I Read a Lot of Books

I have a love/love less relationship with Jasper Fforde. One of my favorite books ever Shades of Grey (not to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey) was written by Jasper Fforde. I started out strong with the Thursday Next series, and loved the Nursery Crime series and was fully expecting to read all the books in the Shades of Grey series, only there have been no more books.I try not to be annoyed, but it HAS been eight years, and between that time he’s published the Kazam books, a stand alone novel, and added to the Thursday Next series. Come on, Jasper, finish my books already! But enough of that. Despite my anger at Mr. Fforde, I thought I’d give his children’s books a go.

The Last Dragonslayer occupies that uncomfortable middle grade novel area which is a hard area to permeate. The concepts need to be such that middle grade readers understand and appreciate while also appealing to the older crowd that might stumble upon the book. I find that most writers are a little too patronizing when they write regular adult novels and try to make the transition (I’m looking at you Brandon Sanderson). Fforde’s kind of nonsensical ideas worked surprisingly well for a younger audience. The first book follows Jennifer Strange a fifteen year old orphaned indentured servant who happens to run Kazam Mystical Arts Management, the Great Zambini’s group of magicians. Mr. Zambini is, at present, missing. From the first sentence I was drawn in by Jennifer’s first words, “Once, I was famous”. It is a clever introduction to a clever character. The first person perspective was also nice. We see the world through Jennifer’s eyes. We meet Tiger, another orphan sent to train with Jennifer by the Blessed Ladies of the Lobster and get to know all the other characters that work for Zambini. So, I assumed this book was going to be about finding Zambini, but not so. A prophesy comes about that Jennifer Strange will kill the last remaining dragon, Maltcassion. Jennifer has not desire or intention to do anything of the sort, but there are some powerful political factors at play and it has something to do with Big Magic. Jennifer’s refusal to kill the dragon puts her at odds with King Snodd IV and his sycophants.

There are quite a few twists and turns, and clearly, things did not go as expected with the whole dragon slaying. Truths about Jennifer’s past, the Mighty Shandar (the uber magician that trapped the dragons in the first place), and the future of magic are revealed and the story could end there, but as there are three more books in the series, it doesn’t. What Fforde always manages to do so well is to create ridiculous, charming, convincing worlds. Each is so unique that it is really staggering. His characters are lovable, flawed, quirky, and relatable. I also like his snarky dialogue. What works for adults Fforde did for kids in a way that is most pleasing and not at all condescending. The books are clever, and clever kids are going to enjoy them a lot. I know I did. This book hits some of the buzz topics flying around; strong female lead, the idea of greed as an evil, sacrifice and community. It deals with some heavy topics but in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or overbearing. I’m interested to see where Jennifer’s adventures take her and the relationships that she’ll develop along the way.