‘Curse of the Ice Dragon’ by Tara West

Tara West is a former high school teacher from Texas, USA, who now works from home as a novelist and part-time graphic designer. It is thus with no surprise that her first fantasy book for Young Adults has a moralizing tone and quite a few lessons it wishes to teach its young and adolescent readers.

Curse of the Ice Dragon (Shifting Sands Publishing, 2012) has got a great premise, an exciting setting and a score of characters that not only fight against evil witches and mean dragons but also the evil within themselves. For Markus, the 15-year-old main character, has been gifted with the ability to master the use of a bow and arrow and be able to hunt and feed his people but with this came a curse: the Mighty Hunter, as he is known among his folks, bears the scar of the hunter that will eventually bring his own downfall and destroy his family.

The book is a textbook YA fantasy novel. You’ve got everything you need to keep young readers glued to its pages. There’s Alec, Markus’ sickly brother, unloved and abused by their father; then there’s Dianna, an orphan whose identity proves to be quite a surprise; Lydra, the dragon who breathes ice instead of fire; Madhea, the Ice Goddess, a witch who controls the dragon and hates Markus’ family; and the Ice People who also live inside a glacier under the threat of the mean witch.

There’s also plenty of magic in Curse of the Ice Dragon and the introduction of the warming stones halfway through the book hints at the events to happen in Book 2 of the series.

Young readers will definitely enjoy the many action scenes, Markus’ ability to use a bow with deadly accuracy and the friendships that the characters will build along the way. But, the book also makes a stand against child abuse, bullying, destroying the word we live in and, with a sense of justice, Tara West punishes all bad deeds.

Unfortunately, the quest Markus sets on is not brought to a definite conclusion. Initially, the boy hunter’s mission is to reach Madhea, who resides and rules the world from the top of the Ice Mountain, but then he (and the story) get trapped in the Ice Kingdom where Markus learns humility and the true meaning of friendship. The faceoff between Markus and the witch takes the space of just a few paragraphs but this anticlimax prepares the readers for the next installment in the Keepers of the Stones series.

Tara West is also the author of the Whisper series, which until now comprises of three YA paranormal novels: Sophie’s Secret, Don’t Tell Mother and Krysta’s Curse with the promise of a fourth one entitled Visions of the Witch (to be released later this year). Also, Spirit of the Sea Witch, which will bring into play Madhea’s sister, the sequel to Curse of the Ice Dragon, is due to be released in 2013.

To keep in touch with Tara’s books, visit her website and stay connected with her on Facebook and Twitter.