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Icefire is a 2003 novel by an English author, Chris D'Lacey. It is the sequel to his 2001 novel The Fire Within, and is followed by Fire Star and The Fire Eternal, due to come out in September 2007. The book was shortlisted for an Angus Book Award in 2006.

Plot summary

The sequel to Chris D'Lacey's bestselling novel, The Fire Within, Icefire continues the story of student, David Rain, and his life in the Pennykettle household.

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

Humans

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gwendolen (pronounced Gawendolen by Lucy) - Guinevere's child, "fathered" by Gawain the dragon.

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.

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 hedgehog.

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.

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