Year of the Griffin (Gollancz Sf S.) [Paperback]

Diana Wynne Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2003 | Series: Gollancz Sf S.

The Wizards' University is short of money. Nothing comes in from tourists any more since Mr Chesney's offworld tours have stopped. High Chancellor Querida has left Wizard Derk and his family to run the world and handsome Wizard Corkoran to run the University. Corkoran is really only interested in being the first man to walk on the moon, but he does send begging letters to the students' parents. But Wizard Derk's daughter Elda turns out to be a large golden griffin, King Luther's son is penniless, the Emperor's sister has been disowned by the Senate and the dwarf, far from owning a hoard of treasure, turns out to be a runaway slave. And then the first reply from a student's family arrives - in the form of assassins ...The situation is definitely out of control.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the very strange Pilgrim Parties of Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm, tourists from the next universe would come to wizards' lands expecting to have exciting battles with dwarfs, dragons, and the powers of darkness. Sadly, wizards were forced to host these hokey yet horrific pseudoadventures, and in the process, laid waste to their lands. But as its sequel Year of the Griffin begins, we learn with some relief that the mercenary Mr. Chesney's magic tours had ended eight years previous. While that is excellent news, the Wizards' University is now decidedly short of funds.

Wavy-blond-haired Professor Corkoran has plenty of schemes for extracting money from his students' families. But he always has plenty of ideas, and none of them work. Besides, he is too busy researching how to be the first man to walk on the moon to do much of anything else. As his new crop of students shows up, Corkoran is in for a surprise. Not only do none of them have any money, but one is a huge griffin, "brightly golden in fur and crest and feathers, so sharply curved of beak, and so fiercely alert in her round orange eyes that at first sight she seemed to fill a room." (Meet Elda, softhearted yet gigantic daughter of Wizard Derk.)

The hilarious goings-on begin when Corkoran's moneymaking schemes backfire horribly, and the motley crew of would-be wizards begin their studies. Comical tableaux involving spells that create deep pits and smelly winged monkeys alternate with suspenseful (yet always amusing) scenes involving tiny assassins who mean business. Jones's satirical pokes at academia, racial intolerance (the greenish and jinxed Claudia has mixed blood), and hierarchical societies (Ruskin is bucking the tyranny of the forgemasters to become the first dwarf wizard) keep the story lively, as do the realistic portrayals of her very odd and endearing cast of characters. You definitely don't have to have read Dark Lord to enjoy this wonderful sequel, but you may not be able to resist going back to it. (Ages 12 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Infused with all manner of enchantments, this boisterous spoof of the campus novel reads like a cross between David Lodge and a particularly buoyant incarnation of J.R.R. Tolkien. Standards at the Wizards' University have fallen grievously in recent years: under the leadership of Wizard Corkoran (a charismatic slacker preoccupied with dreams of moon travel), the school's main goals seem to be to enrich its coffers and graduate classes of mediocre bureaucrats. Into this unpromising situation bounds first-year student Elda, griffin daughter of the powerful Wizard Derk (the eccentric breeder of flying pigs, winged horses, etc., previously seen in Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm). Elda becomes fast friends with other new students, among them a rebel dwarf, a penniless crown prince, the Emperor's jinxed half-sister and two youths who must hide their true identities. A newly kindled passion for the great works of magical literature and a shared struggle against such foes as a tyrannical professor and a band of trained assassins deepen the bonds of the students' friendship. One exuberantly inventive adventure follows the next all the way to the pleasing conclusion, in which matches are made, secrets revealed and numerous loose ends tied up. Great fun. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz Paperbacks (August 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575075376
• ISBN-13: 978-0575075375
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,566,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Wynne Jones spent her childhood in Essex and has been writing fantasy novels for children since 1973. With her unique combination of magic, humour and imagination, she has been enthralling children and adults with her work ever since. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life, was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. She is married with three sons, and lives in Bristol with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diana Wynne Jones is always magical., September 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Year of the Griffin (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones, and I was surprised by the style of this book. Year of the Griffin is the sequel to Dark Lord of Derkholm, and takes place eight years after that book ends. In the book, Derk's youngest griffin daughter Elda goes of to the University to become a wizard; she makes friends with five other students quickly. The book contains some of DWJ's trademarks; funny but not perfect characters, hidden depths to those characters, and a world where nothing is only what it seems to be. But perhaps because of the number of the characters, the end of the story seems more concerned with wrapping up their lives than the plot; the plot, unlike in most of Jones' novels, is secondary to the characters. The book is thoroughly enjoyable, but I would not reccomend it to people who haven't read her work before. If you're a first time reader, try Charmed Life or Howl's Moving Castle or Hexwood or Deep Secret--all wonderful--and come back to this one later. Chances are you will.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the Prequal First, if you can, October 2, 2000

By 

Lindsey Conrotto "lindsey conrotto" (East Point, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Year of the Griffin (Hardcover)

I love D.W.J, and this book is great! This time, the main character is Elda, Derk's griffin daughter, who has gone to school at the wizard university. "Year of the Griffin" includes assasination attempts, crushes, pirates, idiot teachers, and new griffins. Read "Dark Lord of Derkholm" before "Year of the Griffin" if you can find it, because that will help you understand it beter. You might find "Dark Lord" in a local library, but it is out of print and might be hard to find. I think that "Year of the Griffin" deserves another sequal.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love griffins..., May 28, 2005

By 

yvette "starlet" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year of the Griffin (Gollancz Sf S.) (Paperback)

... although I still haven't quite figured out in my head how their beaks move then they talk because we use lips to form words and they don't have any.

Anyways, this is the sequel to Dark Lord of Derkholm (which you really should read first), and although different in quality is equally as entertaining. I loved seeing the familiar characters pop in and out, and getting updates on them. Although I would have liked to see more of them, I hardly noticed as we were busy getting to know a whole new cast of intriguing character... Elda's new classmates.

I took this book up in the evening just before bedtime. Always a bad idea. I was reading all night! I thought I would have enough self control to stop after a chapter or so but Diana Wynne Jones had me hooked. Right from our first meeting with Elda's new classmates, I was already laughing out loud.

Instead of the questing and defeating the enemies tone of the first book, this book focused more on renewal and growth, of both Elda and her classmate friends, as well as of the University. And as I mentioned before, it was great to hear of all the familiar faces.

I long for a third book from this world! Her fan website says she has promised her sister that she will write one. Can't wait!