Enchanted Forest Chronicles: (Boxed Set)

Fairy tales and high fantasy have their own tropes -- wizards, witches, princesses, dragons and princes coming to the rescue of damsels.But none of them will ever look quite the same after reading Patricia C. Wrede's "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons / Searching for Dragons / Calling on Dragons / Talking to Dragons," bringing together four charming little fantasy stories. Wrede cleverly pokes fun at all the things you've come to expect from princess tales, including the now-cliched rebellious princess trope."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?One of the best things about "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" is that it is a pretty decent high fantasy story -- the first book is easily the most enchanting, but the three sequels are also still pretty amusing. But while telling its own story, it's gently poking fun at the sort of things you find in these sorts of stories -- princesses, dragons, fairy godmothers and magical swords -- and how they're typically used.And Wrede's writing matches this plot nicely -- quirky and clever, with a slightly British bent ("Oh bother!") and plenty of humorous dialogue ("If they'd simply done what they were told, they wouldn't be here." "Still, turning them into slabs of stone forever seems a little extreme"). Perhaps the biggest problem with the series is that the third book is rather weak at times, and the dragons are somewhat less prominent in the fourth.Since the Rebellious Princess is pretty standard now, it's fun to see one that doesn't whine much, even if she likes all sorts of things that aren't princessy (magic, fencing, cooking cherries jubilee). So her sensible approach to getting her own freedom is quite delightful, especially since it shows that she doesn't need a man. She has one, though -- and Mendanbar is a good love interest, quirky and pleasant enough. There's also a solid backing cast, including Cimorene's son in the fourth book, the cat-keeping witch Morwen, and the friendly dragon Kazul.Fractured fairy tales, dragon politics and melting wizards can all be found in "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles," a charming little quartet of quirky fantasy books.

Having enjoyed these books when they first came out, I decided to share them with my grandnephews. They are finding them as entertaining as I did. They love the unconventional princess, and the different take on dragons. They love how unique the characters are and how much fun their adventures are.Can highly recommended this for adults to enjoy, as well as children. A collection that is perfect to read together, as a family. There is something enjoyable for every age.

We gave this set to the little girl next door for her birthday and she really enjoys the stories.

gutes Produkt, schnelle Lieferung. Ich bin sehr zufrieden. Danke!

Yes, I'm an adult but I didn't discover these books until I was well beyond youth and I didn't see that this should in any way impede my enjoyment of what everyone seemed to be saying was a great book series. I started reading book one on a Saturday morning and finished book four on the Monday evening. And that was only because I had to go to work on Monday during the day.These are wonderful books - Cimorene (who begins it all) is a fantastic character, but Wrede creates and thoroughly draws a surrounding entourage of other characters including dragons, ill-intentioned wizards and mad-cat lady witches, with surprisingly sensible cats. It was unexpected and yet somehow satisfying to find out before I started reading that the last book was written first and the rest of them sort of happened by accident. Even the writing of these stories is part of the story and I felt as though I had been invited to join a secret and exclusive club, by the time I finished reading.Whatever your age, if you have any child left in you at all (and who doesn't have at least some) then you will love these books and rather wish there were a few more of them at the end. They aren't Lord of the Rings - they aren't Narnia - but they are a special thing all of their own and probably deserve their own sub-category. I'm glad I found them. Full of all sorts of proper traditions, whilst not in fact being traditional at all... Just set aside a couple of days, switch off your phone and throw yourself into the Enchanted Forest and the surrounding kingdoms. It almost feels as though I've been on holiday.

Love these types of stories but am still reading it. Looking forward to see how it ends.