A Fate Worse Than Dragons

By: John Moore

Narrated by: Tristan Morris

In an attempt to win the hand of Princess Gloria in marriage, Sir Terry slays a dragon - only to discover he's killed the dragon in a neighboring kingdom and inadvertently earned the devotion of the wrong princess. And everyone knows that getting stuck with the wrong girl is truly a fate worse than dragons.

©2007 John Moore (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Fantasy humour that's actually funny!

This was a great listen. You're introduced to a fantasy world that lightly mocks itself throughout, with four main characters who are all likeable in different ways, yet each has their own goals.

The humour is there from the beginning, starting as a dry, Terry Pratchett-esque wry wit that evokes the occasional chuckle. For example, the idea that a knight who slays a dragon wins the hand of a princess is true in this world - due to Common law precedents that are hotly contested by lawyers. It's only in the climax that the humour starts to hit a peak, leaving you grinning for much of the last two hours. It's sometimes salacious (griffons prefer a diet of virgins, leading to some suggestive scenes as the virgins decide not to be dinner) and sometimes anachronistic, but never so topical that it gets dated. The rich magnate who is engaged to the princess made his fortune... by patenting sliced bread.

The whole book was a lot of fun, especially by the end when the plot threads and the jokes were coming together at last. The narrator did a good job with the different voices, and the sound quality was fine. The only real problem I have with it is that it's relatively short - I could get much better value for a credit by buying a longer book. But I find that with humour, short and sweet is better than drawing a tired joke out.

I'll be collecting the rest of John Moore's books, I think.

Amusing

Fun little book. John Moore is an entertaining comedic fantasy writer. Reminds me of Pratchett, but a little less goofy. I thought Heroics for Beginners was funnier, but this was pretty great.

snarky sensual fantasy.

if you think you might enjoy a snarky and hilarious, take on fantasy and don't mind essential flair this is the book for you.