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.

"The Great Toll War" is a satirical and entertaining novel written by Jasper Fforde. It is the fourth book in the "Chronicles of Kazam" series, which follows the adventures of Jennifer Strange, the acting manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management, a company that employs sorcerers, magicians, and other magical practitioners.

The story takes place in a world where magic is an integral part of everyday life, and the government regulates and taxes the use of magical powers. The Great Toll War breaks out when the government decides to impose a new tax on transportation spells, causing outrage among the magic community.

Jennifer Strange, along with her team of eccentric sorcerers, finds herself caught up in the middle of the conflict. She must navigate the complex politics of the magical world and find a way to bring peace to the warring factions.

Fforde's writing style is engaging and witty, and he skillfully blends humor with political commentary. He creates a richly detailed and imaginative world full of quirky characters and fantastical creatures.

While the book is entertaining and humorous, it also touches on serious themes such as government corruption and the exploitation of marginalized communities. The story is a reflection of the issues and conflicts that exist in the real world, and it encourages readers to think critically about power dynamics and the importance of standing up for what is right.

Overall, "The Great Toll War" is a delightful and thought-provoking read that combines humor and satire with important social commentary. It is a must-read for fans of fantasy and satire alike.

It's crazy, it's mad and it's incredibly funny

It's Jasper Fforde and you either get it or you don't

I get it and I love it

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

An enjoyable finale to the series, told with great wit and imagination as you would expect from Jasper Fforde. It was fun to revisit the brilliant characters from the Last Dragon Slayer, although it was so long ago that I read the last instalment I needed to refresh myself of what had happened so far in series! Humour, trolls, dragons and wizards, and a fitting end to the series

I’m a huge fan of Jasper Fforde, or at least of the Thursday Next novels, but for some reason I’ve not paid any attention to The Last Dragonslayer novels. Or at least until now. I don’t think it’s because they’re pitched more at a slightly different (and younger) readership but more because I’ve always had a slightly ambivalent relationship to fantasy as a genre. It’s a decision that The Great Troll War has made me regret.

Certainly, there’s much in the basic set-up that is extremely familiar, particularly if you think of a certain boy wizard, although the absurdist, bordering on surreal, tone of the novel itself might be more reminiscent of Terry Pratchett at his best. Jennifer Strange is an orphan who finds herself being schooled in magic before discovering that she has a destiny where the fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance. So far, so hokey, you might say.

And yet, the story rattles along at a cracking pace and is never anything less than manicly diverting. This is largely down to the characters. Jennifer and her various sidekicks and friends are nicely drawn and, if we didn’t know it already, Fforde has a definite knack for quirky and evocative names. And even coming into this series at the denouement I did feel quite bereft at the surprisingly large number of character fatalities in the book. Heaven knows, what I’d have been like if I’d followed them throughout the other three novels.

If there’s a weak link character-wise, it’s maybe in Jennifer herself. Not that she’s ever any less than a personable and utterly likeable protagonist. It’s just that there’s points where she felt a little like a slightly less overbearing version of Thursday Next. And as faults go, that’s one I’m more than happy to live with.

But where this, for me, rises above the aforementioned Certain Boy Wizard is in the Ffordian flourishes and flight of fancy. Not all of the jokes and set pieces quite work but most of them do and Fforde does dial back greatly on the metatextual play that defines the Thursday Next books, although he does allow himself one significant cameo, and I’m sure John Nettles will be delighted at his apparent deification in this world. And the ultimate solution to the conundrum of the Troll onslaught at the heart of the book has to count as one of the most ingenious examples of Ffordian cleverness.

The plot certainly rattles along at breakneck speed, particularly in the second half of the book and it’s possibly too breathless for some. There is a feeling that this could have been a longer book that would have given some of the twists, plot thread payoffs and character sacrifices a little more room to breathe but I personally enjoyed the speed of the narrative and was glad that Fforde resisted the temptation to finish his fantasy sage with a doorstopping tome.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this and definitely feel inclined to seek out the other volumes in this series and am actually surprised that these books are not far more of a mega-hit than they seem to be. All the elements appear to be there. They strike me as the perfect introduction to Fforde’s oeuvre, which can admittedly sometimes be a little dense and multi-referential for some. But it has also left me feeling impatient for some new adventures from Thursday Next herself.

This is the last installment of The Dragonslayer Chronicle series. It been a few years since the last one, so it took me a couple of chapters to remember the storyline. I quickly got back in the swing of it, and I didn't want to stop reading. It was definitely worth the long wait.
I reccomend that you read the previous books first as there is at lot going on, most of which won't make sense unless you are familiar with the books.
This book ties up a lot of the loose ends, answering a lot of questions that the reader might have had. There are a few surprises along the way too.
Jasper Fforde writes with his usual skill. He is an excellent storyteller. I was enthralled and entertained by this book, it is very good. I'm sad that this series has come to an end, but I am really looking forward to reading his next book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

I know that you should read a fantasy series since the beginning and I know this is the 4th in a series.
That said I loved it, I enjoyed every line, laughed a lot and found it brilliant.
It's funny but also full of food for thought, I read in two sitting and loved the world building and the characters.
I'm sure I missed details but I loved it as the style of writing is brilliant and I loved the characters.
Jennifer is a great MC and I loved her as much as I loved the Quack Beast and the other characters.
I'm happy because I have an entire fantastic series to read.
I strongly recommended it as I loved it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It’s been two weeks since Jennifer Strange (the last dragonslayer) and Princess Shazine (still stuck in the body of the royal dog mess cleaner-upper) returned to Snodd to discover that Zambini Towers had been destroyed by a powerful thermowizidrical blast. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Troll War V had not only begun in their absence, but it had also come to a middle and decided to carry on. The surviving population of the UnUnited Kingdoms had fled south and taken asylum in the Kingdom of Cornwall, and the only thing standing between them and certain death is the Button Trench. With time quickly running out, can Jennifer, Princess Shazine, and the surviving residents of Zambini Towers figure out how to beat the trolls and save the UnUnited Kingdoms?

With his final instalment of The Last Dragonslayer series, Fforde has shown that his well of weird and wacky is far from drying up. The book is crammed with characters old and new, and with storylines being tied up neatly with a bow. For me, it was too crammed. I’m not sure if it would have worked better over two books, but as it is it feels rather rushed and doesn’t give each individual plotline the attention it deserves, resulting in certain revelations not really making that much of an impact.

Without letting spoilers slip it’s difficult to say, but there’s at least one major part that just feels totally over the top and unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, the book is still eminently readable, it just doesn’t live up to its potential. I’ve learned to expect a lot from Jasper Fforde, and this time he just fell a little short.

You’ll definitely need to have read the full series so far to make sense of The Great Troll War, or you won’t have a clue what’s going on. Even if you have read all the preceding books, unless you’ve got an eidetic memory, I’d recommend re-reading them before attempting to get into this one – my memory certainly wasn’t up to the job, and I’d only read The Eye of Zoltar three months previously. Considering that there’s been a seven year wait for this book, you’ll most likely need a reminder.

I received an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Classic Ffordian brilliance. Full of adventure and plenty of Fforde in-jokes to keep the die-hard fans happy, this is the culmination of the Last Dragonslayer Chronicles. Jennifer Strange, the Quarkbeast, Tiger Prawns and their remaining allies have to fend off the rapidly approaching Trolls in order to defeat The Mighty Shandar and hopefully save the world.
Many questions need answering such as will the Trolls manage to cross the button trench and wreak havoc, will Jennifer ever find out what lies within the glovebox of the VW and what was the Great Zambini’s grand plan?
A cast of lovable characters with a gamut of great plots and a surprising conclusion. Fab stuff.
Now, when’s the Shades of Grey sequel due out? ;)

Having reread The Last Dragonslayer, The Song of the Quarkbeast, and The Eye of Zoltar, I was finally ready to read The Great Troll War.

I’ve really enjoyed the series so far, and I love so many of the characters (Jennifer, Tiger, and the quarkbeast especially). So it was joyful to return to this world.

Jasper Fforde’s writing, as always, flows so smoothly, allowing readers to get caught up in the story. I love all the jokes and funny moments, and the way that magic works. I love the characters, and the way that they develop as circumstances change. I particularly enjoyed the trolls as a species, and Molly in particular.

The scope of this book is much larger than that of the previous three, but the themes are similar. Friendship, the fight for justice, and the defeat of evil.

Why, with so many things I loved about it, have I only given 4 stars? Because too many people died, not just characters I loved, but people in general. I understand that it’s an intrinsic part of this kind of fantasy story, but I don’t enjoy reading about it.

Overall, this was a well written adventure, which is a fitting conclusion to a fun and exciting series. I think it could be read on its own, but you’ll get so much more out of it if you read the previous three books first.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.