The Fire Within; Icefire - Chris d'Lacey

Chris d'Lacey has written an interesting series about dragons: The Fire Within, Icefire and Fire Star, of which I have so far read only the first two books (the third is on hold at the library). Initially I only picked up Icefire from the library as there is no indication anywhere on the book's cover that it is the second in a trilogy (which I consider annoying !). Fortunately I happened to mention to someone that it was on my TBR and they asked what I thought of The Fire Within, to which Icefire is the sequel. So I was spared the annoyance of reading the books out of sequence.

The books feature a Geography university student named David Rain, and the effect on his life that is caused when he takes lodgings in the Pennykettle household. Life there isn't exactly normal as Liz Pennykettle, and her soon-to-be-11 year old daughter Lucy, make clay pottery dragons that come to life and have magical powers. David is given his own dragon, a storytelling dragon (complete with a pencil in one claw and a notepad in the other) whom he names Gadzooks. Gadzooks inspires him to write a story for Lucy's 11th birthday. The story unexpectedly reveals the truth behind an unsolved mystery that lies close to home.

Don't be misled by the dragon on the cover - this is not a high fantasy story - but it IS a page-turning read that explores the relationships between Lucy, Liz and David, and looks at the power of storytelling to change the world around.

In Icefire, a visiting lecturer sets David an unusual essay for his Geography course: he is asked to discuss the existence - or not - of dragons. The prize for the best essay will be a fully-funded research trip to the Arctic. David starts researching the subject and quickly discovers there is an ancient connection between dragons and the Arctic. As he uncovers more about the dragons, David finds himself going down a path from which there is no going back - a path that leads 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.

There is more of a high fantasy air to this second book in the trilogy, but the inter-relationships between David and others are still explored in detail. I can hardly wait to get my hands on Fire Star to discover how this trilogy will turn out.