The Ice Dragon by George R.R Martin

The Ice Dragon or Flaming Rubbish?

For a 120 page book, you can read it VERY quickly. Half the pages consist of pictures, usually of the same dragon over and over again (and you don’t start properly reading until page 14). The other half is a tedious plot with no weight, the idea is unique and intriguing but cramming it into 120 pages was a bad idea. For a writer who bought us Game of Thrones, writing this “book” seems to be a complete waste of talent. For instance the line ‘Adara was a winter child’ is repeated in practically every chapter, the ending is a bit abrupt and the description is kind of lacking somewhat. However the illustrations do save the ice dragon from going down in flames. The illustrator (Luis Royo) must have had a difficult time as it seems George forgot to include some detail, but the highly praised illustrator did an incredible job. This book is fantastic if you want to read something quickly, or if your 5 years old. But it certainly keeps to its genre of fantasy; a girl aged about six who never cries, loves the cold and can somehow control a magical dragon!?

Plot Summary: A girl called Adara is born; she never cries and is cold hence: ‘Adara was a winter child’. Her mom died giving birth to her and her father blames Adara for that! She lover the winter and annually builds a snow castle for some stray lizards (as you do). Then somehow controls an ice dragon and fights off 3 other dragons! The ending (without spoiling it) is basically opposite to the start.

It’s a combination of a condensed version of How to train your dragon and an Art Gallery.

Adam Dyer