If you look for a plot or take a word of The Dragon and the Apprentice seriously you've missed the point. From the daft Tolkien like narrator to Sir John's preposterously large vocabulary - it's all part of an elaborate joke. Some have commented on the book's pacing. Others have complained, "Too many big words," "Too much talking," "Too much wit." Sir John and Squire Shallow go about their business doing what dragons do and in-between have conversations about mundane things. (Well - mundane to a dragon at least.) What does the hit man do before the hit? What does the dragon do before eating the entire village? The two dragons motor mouth and chew their way through the book like Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction. The plot and story don't matter a lick here. It's the journey that counts. If you need to look up a word or two Sir John's Lexicon of Fantastic Words is included in the back of the book. So Sit back and enjoy the ride.