I love this book. It is great for fans of magic.

It is the 21st century and magic has started to fade away. Fifteen year old Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for soothsayers and sorcerers. They are being hired to unplug drains, rewire houses and deliver pizza but even that work has been drying up. Then visions start predicting the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of a dragonslayer. The visions also suggest that Jennifer Strange will be involved and something big is about to happen – maybe Big Magic. Fforde’s book, the first in a series, is fast paced, interesting and humorous. It is a fun read and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy fantasy. Reviewed by KH

In all fariness, I am NOT a teen, but I have read a fair share of teen books over the decades.. Fforde's brilliant literary wit is lacking here even though it is clever and witty at times, just not brilliantly so. The main character is likeable enough, but not enough happens through the first 240 pages or so to make it very interesting. However the finale was pretty good, good enough that I may try the next in the series, hoping for better. The Thursday Next stories, all of them good, did get better, so there is hope here.

I thought it was a very cute book. It was silly and whimsical, creating a world part high-fantasy and part urban. I loved it, but I read a lot of fantasy when I was younger and at 15 feel it was a bit below my reading level. However, I think anyone under 13 or 14 would love it!

Even though I am "old" I very much enjoyed this book. A very good "easy" read, I would recommend it to any age, even elderly folk like me! :)

"In his whimsical YA debut, the bestselling author of the Thursday Next series introduces 16-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange. Jennifer runs Kazam, a combination boarding house and employment agency for sorcerers in a world where magic is fading away. But when magicians all over the Un-united Kingdoms start having visions about the death of the world's last dragon, Jennifer learns that she has a much greater responsibility than finding suitable jobs for washed-up wizards: she is the Last Dragonslayer. Often silly but also highly entertaining, this 1st in a planned series is a good bet for fans of Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books." Teen Scene December 2012 Newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=576688

Reminds me a lot of the early Harry Potter novels, back when they were exuberant explorations of magic and not constrained so much by the demands of plotting. Lovely interplay between the world of magic, which though fitful and sputtering, is still wondrous, and everyday life in a DisUnited Kingdom which is grim, pinched and racked by war. But Fforde's genius is so continuously fertile that he makes unreliable cars, reheated tea, and overdue rent sound like a lot of fun.

A fun book. My younger sister read it and really liked it, so I though I'd give it a go. It was good, but I didn't like it as much as she did. Howerver, it's really meant for older kids and young teens, so I'm a bit out of it's target audience. Despite this, I did enjoy reading it, and found it funny.