Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: The Fire Eternal

The Last Dragon Chronicles Book 4: The Fire Eternal by Chris D’Lacey

I liked it; it was good

Now on book 4, and I admit I remember pretty much nothing from this book, though the creases in the spine tell me that I read it already. I do remember getting up to book 5.

Read: November 27 – December 1, 2023

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Audience: Children
Book contains: breaking the laws of physics, possible miscarriage, kidnapping

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

The Enemy Isn’t Defeated. Round 2!

Five years after David’s mysterious disappearance in the Arctic, all in Scrubbly seems to be back to normal. Liz and Arthur are married, Lucy is a typical moody teenager, and Zanna and her daughter are living with the Pennykettles at 42 Wayward Crescent. When a journalist starts asking questions about David, more secrets are uncovered. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, a trio of bears free Gwilanna as they trek closer to the site where Gawain’s fire tear froze the ocean.

With book 3 ending with David’s abnormal death, the Fain defeated, and Gwilanna frozen in ice, it seems like that could be the end of the series. Sure, there are a few loose ends that need to be tied, but all in all, everything was wrapped up. Luckily, that’s not the end. This book starts about five years later. Zanna has given birth to hers and David’s daughter, Alexa, who is an adorable addition to the Pennykettle household. David is a bestselling author, and Zanna is now running a little shop in Scrubbly called The Healing Touch, where she sells crystals and tarot cards and mystic kind of stuff, as well as offering healing therapy.

I sped through this book. It was quite enjoyable, so even though I wasn’t listening along to a video or recording, I finished it quickly. The pacing definitely helped with that.

The Fire Eternal is written in third person like the others, but of course doesn’t follow David, as he died at the end of the last book. Instead, this book switches between a trio of bears in the Arctic, and Scrubbly, where Zanna, Lucy, and Liz take centre stage. Like book 3, this book is also divided into separate parts (1, 2, 3, and an epilogue). It’s kind of funny that part three is all just one super long chapter.

The spotlight has shifted to Zanna in this one, but also to Lucy, who is scheming behind Zanna’s back. Lucy doesn’t believe that David is truly dead, so she enlists the help of a journalist named Tam (who is writing a piece about David). Tam has a few focused chapters here and there, but he’s by no means a new main character. I predict he’ll get a bigger role in the next book, though, going by the ending of this one. He’ll likely be another member of the living-dragon secret.

As I said above, Lucy is a moody teenager in this one. D’Lacey does well in capturing who Lucy was as a child and aging her up with years of sorrow and denial and anger. She’s angry with her mother and with Zanna for seemingly accepting David’s death, but she’s less willing to give up on her pseudo-brother. I love how her dragon, Gwendolyn, gets a bigger role in this book; she didn’t get many mentions beyond the first book. Lucy’s relationship with Alexa is sweet and caring, because Alexa is her main connection to David, but she’s still grumpy when referred to as a “babysitter”.

Liz and Arthur’s relationship has gotten better since the last book. They’ve now been married for two years, and though it’s subtle, this book paints them as supportive and loving partners to one another. They act as sort-of grandparents, sort-of aunt and uncle to Alexa, as does the neighbour, Henry, who is grumpy, but still indulges the little girl’s imagination. It’s quite lovely.

I’m not too sure how I feel about some of the evolution the characters go through, though. Most of it is good, but some is a bit questionable—makes me want to go back to when things were simpler, I suppose. I’m still not sure about some retrograde changes to a backstory for one of the characters—how could it be explained back in book 1? (Also, an aside, Zanna’s family isn’t mentioned at all in this book. How did her parents and sister react to her not being dead? I would’ve loved to see that.)

Still, the writing remains good quality and keeps in line with the previous books. D’Lacey always has such a beautiful way of describing things that makes them easy to imagine, especially nature. His characters are fun to go along with, and he’s able to explain the complicated dark matter and alternate universes science in a way that’s easy to understand (at least for the context of the story). I’m not all too big on science and physics, but it was still interesting for me.

I’d recommend sticking to this series. It, like how David’s book White Fire is described in-text, is a children’s book on the surface, but underneath it holds deeper meanings. This book series ties heavily with environmental health and the sustaining of wildlife, especially the bears on the polar ice cap. It ties everything together in a fun fantasy/science fiction adventure, but it still carries an important message.

The Last Dragon Chronicles Book 4: The Fire Eternal by Chris D’Lacey

The Enemy Isn’t Defeated. Round 2!

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