Three Tasks for a Dragon
by Eoin Colfer (Author) P J Lynch (Illustrator)
With wit and gorgeous art, New York Times best-selling author Eoin Colfer and multi-award-winning illustrator P.J. Lynch team up again for a quest story of knights, dark magic, and a maiden with powers of her own.
Studious Prince Lir is next in line to become the Wolfhound King, but he can't ride a horse, lift a sword, or summon the fabled wolfhounds. So his stepmother decrees that her own son will inherit the crown instead, sending Lir away on a seemingly impossible--and assuredly fatal--quest: to rescue the maiden Cethlenn from the once-fearsome dragon Lasvarg. Rather than wage battle, Lir insists that Lasvarg, now decidedly past his prime, honor tradition by setting him three tasks to perform--starting with tackling the mold encrusting the dragon's cave (and his feet!).
As Lir improves Lasvarg's life, he also grows closer to Cethlenn...as well as the wolfhound puppy strangely devoted to her. In time, they learn more of the dark magic that may be making pawns of them all--and how Cethlenn herself could be the key to breaking a spell that clouds the entire kingdom.
With transporting language and a magnificent dragon masterfully rendered with a range of emotions, Eoin Colfer and P.J. Lynch make their own magic in this classic fantasy with a light feminist twist.
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Publishers Weekly
A quest that suggests certain death unfolds quite differently in this reason-centered fantasy novella by previous collaborators Colfer and Lynch (The Dog Who Lost His Bark). Calm, analytical Prince Lir is startled when his stepmother, Queen Nimh, denies him the throne because he's failed to summon the wolfhounds--after all, no monarch has completed the wolfhound-summoning ceremony for 500 years. Instead, the queen decrees that her biological son, Prince Delbayne, should become king. Secretly wanting Lir dead, Delbayne sends the prince into the world. But since a questor knight, like Lir's late father, is always granted the kingdom's shelter, Lir may return if he rescues a subject's daughter from the great dragon Lasvarg. "The trick to it... is to work with what is around you," Lir's father, Good King Rufus, used to tell him--and that's just what he does, bringing his scientific mind and medical intuition to the dragon's lair, where he and the creature negotiate the completion of three tasks: cure the dragon's mold-plagued ailments, mend his broken wing, and restore his fire-breathing powers. Colfer combines thrilling moments and hints of romance, while Lynch provides misty fantasy landscapes and portraits of the story's heroes and villains in expressive art. Most characters present as white. Ages 8-12. (Oct.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A fabulous fairy tale with a standout style that feels pleasingly traditional and yet terrifically fresh, and the well-drawn characters often subvert classic genre expectations. The elegant text is sonorous and suspenseful, always with the feeling of a twinkle in its eye, and every page is splendidly illustrated. . . A wonderfully classic fairy tale that still surprises and delights.
—Booklist (starred review) A quest that suggests certain death unfolds quite differently in this reason-centered fantasy novella by previous collaborators Colfer and Lynch. . . . Colfer combines thrilling moments and hints of romance, while Lynch provides misty fantasy landscapes and portraits of the story's heroes and villains in expressive art.
—Publishers Weekly
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV002270 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Dragons, Unicorns & Mythical
Dragons
Fantasy
Fantasy fiction
Princes
