The Ice Dragon , George R. R. Martin

With a fairly simple storyline about a little girl, a loner and misfit named Adara, who befriends a dragon this is basically ‘Game of Thrones’ for children. There is a fairy tale aspect to it, and, as with all good fairy tales, it does have some darker moments. But even so this is still very much a novella for younger readers in terms of tone and style as well as with its basic plot, reasonably low word count and considerable amount of page space taken up by artwork.Primarily events take place during a period of war between two undisclosed factions, both of which have warriors that ride dragons into battle. The Ice Dragon of the title is clearly something different to these other dragons though and it is made quite clear that such a creature is not normally ridden.The blurb on the back of the book claims that the story is set in Westeros. Supposedly this would be in a period much earlier than the events of the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels. However, this novella was originally published as part of a short story collection by various authors in 1980, well before ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ and the creation of Westeros. There isn’t really anything in particular story wise other than the inclusion of dragon riders that link them. The world of ‘The Ice Dragon’ actually seems to be a forerunner to Westeros and there are perhaps earlier versions of ideas in that saga present here. In this way ‘The Ice Dragon’ will have some interest to fans of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’/’Game of Thrones’.The artwork, which is new to this edition, is decent enough but nowhere near as good as that on the cover. Interestingly it is in black and white which kind of adds to the bleakness of the winter themes and Adara’s loneliness/semi-isolation.Although quite pricey for the length of the text, the hardback is a nicely presented volume. making it a worthwhile collection edition.

I got this in Hardback as i am currently a bit obsessed with buying illustrated hardback books whilst the publishers are printing them.This is a very short story about a young girl who has always been a bit different, she has always liked the cold. One day she runs away and befriends an Ice Dragon. Together they fly around and have adventures, but the Kingsguard dragons led by her uncle try to kill the Ice Dragon to stave away the cold and the little girls life is changed forever.Its not long, took me about 10 minutes to read it which tells you everything you need to know. I paid £12.99 for it, sorry to say, its not worth that, hence 3 stars.

I read this short tale by Martin recently, whilst poorly in bed. For this time of the year, it is a perfect wintery short story. It is a very short tale, beautifully illustrated throughout, about a girl called Adara who is an outsider, even within her own family. Born during one of the coldest winters that her people can remember, she looks forward to winter each year as this is when the ice dragon arrives. Unbeknownst to her family, she befriends this beast. When her world is threatened by fire breathing dragons and their riders, only Adara can save those that she loves.For fans of Martin, this tale for younger readers will surely be a treat, as you can share your love of his work with them. For those who have not discovered his work before, this may well ignite an interest. It is a very short tale, I would have loved for there to be more to it - Martin is excellent at weaving worlds and characters, after all - but as a quick, easy read for winter, this tale was a winner.

Written by my son (12 years old):The book “the ice dragon” is about a girl who was born in the middle of a blizzard and became very cold, her mother died in the process. That is the main concept and although I can continue, I do not want to spoil anything.Personally I like the idea of the book but my one major criticism is that nothing happens, there is no character development and everything seems plain, so much so that I thought I was still at the beginning of the book until I saw that I was in the middle. The only part when anything happens is at the end but it just feels anticlimactic. I want to read more about that world but there isn't anything to read.

A very short, no excitement and relatively dull story. Not worth the money paid but not the worst book I’ve ever read nonetheless. As someone else wrote in a review, it’s basically ‘Game of Thrones’ for children.