“Magic has been in a sad state
in the Ununited Kingdom for years, but now it’s finally on the rise, and
boneheaded King Snodd IV knows it. If he succeeds at his plot, the very future
of magic will be at risk! Sensible sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange, acting
manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management and its unpredictable crew of
sorcerers, has little chance against the king and his cronies—but there’s no
way Kazam will let go of the noble powers of magic without a fight.”
In the second volume of the Chronicles of Kazam series,
Fforde’s often quirky sense of humor and bits of social commentary continue to
persist. A much leaner, episodic tale, in some sense, than the previous volume,
as we see Strange and company try to use what dwindling magic there is to
generate money –unclogging drains, using magic carpets to deliver pizza, predicting
the weather, and rebuilding a bridge (which becomes a metaphor for the people
of Ununited Kingdom). But Industrial Magic (AKA iMagic, “putting an ‘I’ in
front of anything makes it more hip and current.”) wants a monopoly on magic
and is working towards ruining everything.
Much like the first book, The Song of the Quarkbeast
burst with magical spells that are often funny, but usually go south very
quickly. Fforde’s envious wordplay and his satirical eye pokes fun at the upper
crust of Ununited Kingdom folks who use big words, to taking on big
corporations, and talentless boy bands. As a long time reader of British
writers, TV shows, and movies, I got a lot of the puns, but I wonder if the
young American readers would be so inclined to get them and the other jokes.
Still, maybe I should not worry? Kids are sometimes way smarter than their
adult counterparts.
Jennifer remains a strong, female role model; even if she
talks like someone much older than her sixteen-years (this book is set two
months after the first one). And the titular Quarkbeast only shows up towards
the end of the book, yet has little to do with the story as a whole –so I
wondered about why this book is titled this way. Also, clearly Fforde is
setting up for a third –and assumed at the time, the last book in the trilogy-
which can be frustrating because though it is a middle tale, there should still
be enough story to satisfy any reader.
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