A review by acarman1
Ember and the Ice Dragons by Heather Fawcett
5.0
"We do not like to kill, human child. Unless it is unavoidable. It goes against our code. Killing is the business of your kind."
I have long loved any kind of dragon story, and a five star review from Booktuber Emma convinced me to give this one a try. I also enjoy finding stories that turn the old human good dragon bad trope on its head. This one does it in a blend of fake science and fake history that make it riveting all the way through. In this story magic and science work together and it is set in the late days of the Victorian Era. We follow Ember, an orphaned fire dragon, who was rescued and transformed into a human child by a young sorcerer who claims her as his child. As she grows, Ember is constantly getting into trouble for suddenly igniting herself and others. To save her from prying eyes, her father sends her to visit his sister, a scientist working in Antarctica (in the history of this universe, Antarctica is part of the British Empire). He figures randomly starting fires won't be as big an issue in the snow. But no sooner does she arrived than she discovered the existence of a species of ice dragons which noblemen, headed by the evil Prince Cronus and his unpleasant son Gideon, hunt periodically in order to harvest their precious scales. Along with two new friends, Nisha and Moss, Ember determines to join the hunt and sabotage it. But there is more than one group at work. Critiques of colonialism and the consumerist treatment of animals. I won't go any further in to spoiler territory but a shocking twist at the end reveals the true monster and paints dragons in a light similar to Native Americans or other indigenous cultures around the world. But I cannot recommend it enough and I hope the author will write a sequel!
I have long loved any kind of dragon story, and a five star review from Booktuber Emma convinced me to give this one a try. I also enjoy finding stories that turn the old human good dragon bad trope on its head. This one does it in a blend of fake science and fake history that make it riveting all the way through. In this story magic and science work together and it is set in the late days of the Victorian Era. We follow Ember, an orphaned fire dragon, who was rescued and transformed into a human child by a young sorcerer who claims her as his child. As she grows, Ember is constantly getting into trouble for suddenly igniting herself and others. To save her from prying eyes, her father sends her to visit his sister, a scientist working in Antarctica (in the history of this universe, Antarctica is part of the British Empire). He figures randomly starting fires won't be as big an issue in the snow. But no sooner does she arrived than she discovered the existence of a species of ice dragons which noblemen, headed by the evil Prince Cronus and his unpleasant son Gideon, hunt periodically in order to harvest their precious scales. Along with two new friends, Nisha and Moss, Ember determines to join the hunt and sabotage it. But there is more than one group at work. Critiques of colonialism and the consumerist treatment of animals. I won't go any further in to spoiler territory but a shocking twist at the end reveals the true monster and paints dragons in a light similar to Native Americans or other indigenous cultures around the world. But I cannot recommend it enough and I hope the author will write a sequel!