That being so, the only thing left to say is Quark! and read more in Bobby Matherne's DIGESTWORLD Issue#12c

As 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.

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!

I've read everything by Jasper Fforde and I love them all. I was a bit upset when I heard we was going to be writing children's books (I'm 46). I bought this for myself anyway and it was a fantastic read, highly recommended. I don't think this is a kids book (or young adult or whatever we're supposed to say so as not to offend the little children) I think it is a book that people of any age can enjoy. There should be another term, for such books it's just a good book with no bonking or swearing

In the Ununited Kingdoms magic has lost its power, magicians are forced to demean themselves by carrying out simple tasks such as pizza delivery and unblocking drains. In the kingdom of Hereford commerce is important and war against the Duke of Brecon a priority. Jennifer Strange is a foundling indentured to Kazam, a company which deals in the magical arts, but Jennifer has a destiny - she is the Last Dragonslayer.Up to about 5 years ago I was a huge fan of Jasper Fforde, I found the Thursday Next series witty and entertaining. For some reason I stopped reading the new books, I think that I picked one up and wasn't in the right frame of mind to get into it! Having seen that this book was being adapted for TV I decided to pull it off the shelf and see if I could rekindle my love for Jasper Fforde. This is a children's book and therefore is not quite as sophisticated as the adult novels in terms of in-jokes and links to other media but it is an amazing children's book. The ideas are just as crazy, the story entertaining and the writing is fizzy - it's like Harry Potter on hallucinogens.

I am a fan of Jasper Fforde's work having enjoyed most of the Thursday series enormously and  Shades of Grey  immensely. A lull in reading this type of book made me look at this series of his for younger readers and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As other reviewers have said it is not a particularly long book and would not take long to read. It is unquestionably pitched at a younger audience however it contains much of the humour and "world" of the author's other books. For anyone with a love of Fforde's general approach this will be a good enough read and for younger people looking to find some fantasy reading with a reasonable dash of humour this should do the job well enough. I'll certainly read the others in the series as time goes by. Shades of Grey

From The Transient Moose to the Perpetual Teapot, Fforde's trademark witty magic hooks you from the start, then breaks your heart no less than twice, before letting you see the light at the end of the tunnel.If you like the Thursday Next books, imagine a younger version of Thursday, with an even cooler pet. The plot may be simpler, aimed towards younger teens rather than the usual literati, but the characters are as wonderful as ever, and the deft magical touches in the writing are an absolute treat.Simple, beautiful, heart-breaking and funny.