Three Tasks for a Dragon

August 1, 2023
A peaceful prince, an aging dragon, and a mysterious maiden forge a unique alliance. Prince Lir does not possess the power to summon the wolfhounds and is thus unworthy to govern his kingdom. So begins a story of gifts discovered in struggle and friendship forged in adversity. Lir's stepbrother, Delbayne, who has sinister motives, sends him to fight a dragon, anticipating his demise. Lir is an unlikely questing knight, a bookish young man interested in natural sciences and happy to serve his kingdom humbly in the royal library. Arriving at the dragon's secluded island, he finds a lethargic beast incapable of flying or breathing fire and drunk on cherry wine made from berries stomped by Cethlenn, a servant girl with a hazy past in the palace kitchens. Adhering to tradition, Lir proposes to perform three tasks to free Cethlenn. Instead of challenging the dragon, Lir endeavors, rather radically, to restore him to health using his scientific skill. Simultaneously, the omniscient narrator slowly unravels Delbayne's plans for violent attack, which build to an epic, cinematically dramatic battle whose outcome will depend upon the island trio's nascent trust in one another. Colfer draws out details of kingdom-building in lyrical language while interweaving his characters' relatable idiosyncrasies, motives, and griefs. Lynch's sandy orange and misty blue hued watercolor illustrations, replete with detailed dragon profiles and majestic wolfhounds, seamlessly frame the story and bring Colfer's mostly white-presenting characters fully to life. An elegant and inspired fairy tale that feels both familiar and freshly penned. (Fantasy. 8-14)

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August 21, 2023
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.

Starred review from August 1, 2023
Grades 3-7 *Starred Review* Prince Lir ought to become king of Lagin after his father's death. Instead, due to his duplicitous stepbrother, he finds himself exiled for from his beloved kingdom. Lir would much rather be thinking, learning, and inventing than be king, but he's distraught by the prospect of leaving home. Another option arises to lift his banishment--rescue a young woman, Cethlenn, from the clutches of the dragon Lasvarg, who can no longer fly or breathe fire (though he does his best to keep that information under wraps). Undaunted, Lir offers the dragon an ancient traditional arrangement: Lir will complete three tasks for Lasvarg in exchange for the prisoner and safe return to Lagin. Though the dragon is confident he'll eventually gulp Lir down, both Lasvarg and Cethlenn are intrigued by the earnest young man, and uneasy alliances form. But for how long? It's 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, with the text set on top of soft, full-bleed artwork and the word blocks contoured to the handsome pencil drawings that surround. A wonderfully classic fairy tale that still surprises and delights.

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