Kendermore

Kendermore (1989) by Mary Kirchoff – Penguin

ISBN: 9780140126327
Condition: Good
Special Feature: Includes the original two free stickers
Offered by: Crappy Old Books

There are fantasy heroes who stride majestically into battle, brandishing enchanted swords and delivering stirring speeches about honour, destiny and the eternal struggle between good and evil. And then there are kender, who are considerably more likely to interrupt the speech, borrow the enchanted sword without asking, and wander off to investigate something shiny.

Welcome to Kendermore, Mary Kirchoff’s delightfully chaotic contribution to the Dragonlance universe, where curiosity isn’t merely a character trait. It’s practically a public health emergency.

Our hero is Tasslehoff Burrfoot, an irrepressible kender whose cheerful disregard for danger, authority and other people’s possessions has made him one of Krynn’s most entertaining inhabitants. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Kendermore have decided that Tasslehoff’s wandering days should come to an end. There are responsibilities to consider, expectations to fulfil and, most horrifyingly, an arranged marriage awaiting him.

For someone whose principal interests involve exploration, excitement and acquiring interesting objects of uncertain ownership, matrimony represents a distinctly unwelcome development.

Naturally, what might have been a straightforward domestic inconvenience rapidly develops into an adventure involving magical complications, unexpected encounters, peculiar companions and enough confusion to give a respectable wizard a nervous breakdown.

Kirchoff’s entertaining tale explores the wonderfully eccentric world of the kender, those small, fearless creatures whose relationship with personal property might best be described as philosophically flexible. Where ordinary adventurers see mortal danger, kender see an opportunity for exploration. Where others see theft, kender see an unfortunate misunderstanding concerning the temporary relocation of interesting possessions.

Published in 1989, Kendermore belongs to the golden age of Dragonlance paperbacks, when fantasy fiction was populated by dragons, mysterious artefacts, improbable quests and characters who apparently never considered remaining at home and finding respectable employment.

And this particular copy has an additional attraction: it still includes the original two free stickers!

Yes, both of them. After more than three decades, these modest promotional treasures have somehow survived the passing years, countless opportunities for accidental removal, and the seemingly irresistible human urge to stick free stickers onto something.

For collectors of vintage Dragonlance paperbacks, that’s a delightful little bonus. One suspects Tasslehoff himself would have pocketed them immediately, then expressed genuine astonishment when anyone suggested they belonged to somebody else.

Condition: Good. A respectable vintage paperback showing the ordinary evidence of age and previous ownership, but with those two original free stickers still present.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where the books have character, the characters frequently lack common sense, and occasionally even the original promotional stickers have survived.

A splendid little piece of late-eighties fantasy nostalgia, complete with adventure, mischief and two small adhesive miracles.

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