Icefire

I enjoyed this book even more than the first one. It delves more deeply into the actual dragonlore and has much highers stakes than Book One, which revolved around the comings and goings of squirrels. Because of that, I also found the portrayal of our main character to be more believable, as he has better reason to be invested in the plot; I didn't completely believe it when he seemed to make his whole life revolve around a couple of neighborhood squirrels before.

The one thing that I really didn't like about this book was the bias that David felt against Zanna, a goth girl who goes to school with him. He seemed very repulsed by her goth-ness at first. Though he does start to get over it the longer he gets to know her, it just seemed to show more be much stronger than it needed to be, and as someone who personally really likes that style, it irked me. I was also mildly concerned about a scene at the end of the book where she shows up dressed in non-gothic clothing. She's getting ready to embark on an arctic expedition, so I'm hoping it's just a realistic portrayal of the fact that nobody really keeps up that style 24/7 and that she's just wearing practical expedition clothes, but I do fear that the author is trying to portray her gothness as a phase that she grew out of for the preferences of the main character, which I think would be really crappy.

I was also a little annoyed with the way that the concept of relationships were handled in this story. David's girlfriend, Sophie, goes away on an 8-month trip for her work, and while she's gone David ends up developing feelings for Zanna. In the end, it goes so far as he willingly kisses her; then his girlfriend appears and magically has an unrealistically amazing three-year job offer in Kenya, leading her to conveniently break up with him and let him pursue Zanna at will. It irked me that he actively chose to cheat and was effectively rewarded by his situation magically simplifying itself and him getting no negative repercussions whatsoever. Also, no one around him seemed at all bothered by the idea that he might be pursuing another girl while he was taken. show less

This is the second book in d'Laceys 'Last Dragon Chronicles' - though it evidently works well enough in its own right, since I got all the way to the end before it even occurred to me that there might have been another book before this one! Although the simplistic cover and larger-than-normal font scream 'children's story', don't be fooled: this is actually a pretty complex little novel and its hero is a college student rather than a schoolboy. Age 13 and upwards would be about right, I think.

Anyway, on to the book itself. David Rain is an aspiring writer who lives with his landlady Liz Pennykettle and her daughter Lucy in a house full of dragons. Not 'real' ones, mind - Liz models them from clay and has hundreds of them in her studio, show more fondly known as the 'Dragon's Den'. It's only when odd things start to happen that David begins to wonder. Is he really 'imagining' his writing dragon Gadzooks noting helpful hints on his paper pad? Could Liz’s listening and guard dragons really be living up to their names? It quickly transpires that not only are the clay dragons really living and moving, but something much bigger and more dangerous is afoot. Yanked headfirst into a world of dragons and fire, polar bears and ice kingdoms, seers and destinies, David and his new friend Zanna must work with Liz and Lucy to save the day and protect everything they hold dear...

On occasion the complicated storyline, with its weaving legends and histories and magic, seemed to leap away from me for a moment, and I had to stop and focus to draw the threads back together. In hindsight, one or two of those little leaps could have been more to do with my missing the first book than with the writing itself! D'Lacey has created a fascinating world, intertwining the familiar with the novel, the historical with the modern – fire with ice. I must say that the human characters were eclipsed for me by the wonderful clay dragons, at once comically anthropomorphic and achingly cute, and by Bonnington, the Pennykettles' feisty thief of a cat. I couldn't help but smile at their capers and definitely felt myself welling up once or twice at the more moving moments!

All in all, for me the overall story and characters won out over the occasional moments of confusing mythology and minor plot hops, and the sporadic bouts of less-than-stellar writing. I was well and truly absorbed in David's quest for the truth about the death of Gawain, the last living dragon, and what happened to his fire tear – his life spark, as it were - when he was gone. The chapters were snappy and ended on mini-cliffhangers, and the whole book finished on a slightly ominous note that made me want to read on. Time to buy the rest of the series, methinks - including that skipped first book! show less

ICEFIRE - This book, Icefire sequel to The Fire Within was more intriguing and has restored a little enthusiasm to read on through the series. Icefire told a lot more of how dragons once ruled the world etc and by the end of this book I could finally get my head around the dragon existence thing. Once again David Rain is set a task when his university tutor sets him a writing project on the existence - or not - of dragons. The tantalizing prize - a fully-funded research trip to the Arctic - seems just within his grasp. David starts to research the subject and soon discovers a connection between dragons and the Arctic just as it begins to snow. Is it only a coincidence? Or could deeper forces be at work? As David starts to uncover more show more about the dragons, he finds himself drawn down a path from which there is no going back to a time when dragons really did exist, and their secrets were guarded by the polar bears of the Arctic. If David is going to have any chance of winning the research trip, he has to open his mind to the legend of dragons and the mysterious secret of Icefire. As in the first book, there is an element of romance when David falls in love with another student, Zanna, and goes into emotional turmoil dividing his loyalties between Sophie & Zanna. Lucy is just as annoying in this book as in the first. However Henry Bacon, the neighbour, evolves as an interesting character in this book. A much better read. show less

I am a huge dragon fan. I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel to The Fire Within. In Icefire, we are given a greater introduction to the Pennykettle dragons and the rich history behind them. D'Lacey is an excellent storyweaver and I devoured this book within a few hours. Looking forward to reading the next one!

This book is the second book in the Last Dragon Chronicles. The same characters that appeared in "Fire Within" appear in ths book, plus a couple of new ones. Daniel get a wishing dragon and wishes that he would know the secret of Gawain's fire tear. "Aunty Gwineth" comes the next day and it soon becomes clear that a new dragon will be born from one of Liz's clay eggs. At the same time, Daniel is to write an essay on the existance of dragons, and the prize is a trip to the Arctic. The dragon baby is born, but Daniel with the help of his friend, Zanna defeat "Aunty Gwinneth", who turns out to be the ancient sybil Gwillanna. Daniel finds out that bears protect the fire tear, and he himself gains entrance to the world of dragons. He show more prepares for the trip to the Arctic, even though he didn't win but paid for the trip.
I think this book was very interesting and fun to read. The characters seemed slightly more realistic then the previous book(not saying that they weren't realstic in that book). Also it was more focused on dragons and bears than on squirrels like in the last book. This book also had this mythical explanation to what is happening today, global warming and stuff like that. I probably also liked it because I think bears are really cool. Even though this book had a slightly childish feel to it, the story held me on my toes and very excited. In all, keep up the good work, Mr. d'Lacey! show less

Hmm. It may not be fair, after all, to pick up a book mid series and judge it. I veered wildly in my opinion of this book, from "oh, how fascinating" to "my lord, this is so badly written". But I did keep reading. I'm fond of YA books and often find they have the most creative writing around. That said....well, this one didn't. Though I like the author's imagination, and will likely look for others by him.

This was an excellent book for young readers. Filled with fantasy and suspense, it kept me interested from cover to cover. The history and importance of the dragons is far more emphasized than in the first book of this series. Although it is obviously written for readers in the 9-12 year old age bracket, it is an enjoyable light read for adults.