Series ✦ Penny’s Take
Foiling the Dragon
Susan Price · 2000
70/100
👍 Worth It
Susan Price's Carnegie Medal pedigree shows in this drily clever comic fantasy — a bard must keep a bored dragon entertained with poetry or be eaten, and the peasants are rooting for the dragon over the king. The premise is genuinely inventive, the humor rewards older readers while staying accessible to middle-grade, and the satire of fantasy tropes is smart rather than smug. The slim narrative limits emotional weight, but the wit earns its keep.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety86
Substance / usefulness64
Craft & writing68
Originality72
Evidence & accuracy78
Hype vs delivers74
Age-fit77
👁 Human-eye gut-check71
Penny’s verdict70
Cross-pollinate