Tag Archives: fantasy

My Favourite Thursday Next Novel: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

Posted on May 1, 2022 by jenny

The Well of Lost Plots in the third installment of the speculative, absurdist Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde… Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction | Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, British, bureaucracy, classics, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, literature, memory troubles, novel writing, publishing, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, Thursday Next, well written, Wordplay | Leave a comment

Would you like world-ending pink topping with that? Lost is a Good Book is a generous second helping of Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde

Posted on March 24, 2021 by jenny

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde is the second book in the Thursday Next series. Despite a sudden celebrity for saving Jane Eyre and improving the ending, not every one is happy with what Thursday has done. A … Continue reading →

Posted in British, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction | Tagged absurdist, action, adventure, apocalypse, British, bureaucracy, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, greed, humour, Jasper Fforde, legal trouble, literature, novel writing, probability, quirky, rich setting, satire, shady business practices, society, supernatural, Thursday Next, vampires, well written, Wordplay | Leave a comment

A nonsensical tale for grown-ups: Once On a Time by A.A. Milne

Posted on August 22, 2018 by jenny

A little known story by A.A. Milne, Once On a Time is an absurd and whimsical fairy story. It starts when one king takes exception to another king taking a morning walk over his battlements during breakfast time while wearing … Continue reading →

Posted in 20th Century, Fantasy, General adult audience | Tagged 20th Century, adventure, British, fantasy, fiction, food and fighting, good out loud, humour, seven league boots, whimsical | Leave a comment

Take themes of bureaucracy and greed, add non-stop word-wit and shellfish-references, throw in the waning of magic and a very old dragon and you have The Last Dragonslayer: teen fantasy Jasper Fforde-style

Posted on June 22, 2018 by jenny

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is a story about magic, dragons and red tape. After reading it I concluded that my ideal pet would be a quarkbeast (no fur, funny-looking, loyal and affectionate, not exactly huggable but still better … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 years and up, Contemporary YA, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged 21st Century, action, adventure, British, bureaucracy, coming-of-age, convoluted plot, fantasy, fiction, humour, Jasper Fforde, magic, mixed motives, there be Dragons, young adult | Leave a comment

Adventure for kids, humour for grown-ups: Dragon Boy by Dick King-Smith

Posted on May 22, 2018 by jenny

Dragon Boy by Dick King-Smith is another classic dragon story from my childhood by one of my favourite children’s authors (he also wrote The Sheep-pig aka Babe). Orphaned John is found crying in the forest by a dragon, Montague Bunsen-Burner. … Continue reading →

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's, Fantasy | Tagged 20th Century, 7 and up, action, adventure, animals, British, coming-of-age, courage, Dick King-Smith, drama, fantasy, fiction, food and fighting, good out loud, humour, orphaned hero, parody, there be Dragons, wolves | Leave a comment

Tongue-in-cheek dragonlore: The Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base

Posted on April 22, 2018 by jenny

The Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base is another delightful Australian picture book that works on multiple levels. Detailing the unlikely tale of how four unlikely people discovered dragons with beautiful illustrations, funny comic strips along the bottom of each … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, Australian, Fantasy, Picture Books | Tagged 10 and up, 20th Century, adventure, Australian, epistolary, fantasy, fiction, Graeme Base, humour, illustrated, there be Dragons | Leave a comment

The Dragon of Mith by Kate Walker

Posted on March 22, 2018 by jenny

The Dragon of Mith is an Australian kids book by Kate Walker. It’s the story of a vegetarian dragon, a ridiculous number of dragon-slayers, a community of hermits and a blood-thirsty butcher (amongst others). I have vague memories of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Australian, Children's, Children's Classic, Fantasy | Tagged 20th Century, 7 and up, action, adventure, Australian, courage, fantasy, fiction, friendship, good out loud, hermits, humour, there be Dragons, vegetarianism, whimsical | Leave a comment

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Posted on February 18, 2018 by jenny

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a YA fantasy book. I knew it was a winner as soon as I saw that it has chapter titles like “In which Howl expresses his feelings with Green Slime”. It follows … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 years and up, 20th Century YA, British, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged 20th Century, adventure, better than the movie, British, coming-of-age, convoluted plot, Diana Wynne Jones, fantasy, fiction, humour, John Donne, magic, mild romance, seven league boots, whimsical, Wizard Howl, YA classic, young adult | Leave a comment

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Posted on November 28, 2017 by jenny

E.B. White is better known for Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, but my favourite of his books is The Trumpet of the Swan. It tells the story of Louis, a trumpeter swan who can’t trumpet, which has grave implications for … Continue reading →

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's Classics, Fantasy | Tagged 20th Century, 7 and up, action, adventure, American, animal behaviour, animals, birds, boats, children's classic, disability, fantasy, fiction, food and fighting, good out loud, honour, humour, impressively pompous character, literacy, mild romance, music, muteness, nature, overcoming adversity, summer camp, swans, trumpet, whimsical, zookeeping | Leave a comment

The Door in the Air and Other Stories by Margaret Mahy

Posted on December 24, 2016 by jenny

The Door in the Air and Other Stories is my favourite book by Margaret Mahy, a fantastic (in both senses) kiwi children’s author. I have two favourite stories from this book. The first is The Work of Art, which makes … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, Children's, Fantasy, New Zealander, Short Stories | Tagged 10 and up, 20th Century, adventure, art critics, fantasy, fiction, humour, illustrated, Kiwi, satire, short stories, whimsical | Leave a comment