Year of the Griffin - (Derkholm) by Diana Wynne Jones (Paperback)

About the Book

Eight years after the end of Mr. Chesney's offworld Pilgrim Parties, as seen in "Dark Lord of Derkholm", Wizards University is in a shambles. Wizard Derk's griffin daughter Elda and her fellow first-year students encounter tyrannical tutors, boring lectures, and terrible rectory food. But things get even worse when the University sends a letter to each of their families begging for funds.

Book Synopsis

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 wealth, 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 hugh 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.

This breathtakingly brilliant sequel to Dark Lord of Derkholm is all one would expect from this master of genre.

From the Back Cover

EIGHT YEARS AFTER the end of Mr. Chesney's offworld Pilgrim Parties, the Wizards' University is in a shambles. Wizard Derk's griffin daughter Elda and her fellow first-year students encounter tyrannical tutors, boring lectures, and truly terrible refectory food. But things get even worse when the University sends a letter to each of their families begging for funds. Now Elda and her friends must contend with a band of trained assassins, a flock of renegade griffins, and an unexpected trip to the moon. Even with all the magical means at their disposal, will they make it through their first year?

Review Quotes

"I found "Year of the Griffin" filled with splendors and delights, sparkling plays of wit, and high flights of fancy -- in short, Diana Wynne Jones at her best."-- Lloyd Alexander"Diana Wynne Jones chooses the most outlandish subjects and treats them with such aplomb that the reader never blinks. She always gives you characters you believe in from top to bottom and a world whose details you recognize inside and out. Her prose is transparent without ever being ordinary. Her humor is deft. All the worlds that Jones creates have her trademark integrity."-- Megan Whalen Turner"I "love" Diana Wynne Jones. Read this book. Read all the other ones, too."-- Robin McKinley"Readers who want more substance in character and plot of fantasy novels are advised to turn to the underrated novelist Diana Wynne Jones."-- Andrew Ogus, Letter to the Editor, "New York Times"