Icefire, by Chris d'Lacey, is a 426 page long children's fantasy novel. The book is about a boy named David. He is renting a room from Elizabeth Pennykettle, her daughter Lucy, and their mysterious clay dragons. In the epic second installment of the Last Dragon Chronicles, David must find the link between the dragons and the Arctic, and the secret of the icefire. t I personally loved Icefire. It was an extremely captivating book. The author’s fast paced writing style kept me turning the pages. For example, here is a passage from the book: “The boards beneath the tenant had quickly given away, sending him crashing to the soil below- a fall of a couple of feet, no more, but the rubble that had followed him through the hole, sucked by a vortex of Gwilanna’s hate, had piled in on top, encasing his body and squeezing the air fully out of his lungs. One pitiful hand had poked through the mound, twitched just once, then fallen flat.”t The plot twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The way you view a certain character can change in a moment. While on the topic of characters, Chris d'Lacey’s characters are also well described. This is a quote from Icefire describing a character: “Suzanna- Zanna- Martindale was a girl in his department. She was a Goth. She had a face as white as a hard- boiled egg and she dressed from head to toe in black; black tiered skirts full of tassels and fringes that danced across the laces of her black boots; black T-shirts, usually sporting some mystic picture…” The author goes on describing the girl for about a page. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t too much detail. Instead, Chris d'Lacey writes just enough to create a vivid mental picture in your head but keep you interested in the story and not sinking in a sea of detail. tAnother plus about this book is that it’s plot is original. When I picked up this book, I expected a generic plot about a hero boy riding a dragon to defeat an evil witch or sorcerer. What I got though, was something I had never seen before. I had never heard of, or seen, the concept of clay dragons. I think the originality of the plot is one of the main reasons I kept reading. tChris d'Lacey is a well qualified children’s author. he has won many medals for his books. This is a list of his awards: In 1998, Fly, Cherokee, Fly was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, in 2002, The Fire Within won the Rotherham Children's Book Award, also in 2002, Chris d'Lacey won an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Leicester, in 2005, Horace was shortlisted for the Bolton Children's Book Award and the Hampshire Book Award, in 2006, Icefire was shortlisted for the Angus Book Award, and in 2010, Gruffen won the Books Factor Award. Icefire( The Last Dragon Chronicles, # 2) is worth $6.53 (paperback) on Amazon.com. Icefire was published on July 1st 2007 by Scholastic Paperbacks (first published November 25th 1985).
“Icefire” Icefire is the second book in a series called The Last Dragon Chronicles. The author Chris D’Lacey writes a lot of good dragon books. The book is about a tenant who moved in with a girl named Liz and Lucy. The tenant and her mother make clay dragons. In the first book the dragons didn’t move. In the second book the dragons move which makes it much more interesting. I really liked how the dragons had their own language like hrr and furrf. Liz makes different kind of dragons like Davids special dragon Gazooks or as David calls him “Zookie.” One of the of most exciting parts of the book is when an aunt called “Aunty Gweneth” who, Liz hasn’t been seen in eleven years gets to see her. David finds out that Aunt Gweneth is a Sybil who lived while the dragons still lived on the earth. Now David makes a wish and finds out a lot more about the truth of Gawian and Guinevere. Will David know the real truth about Gawian and Guinevere? I recommend this book to people who like fantasy or dragon books. How will David face the sybil if he doesn’t have powers like her?
What do You think about Icefire (2007)?
This book is an okay book. That is my hook. This book is not a very good one, because it is very boring, and can lead to spontaneous sleeping spells. Chris D'Lacy wrote this series of dragon books, without the dragons. There are dragons, just not as a person would think a dragon is. This book is about a man named David living in a house with his landlord and her daughter. The landlord creates clay dragons that David soon realizes come to life, and have a purpose. David goes to find the origin of the dragons, and must travel to the arctic in order to find the last dragon on earth, which is ironic, since fire does not usually thrive in extrememly cold weather.I recommend this book to readers who do not like a lot of action or suspense in their books, but like calm books about relationships and dragon fantasies. In reality, this book does not do dragons, who are supposed to be ferocious, giant creatures justice, since they are as small as clay dolls.
—Anthony
My 9 year old daughter brought this book home for me to read. She told the school Librarian that she was checking it out for me, and the Librarian let her check it out as her 3rd book (they are only allowed 2 books) since it was for me.I loved this book! It was so well written. I loved the characters, even Aunty Gwyneth, who was soooo creepy. I loved the clay dragons, and wish that I could have a few of my own!! Who wouldn't want a wishing dragon, a listening dragon (you could really spy on people ;) ), or a writing dragon? I also love the way that the dragons talk, and could picture the sounds that they were making!My favorite character would have to be Zanna. She reminds me so much of Abby on NCIS! She is so quirky and lovable, and really tries to keep David in line.I don't know why it has taken me so long to find these books, and it looks like this one is #2 in the series. Now I have to find the other ones and read them!!
—Lori
Fire Within was a silly but cute story about clay dragons and squirrels. Icefire sets the series up for what it becomes- a huge, cosmic, mysterious story about the origins of the universe and time itself. Icefire, to be completely honest, is my favorite book in the series. It picks EVERYTHING up. If you thought the series was boring before, think again. With almost non-stop action, phenomenal new characters, deep questions to think about, and a whole new look at the Pennykettle dragons, this book shakes up the series and sets it up for great things.
—Molly
