Title: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Author: Patricia C. Wrede Pages: 624 Publisher: Doubleday Books ISBN: 1-56865-173-2 Genre: Fantasy Synopsis Dealing wth Dragons: Cimorene is a practical but imporper princess. Rather than study dancing, drawing, embrodery, and etiquette she sneaks off to study fencing, magic, cooking, Latin, economics, and juggling. When her parents become exasperated and try to marry her off, Cinorene becomes exasperated and runs away to become a Dragon's princess. The dragon Kazul decideds to take her on and from there Cimorene has her hands full consorting with a short witch, fending off would-be-rescuers, finding a fire-proof spell, unraveling the evil schemes of wizards, and making enough chocolate mousse to feed seven hungry dragons. Searching for Dragons: Medanbar, King of the Enchanted Forest is up to his neck in problems. The gargoyle in his study won't stop yapping, someone has been destroying pieces of the Enchanted Forest, the Wizards want his assistance against the dragons, the King of the dragons herself is missing, and his Steward wants him to get married. But with the help of Morwen the Witch, Telemain the Magician, Princess Cimorene the Chief Cook and Librarian to the Dragon King, and a somewhat unusual sword, Mendenbar just might be able to solve all his problems, except for that annoying gragoyle. Calling on Dragons: Someone is starting to complain about Morwen. She doesn't fit the profile of a typical witch. She's too short, too pretty, and has too many cats, none of which are black. But before she can deal with this malcontent she must deal with an oversized winged blue donkey (who used to be a rabbit), discover what happened to the sword that protects the Enchanted Forest, and once again stop the wizards from completing an evil plot. This will involve leaving the Enchanted Forest with Queen Cimorene, Kazul the dragon king, Telemain the Magnician, a few cats, and the rabbit. Talking With Dragons: Life on the edge of the Enchanted Forest is never dull, but even Daystar is taken by surprise when a Wizard marches into his home and attacks his mother. He is even more surprised when his mother melts the wizard, hands him a sword, and kicks him out of the house. Now Daystar must enter the Enchanted Forest to find out what is so special about the sword he carries. He will also discover there is something very special about himself. Review: The target audience of these book would be young or teenage girls. However, I gave a set to a friend of mine for his daughter. He told me later that he too was enjoying them. These are excellent books for children of any age. There is no swearing, minimal violence, and the romance is limited to a few kisses. The characters tehmselves are stoic, practical, independent, and (with the exception of the bad folk) well mannered. My favorite part about The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is the familiar fairy tales that make appearences in the plot. For example, Cimorene aurgues that she cannot get married because she is only sixteen. Her mother points out that Cimorene's Aunt Rose was married at sixteen as long as you don't count the years she slept under a wicked fairy's curse. She furthermore pokes fun at traditional fairy tales and the main characters spend much of their time dishonoring ridiculous traditions and helping people who have stuck to them. Unfortunately, Patricia C. Wrede is a rather obscure author. Personally I think she writes just as well, if not better than J.K. Rowling. Her writing style is fantastic, the characters are wonderful, and she is a master of dialog. In fact The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are my favorite books at the moment and have held that spot for about eight years now. Copywrite 2005. If you have problems with this site, please contact the webmaster. Posted 31 July 2005.