The Ice Dragon

What a disappointment!! I thought this was an actual book—it's written by GRRM so I figured, hey, nice thick book with a great story, right? Sigh. I didn't look carefully enough to see that it is advertised as a 120 page book. And that would have been a bummer, but it is NOT in fact 120 pages. It starts on page 11, and finishes on page 107, so 97 pages. But 22 of those 97 pages have no text on them, so only 75 pages of text. But there's more! 37 of the remaining 75 pages are only half pages because they have illustrations on them. Sooo...really only about 57 pages of text for this story.Now don't get me wrong, it is a good story. But I wasn't looking for a short story, I was looking for a novel. I have now paid hardcover novel price for a short story. To finish this sad tale, this wasn't even a NEW story by GRRM!! I already had it, in a short story collection about dragons called Dragons of Light that came out in the 1980s.So. Cute preteen short story with a dragon. If that's what you are looking for, you will be thrilled.

I thoroughly enjoyed this GRRM novel. It's pretty dumb to leave poor reviews because a story was not what you expected and/or you did not READ the product description. This is NOT a new book, people. This is from the late 80's. Just be aware that this is written for a younger audience and is a short book. Print is about 120 pages. As an adult who loves GRRM and GoT, I still enjoyed reading this book. I gave it 4 stars because it is overpriced for how short it is, however you're paying for GRRM.

In all truthfulness, I am a big fan of George R. R. Martin. I hold him firmly entrenched amongst my top three favorite authors of all time. I adore his Song of Ice and Fire and love HBO's televised adaptation, Game of Thrones, almost as well.I have been aware of The Ice Dragon for some time and, though I am enduring my Westerosi withdrawals with as much grace as I can muster, I had not gotten around to reading or purchasing The Ice Dragon until now. Primarily because I, by no means, expected this story to be akin to the much-anticipated Winds of Winter. Also, I simply have higher expectations when purchasing an illustrated book, be it for children (though there has been some debate as to whether this is or is not a "children's story") or adults. When a book comes illustrated, the greater part of the reader's imagination retires throughout the reading experience and I honestly did not like Yvonne Gilbert's artwork in the previous edition of The Ice Dragon. This is not to say that Gilbert is not a fine artist. Her work simply did not align with my imaginings of Martin's world(s) and so I sadly put off The Ice Dragon with hopes that some day the proper stars would align and I would find myself reading it then.So, when I heard the news that The Ice Dragon was to be re-released with new artwork drawn by my number one favorite artist, Luis Royo, I immediately pre-ordered the book. The stars had aligned in my favor and then some!I was not disappointed. Royo's art for The Ice Dragon is snowy perfection and managed to somehow exceed my extremely high expectations. Each illustration is beautiful, summoning Martin's words with a lovely combination of subtlety and daring. I was able to surrender the eyes of my imagination easily. I found Martin's story to be interesting and unique and I enjoyed the intimate fireside flow of The Ice Dragon. As I read, I felt like a Stark child listening to one of Old Nan's tales. I won't give away any spoilers but, for me, the ending was typically Martinesque and left me conflicted. As a "Winter Child" myself I wanted things to end differently for Adara and her dragon. I did not find the ending to be rushed or incomplete as some other reviewers have. I only found it to be bittersweet.As I finished this story, I was left with a distinct feeling that I have encountered only once before, every time I watch The Labyrinth and am angry with Sarah for leaving Jareth behind in favor of bringing Toby home to her mundane life in a world devoid of fantasy and magic.I would recommend The Ice Dragon to all fans of A Song of Ice and Fire. It is rife with foreshadowing and hints of what Martin has created in his epic fantasy series can be found throughout. I would not be the least bit surprised to find ice dragons soaring through the skies beyond the Wall and, perhaps, even crossing it in the novels yet to come.

I initially got this book for my 11-year old granddaughter. When it arrived I realized the young girl in the story was 7 years old. Plus, it was a shorter story than I thought it would be; definitely not for an older girl. Luckily I have a granddaughter who just turned 8 so I decided to give this to her. I read the book in an hour myself so it isn't a long book. And if your kiddo is not at the level to read by themselves it would certainly be a good nighttime book for a parent to read to the child. This was written by George RR Martin from the famous Game of Thrones. It takes place before the GoT time frame when dragons still existed. However, it is not necessary to know that. It is a light-hearted and this is supposed to be years before that time frame story in itself.

Being a fan of all things George R R Martin, I have waited with bated breath for each and every book remotely related to the Game of Thrones world. The Ice Dragon is a small cute story about a little girl in the frozen north. The story itself is something that the wonders of Disney could do a whole movie about. For me, I loved the illustrations, each and every one. The detail of each of these for me is worth the price of the book alone. Drawing dragons is an exercise of insanity. Drawing dragons with this level of detail is simply amazing. I was very impressed. Besides, it gives us something to read and wonder at while we are all restlessly waiting for the next book if and when they finally do arrive.

This is a good story about sacrifice that is made for one you love. Even though this is directed toward teens, it's great for people of all ages. Love the art work in it. The book was worth it just for that. I was debating on a kindle book or hardback. Glad I got the hardback (it is also cheaper than the kindle) as I can appreciate the art on paper more than on a screen. The girl looks a lot like a girl from a book that was published in the 1950's. Fun, quick read for when you want something you can finish in an hour or two.

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.

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.

I was disappointed because it was so short - gobbled up within 30 mins and then left feeling a bit cheated. I guess I was hoping for another novel length book in the style of GoT! My fault, I should have noted the number of pages before I bought it.

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.

I bought this solely for the artwork, which is excellent. The book should be sold as a Luis Royo title with words by George RR Martin, who has, in fairness, written a delightful tale. Such a pity he is responsible for all that AGOT nonsense.