Icefire
by Chris D'Lacey

This sequel to The Fire Within takes the series featuring David Rain, his landlady Liz Pennykettle, her daughter Lucy, and their houseful of magical, clay dragons to a new level of seriousness, danger, and magic. David has little time to mope about his girlfriend Sophie’s sudden move to Kenya before a new mystery develops, sparked by a wish on a new and special dragon. By the time this adventure winds up, if David only half-believed in the dragons before, he knows beyond any doubt that they are real!

It all begins with a class assignment. One of David’s college professors, a Norwegian polar climate researcher, assigns him a paper proving that dragons exist. Then a goth girl with a crush on David gets involved, prompting him to wish to know what happened to the fire tear wept by the last flesh-and-blood dragon at the moment of its death. He gets more than he bargained for: a visit from nasty, witchy “Aunt Gwyneth,” a battle involving polar bears and an albino hedgehog, and lots of mumbo-jumbo blending Inuit spirituality, New Age mysticism, and neo-pagan gobbledygook, probably spiced up by the author’s quirky imagination. Obviously, an occult-content advisory has to go out to concerned Christian parents.

On the other hand, if you’re not concerned Christian parent, there may be nothing for you to be concerned about. The dragons are adorable. The villain is horrid. The mystery is mysterious. The romance is romantic. There’s a strong, but not overpowering, green thread running through it all, encouraging young readers to feel concern for the environment. And there are enough loose ends left at the end to beckon you into the third book in the series: Firestar.

Robbie Fischer
USA

Recommended Age: 12+

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