Reviews

The Great Troll War by Jasper Fforde

wdberens's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

caitief's review

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

bugaboobear's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I really loved the first 3 books in the series but this one was quite sad. Worth the read, just sad. 

I was also annoyed at the audio book because they changed narrators and all the voices were different. It made it unreadable to me, so I switched to the paperback. 

mora55's review against another edition

well this was a horrible ending of the series lmao. i wasn't expecting a lot since the author'd been away from this series for ages and it felt more like wrapping up loose ends than because he actually wanted to continue (which to be fair is why i'm reading it), but i was somehow also expecting better than this. it didn't have most of that charm and voice of the past ones (especially the first two; i didn't like the third one much) and the actual ending was like,, really. you went with that. (honestly that was my reaction to most things that happened in the entire book)

so yeah, i can forget about this series now, this loose end in my reading life has finally been resolved


---pre-read
i cannot believe this book actually finally exists

gkneveu's review against another edition

2.0

Not much to say that I haven't already said about the other three. Ultimately, the books are fine for the extremely quick read that they are.

For me, the series has the major failings I encounter with an adult writer writing for children. It just feels lazy. The characters are flat, there are major continuity errors, dropped threads and details that come to nothing.

Spoiler

For the last time. Why. Is. Jennifer. A. Berserker??

seandelliot's review

5.0

I read the first three books in this series to my kids as a bedtime story. They were perfect, full of fantastical fantasy set in a nearly recognizable world with an entirely relatable teen protagonist and a little yellow VW Beetle. If the kids had been bored I would have gone on reading them for myself. Of course we finished the third book, The Eye of Zoltar, in 2017 with eager anticipation of the fourth coming soon ... and then, sadly, it did not. Six years later my kids are no longer of bedtime story age, but very happily I found the book on the shelf at the library and delightedly devoured it, diving right back into the world of Kazam, and Jennifer Strange, and the Mighty Shandar and all the wild characters, places, and stories of the UnUnited Kingdoms. Fforde has a real knack for taking the nearly recognizable world in which we live and morphing it into something, as I said, fantastical. It took me a moment or so to get caught-up, and probalby should have re-read the first three, but overall I was able to keep up with the story, pulling some from memory and a few nice reminders from the author (who clearly recognized his readers might need it with such a long gap between chapters). The story zips right along, with drama, and humor, and gravitas ... and a giant replica of the Chrysler Building ... obviously, don't just read this one. Read ALL FOUR and do it as soon as possible!

bugaboobear's review against another edition

Really disliked the change in narrator and couldn't push through. The new narrator wasn't bad, but this is the last in a 4 book series and I'm not prepared to adjust to all new voices right at the finish line. 

pam_sartain's review against another edition

4.0

The Great Troll War by Jasper Fforde (The Last Dragonslayer 4) continues where The Eye of Zoltar left off!  Our heroes returned to a kingdom under siege in the last book, and the Princess in her servants body, except it's now hers.  And now the Princess is actually in charge!  

The Trolls and another kingdom are in league with the Mighty Shandar, and so it's up to Jennifer, the wizards, and the Princess to save the day!

This was a fun continuation of the story!  I enjoyed our cast of characters, and was cheering them on!

 The Great Troll War  was published on 9th September 2021, and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Jasper Fforde on  Twitter  and his  website .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Hodder & Stoughton .

You can read my reviews of the books in this series:

The Last Dragonslayer - book 1 

The Song of the Quarkbeast - book 2

The Eyes of Zoltar - book 3

The Great Troll War - book 4

bibliotheca_draconum's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

cookiecat73's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5