Peter M. Last

THOUGHTS…

Dragonslaying is for Dreamers is a fun jaunt into the wild world of fantasy. Written with a young audience in mind, it certainly does nothing to avoid clichés typical of the genre but still manages to bring something unique to the story. The writing of this novel is a bit oversimplified and while this is not excusable, it is a theme common to books written for children. Additionally, the writing tends to reiterate thoughts which makes the read drag unnecessarily. Aimed squarely at children, the storyline linear and quite easy to follow, but it does manage to remain enjoyable and even throw in a few twists and turns (though most of these are predictable). One of the novel’s weakest aspects is its characters. Axel, the protagonist, is moderately developed, and, though largely driven by something irrelevant to most of the story, his motivation and goals are clear. By contrast, secondary characters are often caricatured to the most basic architypes (i.e. the meat-headed knight, the eccentric king, the fat bar keeper). The only character besides Axel who receives decent development is Sydney, a wizard who appears in the story for just a few chapters. Altogether, the handling of the characters and their development is generally weak and unbalanced. One of the most endearing parts of this book is that Axel is creative, ingenious, and plays to his own strengths rather than converting to a common hero. He is not miraculously and inexplicably transformed into an experienced knight or a gritty dragonslayer via verbal montage. Rather, he uses his wits, his friends, and everything at his disposal to conquer challenges in his own way. This fact more than anything else makes the book, filled as it is with tropes, a refreshing twist on the genre. Though reading the novel as an adult was more drôle than the adventure I experienced as a child, I still found it enjoyable, and what more could someone want for an introduction into the awesome world of fantasy literature!