The books opening is entertaining for simply being absurd. Within a few pages you just take it as fact that the last dragon on Earth could be hiding in a swamp. The largest praise that Colfer gets is that he writes about a talking dragon and it makes sense. The closest thing it can be compared to is if Carl Hiaasen met Tom Holt. Vern is no Puff the Magic Dragon, so the fantasy is mixed with adult humour and a dark crime narrative. Highfire is urban fantasy, but that genre is not usually told from the point of view of a talking dragon. There is something to be said about a book that is hard to pigeonhole. He has a life of sorts that is ticking away until the troublesome Squib Moreau turns up being chased by some grenades. Dragons have now drifted into the realm of mythology, but that does not stop the hard drinking and harsh talking Vern from hiding in a remote Louisiana bayou. He has lived through the days in which dragons ruled the Earth and had humans do their bidding, only for those pesky apposable thumb types to take over.

Vern is a dragon that is thousands of years old and has pretty much seen it all. I get the impression that the dragon in Eoin Colfer’s Highfire is not your average fire breather. They would just require a friendly human or two to provide them with important vittles’ such as magazines and vodka. If one or two of them remained where would they hide? Somewhere remote enough to be away from crowds carrying pitchforks and torches. They may have been known to ransack a few villages and eat people, but if they were left alone, they would not bother you.

Highfire by eoin colfer