The Fire Within is the first book in The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris D’Lacey. It tells the story of David, a young college student who rents a room from Elizabeth Pennykettle. Upon moving in he gets drawn into the antics of Liz’s young daughter Lucy who seems determined to protect and rescue the local squirrel population. More specifically a squirrel known as Conker who appears to only have one eye. However, the attempts to help Conker end up drawing the attention of the neighbor, Mr. Bacon, and another young squirrel that Lucy calls Snigger. While trying to help Lucy out with the squirrels David also finds himself being drawn into the mystery that is the Pennykettles. More specifically, into the mystery of why the clay dragons that Liz Pennykettle makes seem to be more alive than a clay dragon should be and that there is more to the story than just creating clay dragons. Having received one named Gadzooks as a gift upon moving in David slowly starts figuring out the story behind the dragons and why some are more special than others.
This is an interesting story for numerous reasons, many of which are somewhat unique to this series. One of the big ones is that the story is a kids story, or at least a story for younger teens. In contrast, the narrator and main protagonist is twenty in this first book which creates this odd dichotomy for the story. I actually didn’t mind this but it was unusual in many ways as you don’t typically see a book for younger readers with an older narrator like this. The second thing that really drew my attention was the dragons. I have read a lot of books about dragons and have seen them appear in many different ways, shapes and forms but I have to admit this is probably the only series I have seen with living dragons made from clay. Using that as the basis for the story creates some very interesting and somewhat unique characteristics for the story. I rather like the way story plays out because of that and am definitely intrigued by where it seems to be going. While the plot does seem overly simplistic at times there are also several different layers to the plot with numerous smaller things going on in the background most of the time. This added just enough complexity to keep me interested throughout the story even though it was aimed at much younger readers. Mind you I would have been interested anyway just because of the dragons. The characters seemed to be well developed and it sets the stage pretty good for a continuation of the storyline. It seems to be a good, well written and intriguing storyline that should appeal to younger readers. I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
As you may have gathered this is a kids fantasy book that is the first book in a series. If you are a younger reader who enjoys a good fantasy book than I suggest you consider trying this one out. While I am not sure if this would appeal for those of you who don’t enjoy fantasy you might consider trying it anyway as it is pretty good. The book is primarily aimed at younger readers, probably those around the age of ten to twelve, but I see no reason why any reader who has the necessary skill to read would be unable to read it. There is very little content that would be difficult or unsuitable for readers of just about any age. I will warn that there is mild animal cruelty as the neighbor tries to hunt down the neighborhood squirrels though so be careful about that. Otherwise feel free to try it if it sounds interesting. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.