Module 8: The Last Dragonslayer

The Last Dragonslayer

A.    The Last Dragonslayer is the story of Jennifer Strange, the manager of the Kazam Wizard Talent agency.  She lives in a world much like our own though there has always been a reserve of magical power that suffuses it.  Wizards and dragons have both existed though there is only one remaining.  When a prophecy is pronounced that the last dragon is to die on Sunday at noon, Jennifer immediately moves to try to save it in order to preserve what magic is left.  This task is hopelessly complicated when she becomes the last dragonslayer, the only people who can communicate with the beasts, and kill them.  She must use her wits and moral compass to decide the fate of this last dragon, and fulfill the destiny laid out before her.

B.     Fforde, J. (2010). The last dragonslayer. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt.

C.     This book is overall entertaining enough.  Many of the jokes feel forced to my adult perspective, but there is much to be found for the teen/young adult crowd here.  The way magic has become something of a farce is a refreshing take from how often magic is expounded as a mysterious and nigh-infinite source of power and it really makes the wizards at Kazam very sympathetic.  Despite this, I think too much time was spent detailing precisely how magic works while the plot itself feels a bit week.  This is probably more entertaining for the younger crowds and I will admit some sections were genuinely funny, but not enough for me to praise the book entirely.

D.    “Teens will get a real kick out of Jennifer as she travels from one crazy antic to another and meets a series of kooky characters, many of whom are determined to undermine her. This book is perfect for all fantasy lovers who like to laugh.” –Elizabeth Kahn

Kahn, E. (2013). The Last Dragonslayer. Library Media Connection, 31(5), 69.

“…Fforde's fantasy is smart, funny, and abundantly imaginative in its critique of commercial culture.  Jennifer is an endless, zesty font of wit and comic analogies; the brisk, businesslike rhythm of her account deepens the comedy and gives the story irresistible momentum.” –Deirdre Baker

Baker, D. F. (2012). The Last Dragonslayer. Horn Book Magazine, 87.

E.     For this book, the activity I would prescribe would be to have the kids re-imagine and draw or write about their favorite characters as reimagined in this world.  Many of them will be familiar with the Harry Potter series or The Lord of the Rings and it would be entertaining to seem the ideas they would come up with for how these serious characters could deal with the quirky universe that Fforde has set up.