Year of the Griffin

Derkholm, Book 2

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Gemma Dawson

It is eight years after the tours from offworld have stopped. High Chancellor Querida has retired, leaving Wizard Corkoran in charge of the Wizards' University. Although Wizard Corkoran's obsession is to be the first man on the moon and most of his time is devoted to this project, he decides he will teach the new first-years himself in hopes of currying the favor of the new students' families - for surely they must all come from wealthy, important families - and obtaining money for the university (which it so desperately needs).

But Wizard Corkoran is dismayed to discover that one of those students - indeed, one he had such high hopes for, Wizard Derk's own daughter, Elda - is a huge golden griffin and that none of the others has any money at all.

Wizard Corkoran's money-making scheme backfires, and when Elda and her new friends start working magic on their own, the schemes go wronger still. And when, at length, Elda ropes in her brothers, Kit and Blade, to send Corkoran to the moon...well...life at the Wizards' University spins magically and magnificently out of control.

©2000 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2018 Tantor

Such a fun listen!

This book is a terrific part of this series. I am so sorry DWJ is deceased and can’t write more. I wish all of her books were available on Audible in the United States.

It's the characters not the action

If you listen carefully (twice in my case), you can capture the intrigue of the not-your-usual school story. It's the multitude of variations on what one might expect that I enjoyed, but I had to listen twice to appreciate the separate threads. If you want action, this might not satisfy. The narration maybe had its dry points, but I think Gemma is at her best when voicing the many characters.

Highly Entertaining

It’s a shame the series couldn’t have had the same voice actor throughout ~ but both have been lovely to listen to. I’ll be enjoying this story for years to come! <3 Thank you DWJ <3 You are missed

Audiobook

One of the best from Diana Wynne Jones. Narrator was OK, but there were enough inflection problems that I don't think she was paying much attention to the writing. (There was already an unabridged audiobook of this title. Why not do one of The Merlin Conspiracy, Dogsbody, The Power of Three, or Black Maria?)

great story

great narrator, enjoyed the plots. never a dull moment. I would recommend this book to anyone, young or old.