The Last Dragonslayer

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book.  I have been a Jasper Fforde fan for several years, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on his first book for young adults.  It was published in the UK a couple of years ago, but it is finally available in the US.  Friends, I was not disappointed!  Why do I love Jasper Fforde?  He puts fantasy elements in a contemporary, if slightly skewed, world.  His writing is clever, his characters range from completely sincere to completely ridiculous, and his books always surprise me!  I can't wait for the sequel!

Jennifer Strange, orphan and acting manager of Kazam's Magical Arts, has her hands full.  Magical power is on the wane, and it takes the combined effort of multiple wizards just to unclog a drain.  Her boss, the Great Zambini, is missing, and there's a new prophecy that the last dragon is going to die on Sunday at noon.

Jennifer doesn't want the dragon to die; he's the last of his kind, and the dragonlands are a beautiful natural landscape that will be eaten up by developers when the dragon goes.  But Jennifer seems to be the only one on the dragon's side.  With a warmongering king anxious to snap up the dragonlands and vanquish his neighbors and greedy corporations eager to create new shopping malls, there seems to be little hope for the last dragon.  In spite of all this, other forces are at work.  The wizards can feel it; Big Magic is coming, and no one can predict what will happen next!