The Ice Dragon

The Ice Dragon

By: George R. R. Martin

I started reading A Game of Thrones my last year of undergrad and powered through a lot of it while traveling in Europe over Christmas break. The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is very intriguing to me—and I’m interested in how Martin can navigate a story in such a big and political world.

Last month I was in Omaha and saw this book in a Young Adult section of a bookstore and couldn’t resist it. I am every interested in how big name fantasy writers switch between adult fiction and young adult fiction. While the books are nowhere near as salacious as the show, they are definitely intended for mature readers. So how does an author dip down into YA?

I read The Ice Dragon in a matter of two days. It was not a hard read—unlike the dense books of A Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin proved that he is not always longwinded. (Let me pause here and say: There is nothing wrong with being longwinded, in my opinion. I’m the kid who cut her reading teeth on Tolkien, so I have no judgment for longwinded writers.) This book is a quick read, and a good read.

While it didn’t feel like his other books, it definitely did fit into the world of Westeros. And Martin’s voice still left its mark. I am intrigued by how this little story fits into the bigger picture—and it whetted my appetite for more of Martin’s books.

I also need to note how beautiful the illustrations are in the book. Luis Royo crafted the perfect images of a world at war. They tell just as much of the story as Martin does.

Dragons are mostly just legends in the popular series, so this book acts like a mini prequel. I wonder if this was originally written as a short story or novelette and then got published and marketed as a young adult book. Either way, I’m glad it made it into print.

The Ice Dragon is about a girl, Adara, who was born during the long winter in Westeros, and she loves the cold of winter, unlike the rest of her family. She befriends an ice dragon (a dragon that breathes cold and death and is made of ice). The dragon is her only true friend.

This is a haunting story of loneliness and sacrifice. It’s a story about family and growing up. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in an easy read/dose of the Westeros world and also to anyone interested in more of the backstory of that world.