The Ice Dragon

At least it doesn't drag-on

The ice dragon is a novel written by George R.R. Martin about a young girl named Adara who is a ‘winter child’. She lives in a world in which dragons roam the skies and are used in war by dragon riders who mount their dragon for battle. She befriends the mysterious and illusive ice dragon who only appears in winter due to the fragile state of its body. When war approaches Adara’s family, she must face the threat alongside the ice dragon to protect those dear to her.

Likes:

·         The 2014 edition was accompanied by a series of original illustrations by Luis Royo which quickly became one of my favourite aspects of the novel; I enjoyed the detailed illustrations of the various scenes and creatures which brought Martin’s descriptions to life.

·         I also liked that the theme of family was explored subtly without attracting the main focus of the reader’s attention.

·         The world was conjured well in my opinion and it was interesting to see how Martin fit dragons into it.

Dislikes:

·         To me, it seemed that Martin couldn’t decide whether to write a simple children’s book or evolve it into a fantasy novel with more depth. The writing style is very repetitive and simplistic; the majority of the novel consists of simple sentences and the use of pronouns Is reluctant, yet sometimes there is the use of a more advanced word that would not be associated with children’s fiction and that, in my opinion, does not match the writing style.

·         It is very short.

·         I didn’t find it gripping. I was fine with putting down the book at any given moment because I wasn’t hooked enough to keep reading. I think this is because most of the characters are quite 2-dimensional such as Geoff who is and inquisitive boy who wishes to follow in his father’s footsteps and not much more.

·         The ending was unnecessarily sad for a children’s novel.

·         There were some heavier themes included such as loss that seemed out of place with regard to the target audience.

Overall, I think this book is not for someone who wishes to sink into a long, winding journey that follows layered characters that the reader is invested in but rather for someone who wishes to read a short tale that they can hover around the surface of and quickly move on from. I do not regret the time spent reading it but I would not read it again or be interested in a sequel should one be written. I would give this book a 5 out of 10 because it was quite average and not without its shortcoming of which there are a reasonable amount.

Miika Day Gough