The Last Dragonslayer is Jasper Fforde‘s first book for young adults. [Wikipedia says it’s the first book in a trilogy, but it feels pretty self-contained to me, so I don’t know.]

Plot:
Jennifer Strange is in charge of Kazam, a temp agency for wizards who get hired to clean drains or rewire houses. Things are looking dire for them since the magic is slowly disappearing from the world. But then one of them has a premonition – the last dragon on earth will soon die. Which immediately leads to people camping outside his territory, waiting for his death so they can claim his country for themselves. But this is not the only change in the world – and Jennifer is deeper involved than she would have ever thought.

The Last Dragonslayer is without a doubt a book for young readers, but it also has the trademark Fforde humor and enough brilliant details to keep an adult entertained. Also, it’s probably the perfect gateway drug to get kids (or anybody else) hooked on Fforde in general.

The book is full with digs kids probably won’t understand that well: At the celebrity culture, media in general, powerplay, politics, etc etc. And it’s fun to read about that world, which is obviously different from our own, but not as different as one would think. [Something they share with all the other worlds Fforde has built so far.]

And those are the two things you’ll mostly read the books for: the world-building and the humor. Though I also enjoyed the novel’s message [which is basically “don’t trust the people in charge – trust your own gut”] which is very worthy of being spread, imo.

But the plotting is rather weak and there is just not as much depth to this book as to his other series. Which is completely understandable, since it’s a book for kids. But still.

The Last Dragonslayer is a quick read, filled with whimsy and craziness and overflowing with weird details. It’s the perfect choice if you want good, easy entertainment that’s not stupid. In short, it’s fun.

And sometimes that’s exactly what you need.