Customer Reviews

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons / Searching for Dragons / Calling on Dragons / Talking to Dragons

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You may never see princesses, dragons, wizards and witches quite the same way after reading the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Now together in a boxed set, this is one of the funnier, more imaginative reworkings of more typical fantasy and fairy tales.

"Dealing with Dragons" introduces Princess Cimorene, youngest daughter of the king of Linderwall. Like most medieval tomboys, Cimorene is considered rough, unseemly and stubborn -- she wants to fight with swords and learn magic. On the advice from a magic frog, she goes out in search of a dragon to
be housekeeper for. But when she's not sending away valiant knights, she's dealing with some very troublesome wizards...

"Searching For Dragons" picks up when the dragon Kazul goes mysteriously missing. Cimorene is, unsurprisingly, very concerned about this and wants to find her. Enter Mendanbar, a young king as unconventional as Cimorene -- not to mention in need of a wife. But even though he goes along to find Kazul, with wizards and laughter all around, he'll find that he's much more interested in Cimorene.

"Calling on Dragons" skips ahead to when Cimorene and Mendanbar are mrried, and Queen Cimorene is pregnant. All is right, right? Wrong. Magic is vanishing in the Enchanted Forest; the king's sword has been stolen. To combat the troublesome wizards, Morwen the witch teams up with Cimorene, Kazul, Telemain the Magician, and a rabbit called Killer.

"Talking to Dragons" skips ahead even further, to when Daystar is sent off by his mom Cimorene with only a magic sword. Poor kid -- he has to help King Mendanbar escape from an evil wizard's spell, without knowing that Mendanbar is his father. He teams up with a hot-tempered firewitch, Shiara, a dragon, a lizard, and a rather annoying princess. Can Daystar clue in before all is lost?

The new four-volume release from Magic Carpet Books is a good one, with quirky cover illustrations and better quality. While the first book is the best, the following ones each have their own measure of charm. The third book is a little weak at times, and the dragons are a bit less prominent in the fourth book, but each one is still quite enjoyable.

Cimorene is a solid, likable heroine who doesn't like being a stuffy princess, and much prefers keeping house for a dragon, learning magic, and cooking cherries jubilee. Mendanbar is a good love interest, quirky and pleasant enough; Morwen and Kazul are excellent supporting characters.

So if you're a fan of fractured fairy tales, dragon politics and melting wizards, this series will be at the top of your list. Highly recommended for those who like their fantasy with a dash of comedy.

I love this series.

I first encountered these books in sixth grade, when my teacher began to read Dealing with Dragons to my class. She never finished it, and I forget why I began to read it, but after I had finished it, I loved it. For a long time, I didn't even know that it was part of a series. I read and reread the book so many times that the paperback spine broke, and I had to finally replace it. When I did replace it, I bought the entire series.

I always tell people that this is a great series for young adults who like fantasy, and that the first book (Dealing with Dragons) can stand alone pretty well. It is a series that uses common tropes from fairy tales and fantasy myths, but satirizes and mocks them. For example, in Dealing with Dragons, Cimorene (the very IMPROPER princess) meets a talking frog... but one that she doesn't need to kiss, although he offhandedly remarks that he's met a couple enchanted frogs in the past. :)

The second book, Searching for Dragons, is a continuation to Dealing with Dragons, but it introduces a new character, Mendenbar, the ruler of the Enchanted Forest (and we discover why the series is called The Enchanted Forest Chronicles) and revisits some of the older characters. Calling on Dragons, which is one of my favorites in the series, focuses on the witch Morwen-- it is the silliest of all of them, in my opinion, mostly because of Morwen's cats. Finally, Talking to Dragons, which is my least favorite of the series, ties up some of the loose ends. Unfortunately, this final book takes place one generation from the lovable Mendenbar and Cimorene, and it is kind of disconcerning to lose them but keep Wrede's wit. But, the series is fun, the characters are (for the most part) wonderful and unforgettable, and it is a very creative (but underrated) fantasy series that I strongly recommend.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are an amaizing collection of fun and witty fantasy books. Written mostly from the third person point-of-view, they tell of a wonderful, exciting world which you just can't get enough of!
The first , Dealing with Dragons, follows the spunky, strong-willed, yet lovable Princess Cimorene on her journy to get away from her dreadfully normall kingdom and embark on an adventure, in wich she befriends dragons, meets witches, and melts some wizards. I thoughroly enjoyed this book! But be warned: after you pick up this one, you simply MUST read the others as well!
The second book, Searching for Dragons, focuses on Mendanbar, king of the enchanted forest, as he meets up with the same great characters from Dealing with Dragons and many equally great new characters on his journeys to save the enchanted forest. An amaizing tale, it's hard to see how Wrede was able to match the greatness of the first one, but yet she does, with great skill!
The third book, Calling on Dragons, is more centered around the witch, Morwen, as she teams up with dragons, donkey-rabbits, firewitches, and many other fun characters to rescue the King's magic sword from meddling wizards. Again, Wrede dazzles us with her ability to keep the story alive and exciting.
The fourth, and final, book in the series, Talking to Dragons, follows Cimorene's son, Daystar, on his quest to return order to the enchanted forest. Although he doesn't even know it, but it seems that everyone else does!! along the way he meets a young dragon and a hot-headed fire witch, who aid in his quest. Although my least favorite in the series (this book is told in the 1st person point-of-view) Wrede doesn't fail to give her readers a fun and captivating story!

I highly reccommend this set! not just for the younger audience, but adults as well; I am fifteen, and LOVED them, and my Aunt (who is quite a few years my senior) enjoyed them as well. These books will make you wish you too could share in the fantastic world of the enchanted fores chronicles. I would give these books a ten if I could!!

I originally bought each of these books individually, and it was quite a pain finding all of them. This is a convenient way to purchase these very cute, very fun fantasy stories.

The first book, "Dealing with Dragons", is a very witty, very cute book about the improper princess who decides to live with dragons rather than get married to someone she doesn't even like. Cimorene becomes the dragon Kazul's "princess", doing her chores for her, cleaning out her library, and cooking for her. The story has a lot to do with the relationships between wizards and dragons and in a sense, everything mocks the "real" view. Throughout this book, Wrede is practically laughing at every fairy tale ever written, and it is hilarious.

Book two, "Searching for Dragons", introduces a new character. Mendanbar, King of the Enchanted Forest, needs to go talk to the dragon king (and there's a new one from the last book!). Unfortunately, the dragon king has been kidnapped, so he and Cimorene go looking for her. It's more action filled than its predecessor and has a lot more magic going on.

"Calling on Dragons" is clearly the weakest book in the bunch, though it's. It's least memorable of them all, its new characters are the most boring, and the plot is more of a preview for the final book, "Talking to Dragons".

And speaking of, "Talking to Dragons" once again brings us the fun and excitement the first two books brought. While each of the other books had a gap of time that stretch across a year or so, the gap between COD and TTD is much bigger... Sixteen years! We've got a whole new generation of characters, whether its the cats, the fiery girls, or our (!) narrarator! Yes, TTD is written in first person, which is a first in this series. We truly get into Daystar's head, which is fun and enjoyable. In a sense, TTD continues where COD left off, but obviously much later, and many things have changed.

So if you like rather mocking fantasy stories that are both fun and cute, you'll love this. If you love witches, evil wizards, cool dragons, and awesome characters, than this is a great set to pick up. Just remember that COD is more of a transition book and all will be well.

So go join Cimorene, Mendanbar, Kazul, Daystar, Morwen, the cats, those evil wizards, and the lot by buying this great set!

I was a book-a-holic when i was younger. i first discovered these books in elementary school, and i probably read each one about 10 times. now i'm in college, and just finished re-reading the whole series.

they are intelligent, witty, and twist traditional fairy tales into wonderful, interesting, new things. the characters are great and intelligent. a great book for girls, it shows that we can have adventures too and don't have to be content with waiting for our prince in shining armour to come rescue us. we can be bad-ass, independent, free-thinking princesses like cimerone and still find great guys (mendanbar).

i would reccommend these books to anyone, even if fantasy isn't typically your thing. they are the kind of books and characters that just...become a part of you. although i hate the new paperback versions. if you really love these books, go for the hardback versions if you can find them...these books are worth keeping forever, keeping for your children, and the paperback ones are noticably cheap. of course, the hardback ones are out of print now i beleive, so it can take some hunting. paperbacks are better than no book at all!!

these books have brought me pure joy and vicarious adventure. five stars and 1000 words can't even begin to describe how great they are.

This is a great collection of books with a strong heroine and a good sense of humor. They are an excellent choice to read out loud due to the fun characters and the whimsical nature of the writing, and the recurrent message of non-conformity is carried out well without feeling too didactic.

Other reviewers have given capsule summaries, but I would recommend against reading them if you can resist. Part of what was delightful about reading these books for me was seeing the story and Patricia Wrede's pattern unfold.

That being said, I will immediately contradict myself, and note that the third book is, in my opinion, the weakest of lot. I think this is because when I read the books, I was reading out loud. The third book has more fractured conversations and irritating voices popping up all over the place, and the pattern gets in the way of the narrative. Additionally, compared to the other books, the ending is unsatisfying, merely setting up the action for the fourth book. For what it's worth, my wife (who also loved this series) recommends skipping the third book altogether and allowing the story of the fourth to slowly fill you in on what happened in the third.

One other note that I will add is that the vocabulary used in these books is advanced enough to make them a better pick for 10+ year olds, in my opinion. I mistakenly recommended them to the 8 year old daughter of a friend and she struggled to read the first couple paragraphs. The first couple of pages use: philosophers, fashionable, periodic, prosperous, etiquette, etc. Nothing unheard of, obviously, but these are probably better read out loud to early readers. These younger kids will still love the story and the characters, though I guess they may miss some of the humor.

With the discounted Amazon price, this box set is a lot of story for the dollar. I highly recommend it.

Patricia C. Wrede breathes a little life into the young adult adventure/fantasy genre with her series "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles".

Fiction and Fairy Tales collide in these entertainingly witty and unique novels, chronicling the adventures of Princess Cimorene as she deals with Dragons, witches, warlocks, and more!

The series starts off with my favorite book "Dealing with Dragons", in which a young princess rebels against the societal expectations placed upon her. Princesses from all over the world are expected to be "captured" by dragons in order to be rescued by a Prince and run off to get married and live happily ever after. However, Cimorene has other ideas. She runs away, willingly goes to live with the Dragons, and refuses to let a Prince rescue her! She is happier serving the Dragons than living a hum-drum life in a castle somewhere. She would rather have excitement and adventures than be stuck blindly obeying princess protocol and attending balls.

Although the books are set in a middle-ages kind of environment, where women were not equal to men, and princesses were meant to do nothing except look pretty and get rescued, the character of Princess Cimorene reflects a strong, independent, intelligent feminine role model ideal in todays setting. She doesn't adhere to what society dictates she can and can not do, and she chooses to follow her own path, which is admirable and makes for a very interesting journey.

Each book in the series contains strange and interesting new characters, and follows a unique storyline. The "Enchanted Forest Chronicles" would be a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys "Harry Potter", or "The Chronicles or Narnia". The imagination involved in each story is incredible, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages!

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are an absolutly wonderful set of stories. They take the simple premise of your standard fairy tales (Everything from toad princes, knights in armor, and the standard evil witch.) and turn the stereotypes on their heads. Perfect for children, these books are also a wonderful delight to anybody who enjoys a good read. The writing is witty and smart and the tales move at a wonderful pace that will have you devour them wanting more. The price that is listed above is an excellent deal for all four books, if you enjoy a good book you could hardly do better than the ones here.

Cimorene may be a bit unconventional as a princess, she's practical and independent, she uses her head. She voluntarily becomes the personal assistant to a dragon. In the first book she has to deal with would-be resucers who won't take 'no' for an answer, and medeling wizards.

I really can't tell you what happens in the following books without ruining it for you. Whether your buying these books for your child or for yourself, you won't be disapointed. Also, don't be afraid to get this for a younger child who reads at a higher level, there isn't anything questionable in these books as far as maturity content. It's simply young-adult fiction because it has the power to hold older readers imaginations as well as young readers.

I did not realize that these books were for young adults when I ordered them, so imagine my delight when I found that they are quite enjoyable for "old" adults also!! Lots of fun!