Finished A Fate Worse Than Dragons by John Moore.

This is a fairy tale spoof about Terry, a knight who jumps through hoop after hoop so he can be with his true love, Princess Gloria. The book opens with Terry killing a dragon, a feat that will win him Gloria’s hand … except the border was recently redrawn. That means that Terry wins the hand of the princess in the next kingdom, instead of his beloved Gloria. So, the two of them go back to the drawing board and devise a kidnapping scheme sure to work … except it doesn’t. I think you can see where this is going.

This book was a lot of fun. Moore knows his fantasy and fairy tales, and he pokes loving fun at the lot of them. For instance, people are suspicious of toasted bread and nasty creatures always eat virgins. Mostly, I enjoyed the absurdity, although some of the jokes fell flat at times, and the toasted bread thing did get a little stale after a while. (Sorry, couldn’t resist). But if you’re looking for a light fantasy read, this one shouldn’t disappoint.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: Hit Man by Lawrence Block.