Book Twenty-Three - Guards! Guards! - Part One

Fell in love with this book immediately. First, it promises to feature a dragon and I've loved dragons since I was a child and read Sir Kevin of Devon.* Plus, the dedication is the best I've ever seen --

They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they wanted to.

It also mentions Schrödinger's Paperback!

The beginning includes lots of people like Nick Bottom / Larry, his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl.

Larry, Darryl and Darryl
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*Fortunately, my parents did not try to steer me toward only the "girl" books. They were totally ahead of their time. I still have that book as well as The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew.