Great in German, no idea if the English is as great. There are a lot of puns, as is Walter Moers style, which probably are hard to translate into English. So I can say for the story itself: it’s a wonderful fairy tale atmosphere with a lot of great chemistry between the protagonist, a speaking cat, and the antagonist, a mad alchemist. You do not need to have read any of the other Zamonia novels to understand it, but you will get some small references that are worked into the story.
Great in German, no idea if the English is as great. There are a lot of puns, as is Walter Moers style, which probably are hard to translate into English. So I can say for the story itself: it’s a wonderful fairy tale atmosphere with a lot of great chemistry between the protagonist, a speaking cat, and the antagonist, a mad alchemist. You do not need to have read any of the other Zamonia novels to understand it, but you will get some small references that are worked into the story.
I can read German, though when I read Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher I don’t remember understanding many puns, so it might make little difference.