The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde- Book Review

As I stated in my last book review, I have been on a roll recently with YA novels thanks to some really helpful recommendations. One of the books recommended to me was Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, which is currently in my TBR pile. On a Book Riot podcast though, one of the podcasters stated- I think the Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is just as good if not much better than Riordan's books. I had read some Fforde, but didn't know he wrote a YA series, so I immediately downloaded it and read it. Was it worth it? Hint- Super yes!

The story is about Jennifer Strange who is an orphaned indentured servant and current acting director of Kazam. Kazam utilizes magicians, who are no longer the power agents they once were, to now help people with their plumbing problems, wiring problems, finding lost things, etc. Strange keeps things running and helps the magicians keep their egos in check, even when at least one of them feels superior to Strange.

Strange has two more years with Kazam before she is thrust out into the real world and is now in charge of training her possible replacement Tiger, also an orphan and indentured servant. As she is training Tiger, some of the magicians tell her they have had a premonition that the last dragon is about to die on Sunday by the hands of a dragon slayer. Should the dragon die, the dragon lands are open to the other kingdoms and all out war will happen. Strange, it turns out, is the last slayer and must do her duty or face severe consequences. 

The premise of the unlikely hero is one that we have read before several times, but Fforde plays with that a bit. Strange isn't just an unlikely hero, but the unlikeliest of unlikely heroes. She is sarcastic to a fault, is a servant, yet understands the power of her actions, should she decide to do her duty.

Fforde's characters are the charm of this book. All of his characters are developed well and full of life. The magicians Strange interacts with are all so much fun and just a joy to be with. Strange herself is placed in a no win situation and to see how she contemplates what to do without changing her character was just great.

This isn't just a great book for teens, but this is a great book for all ages. Yes, there are some "simple" aspects of this book, but it is still worth the read. I gave this one 4.5 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde