The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Author: Patricia Wrede
Year: Collective book 2005
Publisher: Jane Yolen Books
Genre: Fantasy
Age: YA
Books: 1-Dealing with Dragons (1990)
2-Searching For Dragons (1991)
3-Calling on Dragons (1993)
4-Talking to Dragons (1985)
Book 1
Princess Cimerone of Linderwall would like nothing more than
to learn to cook, fence, & not read Latin. So she decides that instead of
marrying Prince Therandil she is going to become a dragon’s princess.
She becomes the princess to a dragon named Kazul. Kazul
lives in the Mountains of Morning, very far away from all the troubles of Linderwall.
It isn’t long before brave knights come knocking on the door to save Cimerone, including
Therandil. But she will have none of it.
In the meantime when Cimerone isn’t cooking, cleaning, &
snooping in the treasure room, she runs into a wizard named Zemenar who is the
Head of the Society of Wizards. He is trying to stir up trouble but Cimerone
& Kazul are on to him. This is where the witch Morwen comes in to help them
figure out what the wizards are up to. Morwen lives in the nearby Enchanted
Forest with a bunch of cats. To get to Morwen’s, Cimerone & her friend Alianora
must travel through the Caves of Night & Fire. This is a place that is of
great interest to the wizards. Along the way they run into a prince that has
been turned to stone from a spell.
Together Cimerone, Alianora, & the stone prince find out
that the wizards plan is to poison the King of Dragons and cheat in the
competition for the next King. In order to become the King of Dragon’s the
dragon’s must carry Colin’s stone all the way across the mountains to the Ford
of Whispering Snakes. The group come across the wizards in the forest using
their staff’s to help a certain dragon cheat. So they melt the wizards much
like in another classic & Kazul is crowned the new King of Dragons.
Book 2
Mendanbar is the King of the Enchanted Forest. He is new to
the job but he seems to like it. The story begins with him noticing a big
problem. A large part of the lush, beautiful forest has been killed. It’s
brown, lifeless, and not a norm for their magical realm. So in order to find
out what happened he seeks out the King of Dragons by way of Morwen’s witchy
advice.
But instead of Kazul, Mendanbar finds Cimerone the Chief Cook
& Librarian to the King of Dragons (her fancy new title). Cimerone informs
him that Kazul has been taken & she needs help finding her as soon as
possible.
In order to embark on their journey they must visit a giant
named Ballimore and borrow a magic carpet. While flying high they discover that
sometimes a borrowed carpet can have a bad side. They get help along the way
from Telemain, a magician, who knows a carpet repair maned named Jack.
After they get back to the forest Telemain, Mendanbar, &
Morwen, & Cimerone go after the wizards that have kidnapped Kazul. By way of
melting them again Kazul is saved, Morwen & her cats are at peace, &
Telemain has a wizard’s staff to experiment with. To complete the happy ending there
is an engagement between Mendanbar & Cimorene followed by a big, beautiful
wedding.
Book 3
This story begins with Morwen having a problem with a rambunctious
bunny named Killer. The bunny in question eats a bad patch of clovers and ends
up 6 feet tall. Then through eating something in Morwen’s garden he ends up
turning into a donkey!
Morwen suspects that the Society of Wizards is to be blamed
for the strange plants so she takes a trip to see the King & Queen of the Enchanted
Forest. Mendanbar shares in her concern since he too has been noticing some
oddities in the Forest.
In order to see what the wizards are up to Telemain,
Cimerone, Killer, Morwen, some cats, & Kazul set out to find them. Along
the way the meet a farmer of strange plants, end up in a swamp, a fire witch
joins the group, & Killer ends up blue with wings.
They discover that Antornell and another man named Arona
Michaellear Grinogion Vamist have stolen the King’s magic sword and intend to
take over the Enchanted Forest with it. Meanwhile Kazul heads back to the
castle to check on the Kingdom & warn the King.
The group is able to melt Antornell, much to his dismay and
they take Vamist back to the castle for punishment after retrieving the sword.
Unfortunaltely when they arrive back at the castle they discover the wizards
have blocked the castle with a spell and trapped the King inside. Kazul decides
that the only way to save the kingdom is to wait for Cimerone’s child to be
born, grow up, & learn to use the magic sword to defeat the wizards. But…that
won’t happen for another 16 years! So until then Kazul will guard the castle
and Cimerone will keep the sword safe.
Book 4
It’s been 16 years since the last story and Daystar is old
enough to wield the Sword of the Sleeping King. The only problem is he knows
nothing about what’s happened! The plan will work best if he finds out on his
own. So Cimerone sends him off to save the kingdom without the slightest explanation
as to who he is or why he must leave with the sword.
Along the way he picks up
a few friends including a lizard named Suz, and a fire witch named Shira. They
eventually pick up a small dragon and Telemain while on their way to the castle
to meet Kazul. In order to get there they take a short cut through the Caves of
Chance and run into a quozzel. Daystar gets his hands on a key the quozzel is
guarding that was given to him by a wizard. But he can’t get the key & get
out of the caves without some help from some dwarves.
Finally they make it to the castle where with Daystar
wielding the sword, and Kazul & her army of magical creatures they defeat
the wizards and rescue Mendanbar. The story ends with a reunion of the royal
family & an engagement between Telemain & Morwen.
Likes: This book has all the books in one! Each book is
200-300 pages, making the entire thing a little over 100 pages total.
The author uses references from other classic fairytales along
the way & it makes the story very interesting.
SO FUNNY! The situations, dialogue, & sarcasm make this
a fantastic read.
Very fun & light read overall.
Dislikes: None really…it took me a little longer than normal
to finish this book because I was coming off a book hangover from a previous
read.
Rating:
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