The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

In The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde, the magic levels of the world are quickly dwindling, and wizards are being forced to use their magic for odd jobs such as plumbing and delivering food. Even then, they’re barely making enough money to stay afloat. The main character, Jennifer Strange, is a fifteen year old indentured servant. She has been managing Kazam, the world’s biggest magician employment corporation, since the head of the company mysteriously disappeared. All is going well (as well (that was a lot of wells) as it can go, seeing as there’s basically no magic and the big boss is gone) until a fortune teller predicts that the last dragon in the entire world is going to die, an event that could spark war, or even, potentially, bring back magic.

One of my favorite parts of the book is just how well Fforde builds and creates the world. It’s so well thought out, so intricate and detailed that it really helps drop the reader into the world and create something of an “escape read.” I feel like Fforde did a really good job with incorporating magic into a world that we know (they live in the Un-united Kingdoms, etc.) In this universe, magic is the norm, something as common as a force like gravity. The fact that it mixes two worlds together really just adds more depth and flavor to the novel.

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There was also a lot of well placed humor that I really enjoyed. The book was a little wacky and kind of blunt, but that’s exactly the type of funniness I like. I would just be reading the book and then suddenly burst out chuckling or snickering.

However, there are also a couple things that I wasn’t too keen on. I thought the book was incredible, but it was a little hard to connect with the main character. There wasn’t too much said about her personality, and she seemed a little too perfect. It made it really hard to empathize with her because there weren’t any flaws I could relate to. I also thought that the ending was a little sudden and a bit forced. There was also a long monologue at the end to explain everything that had happened. It wasn’t bad, but I believe that it could have been done quite a bit better.

Overall, I loved this novel for its unique and original plot, blunt humor, and just the whimsical (dare I say eccentric) flair that the book has. I thought it was really quite a fantastic novel and everyone should give it a read.