Ice Dragon (Dragonrealm #2) Review

Cynthia Ayala ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Writer

Author: Richard A. Knaak

Published: November 1989

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Series: Dragonrealm

Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Speculative Fiction

In a war of dominance between the dragons and the humans, even the Dragon Kings are divided as the Ice Dragon hatches an evil plan to cover the Dragonrealm into a frozen wasteland for eternity.  Now it is up to Cabe Bedlam and his forces to form uneasy alliances to battle the insanity of the Ice Dragon and save the Dragonrealm.

The second book in the Dragonrealm series follows Cabe has he struggles with nightmarish dreams as he tries to lead a semi-normal life as a mage of the bloodline of the most powerful mages.  Cade’s characterization is far better in this novel than it is in the first novel.  He doesn’t come off has a character who has no idea of what he is doing and who is possessed by someone who has a lack of character.  Cabe is a far more likeable character as he struggles to live up to the legacy left to him.  Unlike most characters in novels who tend to suffer this same problem, he does not whine all the time, instead he pushes past his problems to save the world.

But other than that, it was a slow paced novel.  The plot is introduced early on and the lead up to the climatic ending was dull.  Most of the action was saved for the ending, and even if the novel more story-oriented, the other characters are developed enough to capture the audience.  The rest of the characters are seemingly perfect, without flaws or problems of which they are trying to work on.  They do not resonate off the pages and feel real to the reader.  Shifting from point of view to point of view, there is no grasp on who the other characters are, and Cabe is not interesting enough to capture the readers.

The dragons were by the far the most interesting parts of this novel.  Each dragon was different from the other with their characterization was awesome.  The insanity of the Ice Dragon was captured perfectly and was the best part of the novel if you ask me.  But then again, I have a love for the dragons.  However, the dragons, other than the Ice Dragon, were not mentioned in the book enough.  The reader is following the journey of Cabe who is making his way to fight the dragon with the help of his new wife and friends but these moments were dull.  The minor moments with the insane dragon, which were few and far between were the most captivating parts because you have this maniacal character who is torturing his own dragon nephew.  Every scene, however small was very well structured and captivating because you are left wondering “well how the heck is he going to be get out of this mess?”.  Everything else in the novel wasn’t thrilling like that.

Overall a decent book, but not exciting enough to hook the reader’s attention.  ★★★ (B-)