Just picked out from the library yesterday, and I am captivated hugely! Around page 200 as of 12:30PM the day after I began it.

Finished at about 10pm! ( )

a cute little intro to a fantastic world that belies the places the series will go ( )

A wonderfull start to an epic series of teen fantasy novels.

THE FIRE WITHIN is a book for readers age 7-12, so its obviously not going to get top rates from many older readers. However I first read this series when i was 15 and i have to admit they hooked me, this is my favorite series of books.

Fire Within is not all about dragons, in fact its more about squirrels, which if you are looking for a dragon book you may feel more than a bit cheated. But that's not to say this book isn't worth the read, Chris d'Lacey has magnificently created dragons in this series from clay and turned them into real dragons.
Gadzooks is the main inspirational dragon in this novel, he helps the main character David Rain with writing the squirrel story ad also seems to be able to predict near future events.

To sum it up in short THE FIRE WITHIN is an opening line. It introduces you in a easy way to the main characters and tells of how these clay dragons are real. Its a cool way of introducing and developing the characters.

Ice Fire (book 2) is when the story to this series begins to form. ( )

This is a lovely book about squirrels and dragons and the people who love them. A bit slow at times, still, it was quite charming. It was recommended to me by a teenager years ago, although I think it is more likely to be loved by children. ( )

I really enjoyed this a lot. It was nothing like I had imagined it; much more realistic with a touch of magic, rather than blatant fantasy. It also features several more squirrels than I would have anticipated. Even so, I really liked it--perhaps more so than I would have otherwise. It was easy to imagine this family really existing, and I'm certain I'll think about them anytime I go somewhere selling dragon sculptures.

The only real complaint that I had was that I didn't think the main character was realistically 20. He kept saying "I have to go to college now," though nobody really says it like that, and the squirrel thing seemed like his whole life. I'd have expected him to have pre-existing friends and hobbies that he also would have, even mentioned briefly as a background thing. He also seemed just a little too attached to his teddy bear; I know a lot of adults still have their teddy bears from childhood, but I feel like it's uncommon to reference them as frequently as he referenced his. ( )