Book Reviews and More: Chill of the Ice Dragon - Tracey West and Damien Jones

Thursday, 29 October 2020

Chill of the Ice Dragon - Tracey West and Damien Jones - Dragon Masters Book 9

Chill of the Ice Dragon

Dragon Masters Book 9
Tracey West (Author)
Damien Jones (Illustrator)
Scholastic
ISBN 9781338169867

eISBN 9781338169881

ASIN B073S671BG

As a family we really love these books! A few years ago, I read the first eight books of this series to my son. My youngest daughter really enjoyed it and the three of us read them. This year my youngest has been reading them to me. And this was the first book we had not read previously. This year we found out that my nephew has been reading them and was only 1 book ahead of us. He is reading the physical books and We are reading the eBook editions. It is a great story in a wonderful series.

I have said it before, and I state it again, ‘this series really has staying power’. I have read some of the stories 4 or 5 times now. And have been reading them for over 4 years. And I still enjoy the stories as do my children. My son who thought he had outgrown these stories has been sitting in and listening to his sister read them to me again lately. It is also great to know that my brother’s family loves them as much as ours. It is fascinating to watch the kids interact and compare notes about the books that they are both reading. And to predict what will happen next based on the endings of the book, or title of the next as we queue it up.

One of the best things about this series is that it is a true series. In that each story builds upon the next. They are strong enough to be read on their own, but as a whole we get to watch the growth of the group as they come together as a team and learn to work together and support each other. And in this one we meet a new dragon master from the far north who has come seeking help. And all of this while events of the previous two stories are still not completely wrapped up. It is fantastic to have a series for readers this young that do not just reset at the beginning of the next book.

In this volume Dragon Master named Mina arrives from the north seeking help. Soon Drake and his friends are responding to her request for aid. They head north to battle an Ice Giant. And to their surprise Mina has lost her connection with her Dragon and the Ice Giant looks like he is going to win, until … You will need to read the story to find out what happens in this epic battle.

I believe this is the last volume illustrated by Damien Jones, my daughter noticed the next has a different illustrator, and Damien was already the second artist working on the series. We love the illustrations, they really add to this young readers chapter books.

This is another excellent read in a great series. These are excellent book for young readers, but also entertaining enough for older readers. I am continually impressed with the staying power of this series. After multiple reads over several years I still really enjoy returning to the Dragon Masters. And look forward too many more reads in this series, as my daughter is insistent, she will read them all to me! And she insisted we give it 5/5 stars!