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 are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, 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 the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic.
About Jasper Fforde
JASPER FFORDE, the author of the best-selling Thursday Next mysteries and the Nursery Crime books, has a devoted worldwide following for his highly entertaining and original novels. He lives with his family in Wales.
Exclusive First Read: ‘The Last Dragonslayer’
NPR Book Review – September 12, 2012 (Excerpt)
Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange has a lot of responsibility. In a world that’s rapidly losing its magic, she’s the acting director of Kazam Mystical Arts Management, riding herd on a crowd of cranky wizards who’ve been reduced to doing magical odd jobs to make ends meet. But change is afoot in this charming comic adventure for younger readers: Seers throughout the land have been having powerful visions of the death of the very last dragon at the hands of a destined Dragonslayer and the return of Big Magic. In this scene, we meet Jennifer and her charges as they prepare to use their diminished powers on a home-improvement project. The Last Dragonslayer will be published Oct. 2. [Read the full article...]
The Last Dragonslayer, By Jasper Fforde
The Independent – November 22, 2010 (Excerpt)
Money is a form of alchemy,” says Mother Zenobia, the kindly head of the Sisters of the Lobster Orphanage.
“It turns kind normal people into greed-mongers, intent only on acquisitiveness.” Jasper Fforde has one of those effervescent imaginations that never throws in one joke when he can fit in two or three, but he also has a provocatively serious purpose. He creates his mad but logical parallel version of the Welsh Marches with loving detail.
The Last Dragonslayer stars Jennifer Strange, a teenage foundling who runs Kazam Mystical Arts Management. This Hereford-based company uses the now-failing power of wizards to do such mundane jobs as installing domestic electrical circuits by telepathy or delivering live organs by flying carpet. [Read the full article...]
A Mashup Of Mundane And Magical In ‘Dragonslayer’
NPR Book Review – October 4, 2012 (Excerpt)
It’s been a big year — well, a big few years — for young adult fiction, which I’m not going to complain about in the slightest; nothing beats a good YA novel for pure storytelling punch. But I might complain, just a little, about the overwhelming sameness of some of the plots. Dystopian futures, quiet-yet-spunky teenage girls, doomed love triangles — sound familiar? Suzanne Collins has a lot to answer for. Luckily, you can crack open The Last Dragonslayer and spend time with a protagonist who has a refreshingly different set of priorities.
Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange is considerably more mature and responsible than her age would suggest. As the acting director of Kazam Mystical Arts Management, she rides herd on 45 “sorcerers, movers, soothsayers, shifters, weathermongers, carpeteers and other assorted mystical artisans,” all various degrees of distempered and dysfunctional in a world that’s becoming steadily less magical as the years roll on. She’s also the receptionist, accountant, chauffeur and paper-shuffler, filling out all the forms required by the Magical Powers (amended 1966) Act. [Read the full article...]
UnBound: Battle of the Half-Angels
The Nephillim Chronicles – Book One by Ronnie Massey
Justin and Theo are just normal teenagers with their teenage problems, until the day they meet their biological fathers, Michael and Uriel, two of the few remaining archangels. They learn, they are nephillim, the half human offspring of angels, and they learn they are not the only ones. In the days of old, nephillim walked the earth. Now heaven’s misfits may be all that stands between mankind and the wrath of Lucifer and the Fallen. But how will a handful of teenagers react when they find out, not only are they not human, but they are the most powerful soldiers in heaven’s army? How will they deal with their newly found powers? And will they be able to stop Lucifer?
We are the only country that makes guns, including military-style assault weapons, available to anyone who wants to buy them. This is not freedom. It is a tyranny of death and destruction — a tyranny of which the National Rifle Association is proud. The Washington Post
UnBound: Battle of the Half-Angels
