The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde

The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (the sequel to The Last Dragonslayer, you should probably go read that review before this one) is filled with so much imagination, creativity, and intricate details that it doesn’t seem like anything a single person would be able to create. Fforde is supremely talented and is quickly becoming one of, if not my favorite, authors. After the death of the last dragon, Maltcassion, magic is back on the rise in the Ununited Kingdoms, and the wizards of Kazam are in greater demand for their magical powers—repairing the phone network, finding lost objects, and making microwaves work again, just to name a few jobs. However, Kazam has competition from the one other House of Enchantment that is led by the Amazing Blix and something sinister is afoot.

Blix and King Snodd are becoming closer and closer buddies, and the King wants to make Blix the Official Court Magici- BUT NOT ON JENNY’S WATCH! Jenny challenges Blix to a competition to see who will be appointed the role and Blix, annoyed, agrees. Be that as it may, this competition won’t be a clean one. Blix has some dirty tricks up his sleeve to ensure that he will beat Kazam. Jenny and the rest of Kazam will have to figure out what Blix is doing before magic, something that should be able to help everyone, becomes a tool for Blix and Snodd’s personal gain.

I have a YouTube channel where I animate some of my book reviews! Be sure to check it out at: www.youtube.com/@theeccentricbookshelf.

Honestly, this book is so good that I don’t really have anything to say about it. Everything about it is incredible. It’s so well written and I feel like I immediately get sucked into Fforde’s beautifully built world. His word choice and use of adjectives that really help the reader to picture the world. He uses lots of fancy and potentially rather silly synonyms which emphasize the quirkiness and eccentricities of the novel.

I also think that all of Fforde’s books (well at least the three that I’ve read) have such unique plots full of so many twists and turns. He leads you one way and then suddenly turns and takes you the opposite direction. 

Furthermore, it’s a very satisfying book. All the characters and events slot together so well to create the story, and the whole book is like a puzzle where everything just falls into place. Everything seems unrelated in the beginning, but somehow, they’re woven together to create this marvelous masterpiece of a novel. It might seem that Fforde is writing useless events or unnecessary information into the book, but trust that everything will come together to make a wonderfully rewarding ending.

I have a YouTube channel where I animate some of my book reviews! Be sure to check it out at: www.youtube.com/@theeccentricbookshelf.

Compared to the first book, I might even say that I liked it more. The blunt humor was just the type I love. It wasn’t trying to be funny, but it just was. The ending was better, Jenny got more fleshed out, and I just liked some of the new characters more. I thought the book was even more satisfying and still had a terrifically unique plot. Turns out that I did have quite a bit to say about it—a lot of very good things. Fforde is an absolute master of fantasy and I would one hundred- no. One billion percent recommend everyone, everyone, regardless of their age, to read every single one of his books (which I will most certainly be doing because they’re JUST SO GOOD). Go read his books and, as Nike might say, “Just Do It.”