Fire Star (novel)

Last updated

Fire Star
Fire Star cover.jpg
Fire Star
Author Chris D'Lacey
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series The Last Dragon Chronicles
GenreFantasy novel
Publisher Scholastic Press
Publication date
7 September 2005
Media typePrint (Paperback), (Hardback)
Pages548 pp
ISBN 1-84362-522-9
OCLC 62152419
Preceded by Icefire  
Followed by The Fire Eternal  

Fire Star is a 2005 novel by English author Chris D'Lacey. It is the sequel to his 2003 novel Icefire , and is followed by The Fire Eternal , which came out in September 2007.

Contents

Plot summary

Tension is rising at the Pennykettles as Lucy is suddenly kidnapped by a long-forgotten rival. This 'rival' wishes to raise the ancient dragon Gawain from his stone-laden resting place. Over time Lucy is there, she goes through extreme changes. Gwilanna knew this would happen as Lucy began to look like Guinevere, her ancestor.

After a sudden bear attack and the news about Lucy, David returns home to help Liz overcome this rough time. In the middle of a serious conversation with Liz, David receives a heartbreaking phone call. He has just learned Zanna, his girlfriend, has just been taken by bears. Under all this pressure, David breaks down. Liz soothes him in dragonsong, the ancient soothing method Guinevere used on the ancient dragon Gawain.

While David is home, Grockle suddenly awakens to find the window opened. Curious as he was, he flies out of the window. Nobody could prevent it, even David.

Lucy is not having a good time at all. She decides to explore the cave of Gawain when Gwilanna leaves one day. She pushed around and discovers a secret hideaway she thinks her ancestor, Gwendolen, used. Eventually, she falls asleep by the bones of Gwendolen and a bear that guarded her. An old female bear ventures into the cave to hibernate, down into the hideaway, and decides to follow the dead bear's example. She guards Lucy as she sleeps. Gwilanna returns and finds the hole. She notices Lucy and the female bear. She decides tiredly to leave them be.

David gets Liz to tell her who Arthur is after Gadzooks gave him the name out of nowhere. After hearing the cruel things Gwilanna did to break-up Arthur and Liz, he travels to Farlowe Island to find Arthur.

Arthur lives on a religious island, having chosen the name Brother Vincent, where he came after attempting suicide. He goes through a lot on the island. In fact, he survives a vicious attack by Ix, an evil Fain.

David arrives at the island and calms down the scared yet vicious Grockle, who had been imprisoned by the monks. Grockle flies to the Arctic when David tells him to. After a while of introductions and explanations, Arthur teaches David how to use Dr. Bergstrom's mysterious talisman to teleport from place to place.

The Ix arrives in the Arctic and freezes Gwilanna into a block of ice. He also possesses Ingavar, using his ancestor's tooth to destroy the island along with Gawain. Grockle, angered by the destruction of his father, and empowered by his ancestor's claw, uses his new fire to melt Ingavar down to less than ash. Zanna, who had earlier arrived with the bears, instructs Grockle to enter the fire star and he is instantly transported to the world of the Fain, saving his life.

David teleports to the Arctic just then and battles the very same Ix to the death. The Ix stabs two spears of ice through David's chest, but David won't die because the ice is really Gawain's fire tear. After revealing the secret of the ice to the Ix, the spirit of Ingavar punches the Ix out of the body of Tootega, the Inuit whose body the Fain had possessed, killing Tootega, and the Ix. Zanna, in tears, comes running over to David. After assuring her they'd meet once more and giving her a Valentine's Day gift, (a new dragon, G'lant, which you can only see if you really believe in dragons) he parts from Zanna. Some polar bears take David's body on a piece of ice, Ingavar's spirit lays down by his head and the polar bears pound the ice and send David and Ingavar into the water.

Back at home, they release Snigger back into the wild after being kidnapped by Gwilanna.

Dragons and Clay Dragons

Polar bears

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinevere</span> Arthurian legend character

Guinevere, also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in popular literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. Many records of the legend also feature the variably recounted story of her abduction and rescue as a major part of the tale.

<i>Idylls of the King</i> Cycle of twelve narrative poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Idylls of the King, published between 1859 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancelot</span> Arthurian legend character

Lancelot du Lac, also written as Launcelot and other variants, is a character in some versions of Arthurian legend where he is typically depicted as King Arthur's close companion and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table. In the French-inspired Arthurian chivalric romance tradition, Lancelot is an orphaned son of King Ban of the lost kingdom of Benoic, raised in a fairy realm by the Lady of the Lake. A hero of many battles, quests and tournaments, and famed as a nearly unrivalled swordsman and jouster, Lancelot becomes the lord of the castle Joyous Gard and personal champion of Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere, despite suffering from frequent and sometimes prolonged fits of madness. But when his adulterous affair with Guinevere is discovered, it causes a civil war that, once exploited by Mordred, brings an end to Arthur's kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mordred</span> Character in Arthurian legend

Mordred or Modred is a figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. Medraut's figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knights of the Round Table</span> King Arthur and order of chivalry in Arthurian romance

The Knights of the Round Table are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are an order dedicated to ensuring the peace of Arthur's kingdom following an early warring period, entrusted in later years to undergo a mystical quest for the Holy Grail. The Round Table at which they meet is a symbol of the equality of its members, who range from sovereign royals to minor nobles.

<i>Lancelot du Lac</i> (film) 1974 French film

Lancelot du Lac is a 1974 French fantasy drama film written and directed by Robert Bresson. It retells the story of Lancelot and Guinevere's love as Camelot and the Round Table fall apart. It is based on Arthurian legend and medieval romances, especially the Lancelot-Grail cycle, and the works of Chrétien de Troyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth</span> Knight of the Round Table

Gareth is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. Gareth is particularly notable in Le Morte d'Arthur, where one of its eight books is named after and largely dedicated to him, and in which he is also known by his nickname Beaumains.

Maleagant is a villain from Arthurian legend. In a number of versions of a popular episode, Maleagant abducts King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere, necessitating her rescue by Arthur and his knights. The earliest surviving version of this episode names the abductor Melwas; as Maleagant, he debuts as Lancelot's archenemy in Chrétien de Troyes' French romance Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart. However, all surviving versions seem to be later adaptations of a stock narrative of significantly earlier provenance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agravain</span> Legendary Arthurian knight

Sir Agravain is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, whose first known appearance is in the works of Chrétien de Troyes. He is the second eldest son of King Lot of Orkney with one of King Arthur's sisters known as Anna or Morgause, thus nephew of King Arthur, and brother to Sir Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth, as well as half-brother to Mordred. Agravain secretly makes attempts on the life of his hated brother Gaheris since the Vulgate Cycle, participates in the slayings of Lamorak and Palamedes in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and murders Dinadan in the Prose Tristan. In the French prose cycle tradition included in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, together with Mordred, he then plays a leading role by exposing his aunt Guinevere's affair with Lancelot, which leads to his death at Lancelot's hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamorak</span> Fictional character

Sir Lamorak is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. Introduced in the Prose Tristan, Lamorak reappears in later works including the Post-Vulgate Cycle and Thomas Malory's compilation Le Morte d'Arthur. Malory refers to him as Arthur's third best knight, only inferior to Lancelot and Tristan, and the Prose Tristan names his as one of the top five, but Lamorak was not exceptionally popular in the romance tradition, confined to the cyclical material and subordinate to more prominent characters.

<i>Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart</i> 12th-century Old French poem by Chrétien de Troyes

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, is a 12th-century Old French poem by Chrétien de Troyes, although it is believed that Chrétien did not complete the text himself. It is one of the first stories of the Arthurian legend to feature Lancelot as a prominent character. The narrative tells about the abduction of Queen Guinevere, and is the first text to feature the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere.

<i>Icefire</i> (dLacey novel) 2003 childrens fantasy novel by Chris dLacey

Icefire is a 2003 children's fantasy novel by English author Chris d'Lacey. It is the sequel to his 2001 novel The Fire Within. It is followed by Fire Star, The Fire Eternal, Dark Fire, Fire World and The Fire Ascending.

<i>The Fire Within</i> (novel)

The Fire Within is a 2001 children's fantasy novel written by Chris d'Lacey. It is the first novel of The Last Dragon Chronicles, a low fantasy series about dragons in the modern world. The series continues with Icefire, Fire Star, The Fire Eternal, Dark Fire, Fire World, and The Fire Ascending.

<i>The Fire Eternal</i> 2007 novel by Chris dLacey

The Fire Eternal is a 2007 novel by English author, Chris d'Lacey. It is the fourth book in his series The Last Dragon Chronicles. After writing The Fire Eternal, d'Lacey has written Dark Fire, Fire World, and The Fire Ascending.

The Last Dragon Chronicles is a series of seven children's fantasy novels written by Chris d'Lacey. The books follow a college student, David Rain, as he discovers the existence of living clay dragons in the house he lodges at. This series currently includes the novels:

<i>Dark Fire</i> (The Last Dragon Chronicles) Book by Chris dLacey

Dark Fire is the fifth book in The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d'Lacey. It was released on 2 July 2009 in the UK and was published on May 1, 2010 for the US.

<i>Fire World</i> 2011 novel by Chris dLacey

Fire World is the sixth and penultimate novel in The Last Dragon Chronicles series by Chris d'Lacey. In an interview with ThirstforFiction on the publication day, d'Lacey stated that Fire World would be set in an alternate universe, and that all of the recurring characters from the previous novels would return, but in different guises.

The StanzaicMorte Arthur is an anonymous 14th-century Middle English poem in 3,969 lines, about the adulterous affair between Lancelot and Guinevere, and Lancelot's tragic dissension with King Arthur. The poem is usually called the Stanzaic Morte Arthur or Stanzaic Morte to distinguish it from another Middle English poem, the Alliterative Morte Arthure. It exercised enough influence on Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur to have, in the words of one recent scholar, "played a decisive though largely unacknowledged role in the way succeeding generations have read the Arthurian legend".

References