The Last Dragon

by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Guay

[inlibrisveritas]

I requested this because I thought the cover was beautiful and thankfully this isn’t one of those graphic novels where the cover is the best thing about it. The illustrations through the book were gorgeous and had a old world fantasy feel to them, and I actually took the time to study them. I kind of even want to draw some of the scenes.

The story is fairytale like and very simple. Which is kind of a flaw because with a title like The Last Dragon you almost expect a little complexity. It’s also fairly short so you can certainly finish it in one sitting but it was over almost too quickly. Instead of being a graphic novel story it ended up feeling more like a recited bedtime story that was then illustrated. I wish it had been fleshed out more in the way of the story so it didn’t quite feel so lacking, because once I finished it I felt as if I had read it in five minutes which wasn’t the case I took several breaks throughout the day with it. That being said it is a good story but it’s not the story that keeps you interested it’s the artwork instead. I had high hopes going into this because the beginning seemed so detailed with it’s descriptions of the islands, dragons and the three sisters; however as the story progressed it steadily got simpler and simpler until it was reduced to a what I call a ‘meh’ factor. It has spots of humor in it as well, which are hit and miss but cute nonetheless.

Overall I personally wouldn’t purchase this for myself, though maybe if I had a young cousin around 6 to 8 years old who loved dragon stories I would buy it. The art is definitely worth looking at though so maybe if you can borrow it.

I received this from Dark Horse and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.