Jet Smoke and Dragon Fire

The Dragon Fire Trilogy #1

by Charles Ashton

On the face of it, the village in which Sparrow lives is as well-equipped, technologically, as any other in the modern world - there are telephones, televisions, calculators... The odd thing is, though, that no one knows what these machines are for. Even the old reilway line lies useless - and only Sparrow believes in the existence of aerplanes. Dragons, however, are another matter; Sparrow's friend Bull seems to know all about them, and other magic too, which gives him a sort of power over Sparrow and their red-headed companion Gogs. Then, one day on the mountain, Sparrow meets the strange, magical Puckel and his even stranger and more magical stick - and after that, for the three boys, nothing will ever be the same again.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dragons

Paperback

First published November 28, 1991

Reviews

[[ J o ]]

I have had this book for over ten years after I stole it from school. Yes, I know, bad Sterling.

I don't know why I haven't read it before now: it's about dragons, come on. I'm glad I did, though. It was neither terrible nor great, but somewhere in the middle. It concerns a small Yorkshire town that has all the modern gadgets but no-one knows how they work. Sparrow then meets an old, wizened man named Puckel and things start getting a little magical...

It started off really well. It reminded me slightly of Holes (not the story, but the overall progression of the book), wherein there was a wonderful premise but it fell away in the middle and just ended with a very unsatisfactory ending. The writing was fine: nothing great but easy enough to follow, and I enjoyed most of the characters, however clichéd they were. I just thought the plot could have had more done with it, since it definitely had the potential to be something quite amazing.



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[Pam Baddeley]

Bought this for the Wayne Anderson cover. This is a fable, written as if it were a fairy story and pretty irritating. It is one big runaround where the author comes up with a torturous explanation of shape-shifting and ties himself and the plot into knots because of it. The ending is also frustratingly inconclusive, but I now realise that it is book one of a trilogy. Anyway this was enough for me.

[Capn]

Promo blurb at back of The Midwinter Watch:

"The dragon roared, and roared again; and mingling with the smoke left by the aeroplane, the dragon's flame went spinning and coiling."
The odd thing about Sparrow's village is that although it has all the gadgets of the modern world - telephones, televisions, calculators - no one knows how they work. But this mystery is nothing to the extraordinary events that transform the lives of Sparrow and his friends after an encounter with the magical Puckel and, of course, with the dragon itself...

"A superb writer... Sensationally good."The Sunday Telegraph
"A racy story full of fantastic adventures." Junior Education

[Saskia (Smitie)]

De kern van het verhaal is wel interessant, maar er wordt teveel onbeantwoord gelaten. Iedere keer als je je afvraagt waarom iets gebeurt, wuift de schrijver het weg met weer een andere gebeurtenis die vragen oproept. Zelfs met kinderfantasie blijft het een vaag verhaal.

[Cindy]

An unusual story set in an isolated town where they have lots of modern conveniences, but no idea what they are for. But one boy does find a wizard, who gives him a special gift--the ability to fly.

[Tyler]

A very different (in a good way I think) read.