This book is set seven or eight years after the Dark Lord of Derkholm, in a world that is finally recovering from the impact of Mr Chesney's Pilgrim Parties. It is set in the University, and follows Elda (one of Derk's daughters and also coincidently a very large griffin) and her group of friends as they start to learn magic and to solve some of the University's mysteries.

I enjoyed this book rather more than the first one. The characterisation is a lot better and the plot is a rather charming pastiche of the traditional English school story, written before Harry Potter made fantasy school mash-ups common. An imaginative outing from an excellent author.

4.5/5. A really enjoyable sequel to Derkholm—I love knowing what the repercussions of overthrowing evil actually look like for a world so this was my exact vibe. Corkoran most useless wizard award. I can’t believe the kids went to the moon just bc Corokran was sad and hung over and they felt bad for him. Literally everything worked out in the last chapter and who doesn’t love fantasy positivity. Even tho it was being run “into the ground” Wizards University at its worst was still way better than my college.

So. I have very mixed feelings about this book. I did not like that everyone was being put into or arranged into relationships - I've always liked Jones's way of having people accidentally fall in love and only realizing it late in the game. This felt a little forced and too purposeful. And I absolutely hated Corkoran is an annoying idiot that is just too much chaotic idiocy (with a great heaping of laziness) for me to handle.

On the other hand, I generally enjoyed the events that weren't relationship-centric that happened in the book. It was great fun and over all interesting. In the end, I ended the book with a over all positive feeling but it was kinda a slog at times to get to that, so it all is cancelled out into a "good but not great" reading experience.

Toistan mielipiteeni : hahmot ihania, juoni aika perus. Mielellään tätä veti itseensä, vaikka loppu olikin liian siirappinen

I would highly recommend this and the first book The Dark Lord of Derkholm. They are a really good YA fantasy book. They never go as I expect them too. Really enjoy Diana Wynne Jones.

*4.5 stars*

Despite technically being a sequel to Dark lord of Derkholm, Year of the Griffin stands pretty solidly on its' own. It's also very different from its' predecessor in both theme and execution.

Elda the Griffin, daughter of (human) Wizards Derk and Mara is showing signs of magical aptitude, but her family is a bit too busy dealing with various matters to pay enough attention to teaching her. After mishaps and family quarrels, Elda finds herself in the Wizard's University sharing space with various other royal and/or rich misfits. When it turns out that Wizard school is not what they were expecting, the students take matters into the own hands, raiding the library for magic-learning resources and forging their own path to knowledge. Shenanigans ensue.

Year of the Griffin is primarily a story about Academia and how incredibly fucked up it can get when the wrong people are in charge. It's also a story about a wizarding school where a band of outcasts eventually form a close knit family while working through their personal issues. In addition, almost everyone falls in Love at First Sight. I'd have been more irritated about that if one of the couples didn't have the absolute BEST instant proposal scene- where the Roman Empire Expy ruler Titus meets the Medieval Europe Expy princess Isadora and he hopes she's good at governing and she says that she is and that she's also very economical and he's happy about that because he's just imprisoned pretty much all the senators. It's their first meeting and it's adorable, probably because Isadora and Titus get their own scenes and we love them already so we know they will suit. It may not be deep romance but it was CUTE dammit.

The book also featured some very aggressive depictions of the one thing I hated the most about college- disillusionment about the faculty. Knowing that your professors are only human is very different from realizing that your professors are not flawed human beings they are megalomaniacal hypocrites on a constant power high. //wraps Elda up in a blanket because I feel you girl I feel you. The one sequence where Professor Moonface (I cannot be bothered to remember his name) grades the papers of the students is both painful and realistic. It's irrational of me, but I am more angry at the apathetic professors than I am at the evil senators and the bloodthirsty assassins.

It's also full of marvelous characters. There's no groundbreaking character development arcs here, but the depictions of the people are both quirky and believable, and I'd be willing to read a spinoff novel centered on practically everyone. I also have a BURNING urge to know what's happening on the Griffin continent. It was also a very funny book- I will forever be in love with the SHIELD OF REALLY THICK BOOKS. It was also very full of moments which made me want to stand up and cheer. I'm a really huge fan of quiet but effective rebellion, dammit.

I have liked other works of Diana Wynne Jones better (COUGHArchersGoonCOUGH), but this one was very good. //nodnod