The Last Dragon

by Jane Yolen illustrated by Rebecca Guay

It's just coincidence that I happened to read The Last Dragon right after The Last Unicorn. Upon finishing Foiled I looked in my library's catalog to see if they had any other graphic novels by Jane Yolen and this was the one so I requested it immediately. Read it in about a day. It's a wonderfully original fable-like story about a village threatened by a dragon, ages after mankind has supposed all the dragons to be dead. The healer's daughter puts her wits to figuring out what might defeat the dragon, while some young boys from the village go to other towns seeking a hero. They bring back a man who is full of tall tales and false bravado- he's never really done anything heroic in his life. The villagers anxiously put their trust in him, but the healer's daughter sees the truth and realizes she must help him or all will be lost. Their solution to the enormous dragon problem was so clever and unique. I loved that it was a plant which helped them. I was a bit annoyed at the completely vapid, flat character of her sisters, but overall found the people in these pages intriguing and full of human weakness and boldness like any other. The illustrations are a wonderful mix of sketchy linework and painterly strokes that I enjoyed looking at. It's such a nice book.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 144 pages, 2011

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