Misplaced Pages

Icefire (d'Lacey novel): Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 19:57, 14 October 2007 edit68.146.70.86 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit Latest revision as of 02:57, 27 July 2024 edit undoSwiftiegirl363 (talk | contribs)13 edits plot summary is telling too muchTags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit 
(382 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|2003 children's fantasy novel by Chris d'Lacey}}
{{Infobox Book
{{One source|date=February 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Icefire | name = Icefire
| title_orig = | title_orig =
| translator = | translator =
| image = | image = Icefire cover.jpg
| caption = IceFire (book 2)
| image_caption =
| author = ] | author = ]
| illustrator = | illustrator =
| cover_artist = | cover_artist =
| country = ] | country = United Kingdom
| language = ] | language = English
| series = ] | series = ]
| subject = | subject =
| genre = ] | genre = Fantasy novel
| publisher = ] | publisher = ], an imprint of ]
| release_date = October 1, 2003 | release_date = 1 October 2003
| media_type = Print (]), (]) | media_type = Print (Paperback), (Hardback)
| pages = 421 | pages = 421
| isbn = ISBN 9-780-43967246-7 | isbn = 978-0-439-67246-7
| congress= PZ7.D6475 Ic 2005
| oclc= 56567094
| preceded_by = ] | preceded_by = ]
| followed_by = ] | followed_by = ]
}} }}


'''''Icefire''''' is a 2003 ] by an ] author, ]. It is the ] to his ] novel '']'', and is followed by '']'' and '']'', due to come out in September 2007. The book was shortlisted for an ] in ]. '''''Icefire''''' is a 2003 children's fantasy novel by English author ]. It is the sequel to his 2001 novel '']''. It is followed by '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''.


==Plot summary== ==Plot summary==
David is frustrated that no one will publish his book. Lucy makes a wishing dragon, David's names it "G'reth" which Gadzooks his special dragon wrote down.


Liz offers to drive David to campus and David tells Liz that he thinks Sophie is going to allow him to move in with her. Dr. Bergstrom gives David an assignment on dragons and says the contest prize is a trip to the Arctic. Dr. Bergstrom gives him a talisman to hold and says it will show him his true path. David sees Gadzooks write the name "Lorel."
The sequel to Chris D'Lacey's bestselling novel, '']'', ''Icefire'' continues the story of student, David Rain, and his life in the Pennykettle household.


Later, Lucy, having wished for snow on G'reth, is making a snowman which looks somewhat like a bear. She comes in and looks in the freezer. Feeling curious, David finds Gruffen on a small container in the freezer and tries to pick him up, but Gruffen gets stuck on David's hands. Liz saves Gruffen from breaking just in time and shows David what is in the box—a snowball. It contains auma from Gawain's fire tear, which Liz uses to give life to her special dragons, but she simply tells David that she kept it as a memory like David's teddy bear.
Life isn't exactly normal lodging at the Pennykettles - not when you're surrounded by hundreds of clay pottery dragons. Fate seems to be dictating an unusual course for David 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 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...


==Characters== ==Characters==
'''Humans'''


=== Humans/Hybrids ===
Elizabeth Pennykettle (Liz) - The landlady and the maker of the mysterious clay dragons.
Lucy Pennykettle - Liz's daughter, and an 11-year-old girl that strongly believes in dragons but can be very mischievous. She also loves squirrels and keeps trying to find them.


* '''Elizabeth Pennykettle (Liz)''' David's landlady and the maker of the mysterious clay dragons that come to life. Her special dragon is Guinevere.
David Rain - David is a tenant and a college student that has some thoughts of dragons and is somewhat emotional; he is one of the main characters. His dragons are Gadzooks and G'reth.
* '''Lucy Pennykettle''' Liz's daughter, an 11-year-old girl who strongly believes in dragons but can be very mischievous, and really annoying. She also loves squirrels and hedgehogs and tries to find them. She can also make dragons. Her special dragon is Gwendolen. She also encourages, or "pushes" David to write stories on what animals are doing with their lives.
* '''David Rain''' – The main character of the series of seven books. David is Liz's tenant and he goes to Scrubbley College. He has written a book called ''Snigger and the Nutbeast'' and tries to publish it in this book. He has a writing dragon named Gadzooks and gets a new wishing dragon named G'reth. David has a girlfriend named Sophie who has moved to Africa for her job, and develops a relationship with Suzanna "Zanna" Martindale. David is very curious about Gawain's fire tear in this book and uses G'reth to try to find out more about it.
* '''Suzanna Martindale (Zanna)''' Zanna is a Goth college student that falls in love with David and knows a great deal about dragons. She is a descendant of Gwendolen, and a girl with the markings of a sibyl (the Mark of Oomara). She becomes David's girlfriend. They both figure out things together piece by piece.
* '''Guinevere''' – Guinevere caught Gawain's fire tear in ages long past. David learns about her when Liz tells him her story. Guinevere left one daughter who carries the original fire and passes it down through the years. Ancestor of Liz Pennykettle and Lucy Pennykettle.
* '''Gwendolen''' – Guinevere's child, made from clay, flesh, and blood. The ancestor of Suzanna Martindale.
* '''Gwilanna''' – An evil sibyl who helps Guinevere and conjures her child Gwendolen for her. Gwilanna also puts a curse on Grockle to become a dragon instead of a boy. She is always trying to bring back the dragons in some devious way. She first appears using the alias "Aunty Gwyneth."
* '''Dr. Bergstrom''' David's college professor. Has the ability to turn into a fantastic polar bear and is known as Thoran in his polar bear form. He was originally thought of as a ghost.
* '''Sophie''' – David's girlfriend who helped Lucy in the first book, ''The Fire Within'', when they caught a couple of squirrels. In this book, she is away on a job at an African game reserve.
* '''Henry Bacon''' – Henry is the Pennykettle's next door neighbour. David has to stay with him while Gwilanna is staying in his room. Henry keeps a room full of stuff on polar bears and the Arctic and becomes an ally of the Pennykettles.


=== Dragons and creatures ===
Suzanna Martindale (Zanna) - Zanna is a goth girl college student that falls in love with David and knows a great deal about dragons. She is a descendant of Gwendolen, and a girl with the makings of a sibyl.


* '''G'reth''' – The wishing dragon made by Lucy and is then given to David.
Guinevere - Guinevere caught Gawain's fire tear and she is from ages long past. David learns about her when Liz tells him a story about her.
* '''Gawain''' The last real dragon of the world and the father of Grockle.
* '''Grockle''' The "son" of Elizabeth Pennykettle and Gawain the dragon, originally intended to be a human boy.
* '''Gretel''' A potions dragon and the servant of Gwillana before becoming Zanna's dragon.
* '''Gadzooks (Zookie)''' – David's story writing dragon. They seem to share a powerful connection to the universe. Gadzooks was the first one to discover Lorel's presence. He tells David things on his pad helping him to write stories.
* '''Grace''' – Sophie's listening dragon, who plays an important part in this book and is traumatized in the near end.
* '''Gruffen''' A guard dragon of the Dragon's Den. he is always not where he is supposed to be.
* '''Gwillan''' – A puffer dragon, he enjoys cleaning, and watering plants for Liz.
* '''Spikey''' An albino hedgehog.
* '''Ragnar''' One of the legendary polar bears who has fighting scars all over him. He is said to have roared so loudly that a tooth came out of his mouth, and he pounded it into the ice and formed the island called the Tooth of Ragnar.
* '''Lorel''' – An ancient polar bear that is known as the Teller of Ways and tries to reach David to give him more information on the Fire Tear.
* '''Bonnington''' – The Pennykettle's cat who inherits a few dragon skills after drinking some of the melted icefire. He is also a mischief maker.


== Reception ==
Gwendolen (pronounced G''a''wendolen by Lucy) - Guinevere's child, "fathered" by Gawain the dragon.
Beth L. Meister, writing for '']'', compared ''Icefire'' to early books in the series, noting that the novel "offers a darker and more mature story" than ''The Fire Within''. Further, Meister found that "Liz's clay dragons develop a greater degree of realism within the story, and their background is further explored".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meister |first=Beth L. |title=Icefire |url=https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S126C1103814 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=] |via=]}}</ref>


== References ==
Gwilanna - A sibyl who helps Guinevere and conjures Gwendolen for her. Gwilanna also bewitches Grockle to become a dragon. She is always trying to bring back the dragons in some devious way.
{{Reflist}}{{Portal|Children's literature

}}
Dr. Bergstrom - David's college professor. Has the ability to turn into a polar bear; also known as Thoran (in polar bear form).

Sophie - David's girlfriend. Who helps Lucy when they catch a couple of squirrels.

'''Dragons and Animals'''

Gawain - The last real dragon of the world; he is supposedly "dead".

Grockle - The "son" of Liz Pennykettle and Gawain the dragon, originally intended to be a human boy; bewitched by Gwilanna to become a dragon.

G'reth - The wishing dragon.

Gretel - The potions dragon and servant of Gwilanna.

Gadzooks - David's story writing dragon.

Grace - Sophie's listening dragon.

Gruffen - A guard dragon of the Dragon's Den.

Gwillan - A snuffler dragon.

Spikey - An albino ].

Ragnar - one of the legendary polar bears who has fighting scars all over him. He is said to have roared so loud that a tooth came out of his mouth, and he pounded it into the ice and it formed the island called the Tooth of Ragnar.


] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
{{child-novel-stub}}

Latest revision as of 02:57, 27 July 2024

2003 children's fantasy novel by Chris d'Lacey
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
Find sources: "Icefire" d'Lacey novel – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024)

Icefire
IceFire (book 2)
AuthorChris d'Lacey
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Last Dragon Chronicles
GenreFantasy novel
PublisherOrchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
Publication date1 October 2003
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Paperback), (Hardback)
Pages421
ISBN978-0-439-67246-7
OCLC56567094
LC ClassPZ7.D6475 Ic 2005
Preceded byThe Fire Within 
Followed byFire Star 

Icefire is a 2003 children's fantasy novel by English author Chris d'Lacey. It is the sequel to his 2001 novel The Fire Within. It is followed by Fire Star, The Fire Eternal, Dark Fire, Fire World and The Fire Ascending.

Plot summary

David is frustrated that no one will publish his book. Lucy makes a wishing dragon, David's names it "G'reth" which Gadzooks his special dragon wrote down.

Liz offers to drive David to campus and David tells Liz that he thinks Sophie is going to allow him to move in with her. Dr. Bergstrom gives David an assignment on dragons and says the contest prize is a trip to the Arctic. Dr. Bergstrom gives him a talisman to hold and says it will show him his true path. David sees Gadzooks write the name "Lorel."

Later, Lucy, having wished for snow on G'reth, is making a snowman which looks somewhat like a bear. She comes in and looks in the freezer. Feeling curious, David finds Gruffen on a small container in the freezer and tries to pick him up, but Gruffen gets stuck on David's hands. Liz saves Gruffen from breaking just in time and shows David what is in the box—a snowball. It contains auma from Gawain's fire tear, which Liz uses to give life to her special dragons, but she simply tells David that she kept it as a memory like David's teddy bear.

Characters

Humans/Hybrids

  • Elizabeth Pennykettle (Liz) – David's landlady and the maker of the mysterious clay dragons that come to life. Her special dragon is Guinevere.
  • Lucy Pennykettle – Liz's daughter, an 11-year-old girl who strongly believes in dragons but can be very mischievous, and really annoying. She also loves squirrels and hedgehogs and tries to find them. She can also make dragons. Her special dragon is Gwendolen. She also encourages, or "pushes" David to write stories on what animals are doing with their lives.
  • David Rain – The main character of the series of seven books. David is Liz's tenant and he goes to Scrubbley College. He has written a book called Snigger and the Nutbeast and tries to publish it in this book. He has a writing dragon named Gadzooks and gets a new wishing dragon named G'reth. David has a girlfriend named Sophie who has moved to Africa for her job, and develops a relationship with Suzanna "Zanna" Martindale. David is very curious about Gawain's fire tear in this book and uses G'reth to try to find out more about it.
  • Suzanna Martindale (Zanna) – Zanna is a Goth college student that falls in love with David and knows a great deal about dragons. She is a descendant of Gwendolen, and a girl with the markings of a sibyl (the Mark of Oomara). She becomes David's girlfriend. They both figure out things together piece by piece.
  • Guinevere – Guinevere caught Gawain's fire tear in ages long past. David learns about her when Liz tells him her story. Guinevere left one daughter who carries the original fire and passes it down through the years. Ancestor of Liz Pennykettle and Lucy Pennykettle.
  • Gwendolen – Guinevere's child, made from clay, flesh, and blood. The ancestor of Suzanna Martindale.
  • Gwilanna – An evil sibyl who helps Guinevere and conjures her child Gwendolen for her. Gwilanna also puts a curse on Grockle to become a dragon instead of a boy. She is always trying to bring back the dragons in some devious way. She first appears using the alias "Aunty Gwyneth."
  • Dr. Bergstrom – David's college professor. Has the ability to turn into a fantastic polar bear and is known as Thoran in his polar bear form. He was originally thought of as a ghost.
  • Sophie – David's girlfriend who helped Lucy in the first book, The Fire Within, when they caught a couple of squirrels. In this book, she is away on a job at an African game reserve.
  • Henry Bacon – Henry is the Pennykettle's next door neighbour. David has to stay with him while Gwilanna is staying in his room. Henry keeps a room full of stuff on polar bears and the Arctic and becomes an ally of the Pennykettles.

Dragons and creatures

  • G'reth – The wishing dragon made by Lucy and is then given to David.
  • Gawain – The last real dragon of the world and the father of Grockle.
  • Grockle – The "son" of Elizabeth Pennykettle and Gawain the dragon, originally intended to be a human boy.
  • Gretel – A potions dragon and the servant of Gwillana before becoming Zanna's dragon.
  • Gadzooks (Zookie) – David's story writing dragon. They seem to share a powerful connection to the universe. Gadzooks was the first one to discover Lorel's presence. He tells David things on his pad helping him to write stories.
  • Grace – Sophie's listening dragon, who plays an important part in this book and is traumatized in the near end.
  • Gruffen – A guard dragon of the Dragon's Den. he is always not where he is supposed to be.
  • Gwillan – A puffer dragon, he enjoys cleaning, and watering plants for Liz.
  • Spikey – An albino hedgehog.
  • Ragnar – One of the legendary polar bears who has fighting scars all over him. He is said to have roared so loudly that a tooth came out of his mouth, and he pounded it into the ice and formed the island called the Tooth of Ragnar.
  • Lorel – An ancient polar bear that is known as the Teller of Ways and tries to reach David to give him more information on the Fire Tear.
  • Bonnington – The Pennykettle's cat who inherits a few dragon skills after drinking some of the melted icefire. He is also a mischief maker.

Reception

Beth L. Meister, writing for School Library Journal, compared Icefire to early books in the series, noting that the novel "offers a darker and more mature story" than The Fire Within. Further, Meister found that "Liz's clay dragons develop a greater degree of realism within the story, and their background is further explored".

References

  1. Meister, Beth L. "Icefire". School Library Journal. Retrieved 24 February 2024 – via Chicago Public Library.
Categories: