The Ogre of Oglefort
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3.9 • 7 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
With a beautiful cover illustration by Alex T. Smith, creator of the Claude series, The Ogre of Oglefort is a wonderfully spooky young fiction title from the award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson.
When a Hag, an orphan boy called Ivo, Ulf the troll and wizard Brian Brainsweller are sent to rescue a princess from an ogre, they briefly consider running away and hiding. Can they be any match for the gruesome, terrifying, ghastly, flesh-eating Ogre of Oglefort? But not all is as it first appears – the Ogre is depressed and the princess doesn't want to be rescued. The Norns, who rule their fates, decide to take things in hand and send a gang of the vilest, most petrifying ghouls to get the job done properly . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ibbotson (Journey to the River Sea) turns stereotypical portrayals of fairy tale figures on their head in this hilarious account of a princess's rescue. The fun begins when a clan of displaced magical creatures a hag, a troll, and a wizard is recruited to save young Princess Mirella from her captor, the "dreaded Ogre of Oglefort." However, when the team, accompanied by an orphan boy, Ivo, arrives at Oglefort Castle, they quickly learn that it's the tired and sickly ogre who needs liberation. In an attempt to avoid the horrible fate of marrying a "nitwit" of a prince, Mirella has been browbeating the ogre, demanding he change her into a bird. After the truth is sorted out, the rescuers devise new goals that include nurturing the ogre back to health and warding off intruders like the regiment of soldiers led by Mirella's fianc . Fans of the author, who died in 2010, will find a gratifying mix of fresh material and traditional Ibbotson goodies: plenty of humorous twists, clever dialogue, an all's well that ends well conclusion, and, of course, cameo appearances by ghosts. Ages 8 12.
