Books: The Great Troll War by Jasper Fforde (2021)

"Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekick and fellow Orphan Tiger Prawns have been driven to the tip of the UnUnited Kingdoms - Cornwall - by the invasion of the Trolls. Their one defense is a six-foot-wide trench full of buttons, something which the Trolls find unaccountably terrifying (it's their clickiness). Worse than being eaten by Trolls is the prospect of the Mighty Shandar requisitioning the Quarkbeast and using him to achieve supreme power and domination - an ambition that has been four hundred years in the planning and which will ultimately leave the Earth a cold cinder, devoid of all life. Nothing has ever looked so bleak, but Jennifer, assisted by a renegade vegan Troll, a bunch of misfit sorcerers, the Princess (or is she now the ruler?) of the UnUnited (or are they now United?) Kingdoms, and Tiger, must find a way to vanquish the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, and along the way discover the truth about her parents, herself, and what is in the locked glovebox of her VW Beetle." 

The Great Troll War is the concluding book in The Last Dragonslayer book series –released in hardcover in September 2021 in the UK, August of 2022 here, and finally in paperback only a few weeks ago- took seven years to appear, but overall, it’s worth the wait –though for me, since I started to read this series earlier this year, the wait for this last book was only a couple weeks. Jasper Fforde does try hard to give some backstory to the earlier books via footnotes at the bottom of the page, which was probably designed for some fans who did not want to re-read the three previous books –though there some other humorous ones. The scope of this book is grander than the previous three, but the themes are similar. Friendship, the fight for justice, and the defeat of evil. We also finally get an explanation of how import the Quarkbeast’s truly are.

Overall, this whole series has been fun, though it does borrow one big plot point from the Harry Potter novels. Fforde has a rich imagination and a love for satire and much like his adult tales, The Last Troll War is filled with many in-jokes, puns, but also some serious themes such as government corruption and the exploitation of marginalized communities; it’s a reflection of the issues and conflicts that exist in the real world, and it encourages readers to think critically about power dynamics and the importance of standing up for what is right.

And taking a page from Stephen King, the author makes a very amusing, sort of anonymous, cameo appearance. And it gets a bit meta…“Well," said the author, “I made George Formby (a British comedian) president-for-life of Great Britain.” “A book about Humpty Dumpty as a police procedural.” “A social order based wholly on the strength of your colour vision” “Is there a sequel?” “Don’t start.” All of this are part of the rich tapestry that Jasper Fforde once described as being "impossible worlds made real".

Overall, another fun book by Fforde, with a fitting conclusion to the series, plus an ending I did not see.

Books: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (2010)

“15-year-old Jennifer Strange, who is filling in for the missing manager, Mr. Zambini, for an employment agency for magicians called Kazam. There are prophecies that the last dragon will soon die, meaning that the dragon's territory is up for grabs. Trying to find the truth of the matter, she finds the official Dragonslayer and is pushed into becoming his apprentice. The Dragonslayer dies and she becomes the last Dragonslayer, which means that she will be the one who slays the dragon.”

So, apparently, I’ve read this book before -back in 2012, when it was released in hardcover in the US (2010 in the UK). Strangely, I have no memory of it. That’s a new one, because I generally remember all the books I’ve read.

I did enjoy this book, as it’s a quickly paced and fun. Like a lot of Fforde’s work, it is set in an alternative world in where magic is real, but has become weakened and is being replaced by modern technology. Essentially, it’s like modern Britain, except that it is split into a number of small counties. Another aspect of Fforde’s work is to accept the absurd, eccentric ideas put out here. Yes, he has written more for adults than a younger audience, but he really creates a wonderfully weird universe where he can poke fun at our modern world. It’s satire, for sure, with dashes of Monty Python’s droll humor and Douglas Adams’ maddeningly funny look at a genre that is rarely made fun of –but not in any bitter way. It’s just an odd collection of people, places, and Quarkbeasts. While it's very much a derivative of the Harry Potter franchise, this is less mean.

Jennifer Strange is an engaging character and it was nice to see that no one goes out of their way to make it a big deal that there is a girl at the center of a prophecy. Maybe rare in 2010, but still, I need to point this out. A lot.

I think part of the problem-and why I forgot I read this 11 years ago- is the book does take way too long to really get going. It’s got a huge cast and Fforde spends a lot of time introducing them. The fact that most don’t actually play into the action of the last quarter of the book can spook people –and maybe it did that to me in 2012. I mean, yes, this is a trademark of Fforde’s other work, but in a book primarily marketed to 12 to 15 years old young adults, it can stop them in their tracks.   

The Last Dragonslayer started out as a trilogy, and was followed by The Song of the Quarkbeast (published in 2011), and The Eye of Zoltar (published in 2013). However, somewhere along the writing of book three, Fforde realized there was more of the story to tell, but eight years would pass before he finally finished the series with The Great Troll War (published in 2021).

Which is why I'm not going to read them all.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (2010 -- 2012 US edition)

Jasper Fforde has spent the last decade writing about literary detective Thursday Next. He’s also started another trilogy detailing a dystopian future where color is more important than anything else. Now he’s turned his particular style of alternate universe and goofy sense of humor to a young adult trilogy called The Dragonslayer. The first novel, released over two years ago in England and finally available here, is The Last Dragonslayer.

We meet 15-year-old Jennifer Strange, who is filling in for Zambini, the missing manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management, an employment agency for magicians. But the magic is drying up across Ununited Kingdom and there are prophecies about a last dragon will soon die, meaning that the dragon's territory will be up for grabs. Trying to find the truth of the matter, she finds the official Dragonslayer and is pushed into becoming his apprentice. Because Big Magic is at work and like it or not Jennifer Strange is a player in a story that began 400 years before she was born.

While the book is written for young adults, it will be also enjoyed by adults as well. Mostly, because like his Thursday Next series, The Last Dragonslayer has elements that make that other series so fun: a bit of slapstick, some irony and dry humor as he pokes fun at reality TV and corporations.  It’s amazing that his charming absurdism takes him so far.