Review - The Great Troll War (The Last Dragonslayer, #4) by Jasper Fforde

 

 

 Title: The Great Troll War (The Last Dragonslayer, #4)

Author: Jasper Fforde

Pages: 368

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 9th September 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads: 

The final instalment of the Last Dragonslayer Chronicles, demonstrating that with a small band of committed followers, a large tin of resolve and steely determination, almost anything can be achieved . . .

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 defence 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 . . .

 

 

 Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

The UnUnited Kingdom has been invaded by Trolls, and Jennifer Strange finds herself in Cornwall with only a trench filled with buttons (Trolls can't stand them) preventing her and her friends from being eaten.

But the Trolls aren't the only problem - the Mighty Shandar, the most powerful sorcerer ever to exist, has a sinister plan that only Jennifer can foil.

Can Jennifer stop the Trolls from completing their invasion as well as the Mighty Shandar from enacting his plan?

Will she finally discover the truth about her parents?

Having very much enjoyed the previous book in the series, I was looking forward to seeing how the series would end.

I really liked Jennifer as a protagonist. Even though she was only sixteen-years-old, she had been through a lot and had a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. Jennifer had a strong moral compass and cared a lot about other people.

As well as Jennifer, Tiger was one of my favourite characters. He was witty and sarcastic and was always ready to help Jennifer.

The Princess was an interesting character whose development over the series I really liked.

The plot was enjoyable overall, but there were scenes that felt rushed, and so they didn't have as much impact as they perhaps should have. Some of the plot also felt a bit random - even for a Jasper Fforde book - and out of place, so this instalment almost felt like it didn't belong in the series.

However, as I have come to expect from the author's books, it was witty and fun (even if it did feel a little forced at times).

I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would, and that it was a bit of a disappointing end to the series, but the author is still one of my favourites.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.