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Summary: It's fantasy, it's comedy, it's . . . delightful
Review: Kazul, King of the Dragons is missing, and sections of the Enchanted Forest have been stripped of their magic and turned into dust. This can only be the work of those dastardly wizards. In Searching for Dragons, we unite again with the delightful Cimorene, princess--make that Chief Cook and Librarian--for Kazul, the newly selected King of the Dragons as she seeks once again to thwart the plans of the Society of Wizards to steal untold amounts of magic from the land, this time by attempting to start a distracting war between the realm of dragons and the kingdom of the bordering Enchanted Forest. Mendanbar, the young king of the Enchanted Forest, having discovered sections of his forest destroyed, heeds the council of a wise squirrel to seek the counsel of Morwen the witch. She insists that he meet with the King of the Dragons, before which meeting he encounters the head wizard Zemenar, who implicates the dragons in the destruction he has discovered. Boldly going to the Mountains of Morning, he encounters Cimorene, learns that Kazul is missing, and finds himself joining Cimorene in a search for the missing dragon. Along the way, they encounter a pair of giants, survive a wild ride on a faulty magic carpet, repulse an attack by a horde of snakes, meet up with a strange, loquacious magician, and finally unite along with Morwen to take on the wizards and rescue Kazul. This time, they need more than buckets of soapy water and lemon juice to defeat Zemenar's crew. Wrede is a wonderful writer. She is especially good at closing every hole in the story--things mentioned even briefly early on are brought into play before the end, and the fact that I as a reader actually forgot about many of them along the way just makes me respect her talents even more. Her incorporation of fairy tale lore is brilliantly subtle, and her description of the magic practiced by Mendanbar, which is essentially a visual magic, is quite unusual and interesting. I think that young and old alike can find great enjoyment in this book--I myself believe that it is very important to retain at least a measure of the wonder and magic we knew as children, and fantasy such as this helps much in this regard. Do yourself a favor and read Dealing With Dragons first; you won't appreciate Cimorene nearly as much without knowledge of the first book. While you're at it, go ahead and get Calling on Dragons and Talking to Dragons, as well--if you read one, you will want to read them all.
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Summary: Also Recommended!
Review: This is definately a great sequel to Dealing With Dragons. It has all the great characters and places as in the first book, plus more. It also is a great story, with the addition of a little romance. You can't get enough of this series!
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Summary: Not a disappointment!
Review: This second book in The Enchanted Forest Book was definitely not a disappointment. Searching for Dragons was written from Mendanbar the King of the Enchanted Forests point of view. After he finds parts of the Enchanted Forest have been destroyed he sets out on a journey to find out who did it. By inlisting in the witch Morwen's help he goes to the Mountain of Morning to find the king of the dragons Kazul. (Notice that these names are very imaginative?) However when he is there he runs in Cimorene the princess of Kazul whom was the main character in the first book of this series. Mendanbar learns from Cimorene that Kazul has disappeared. Most likely captured by the evil wizards society. As they set out to find Kazul they have many exciting adventures with giants, a magic carpet that needs fixing, a dwarf who use to be like Rumplestilskin, some more lemon juice, and a magician who is too smart for his own good. This was another great fantasy book by Patricia C. Wrede and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read the 3rd book in this series. Just to let you know there are 4 books in this series. The names in this book are very imaginative and I always look forward to see what the people are called. This is a great series for kids I think ages 8-15.
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Summary: Another great book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles!
Review: This was an excellent book! It is written in third person view and focuses on a character named King Mendanbar. King Mendenbar, the young King of the Enchanted Forest, finds a "wasteland," which has no magic, right where parts of the Enchanted Forest should be. The Enchanted Forest has magic buzzing around everywhere except here. It also has plants everywhere, while this "wasteland" has very few, if any, plants, save some tree stumps. This is a huge problem, because Mendanbar finds dragon scales in this area, which means that dragons could have burnt it, and Mendanbar really doesn't want to have problems with dragons right now. What is really true is surprising. You'll need to read it to find out! This book could have a little more romance in it, because of how the end turns out, but it doesn't make the book bad. Some new characters are introduced, and many characters from "Dealing With Dragons" are still a big part of the story. I reccommend this to people who like fantasy and comedy.
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Summary: great for any age
Review: This is my favorite book out of the Enchanted Forest quartet. Mendanbar and Cimorene are great characters and the plot is just so, so original and funny! Patricia C. Wrede picks on all of the fairy tale and legend elements in her books and turns them into something relatively sensible. For instance, in this book, Mendanbar and Cimorene address Herman the dwarf, who used to be Rumplestiltskin. If you like fantasy at all, read this, because it is a wonderful read
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Summary: in one word:funny
Review: In this sequel to "dealing with dragons"King Mendanbar of the enchanted forest comes to speak with Kazul King of the dragons on the matter of a burnt out piece of his domaine. when Mandanbar hears about Kazul's princess however he is reluctant to go, having had too much experience with the simpering damsel in disstress typesand also being urged by his stewart Willin to get married. But when he arrives Mendanbar finds a young woman in an apron and covered in flower who starts insisting that she doesn'twant to be rescued. when things are sorted out and Cimorene(the princess)is convinced this is not an attemp to rescue her Mendanbar realises he isn't the only one with problems. Soon they set out on an adventure that includes giants, wizards and a magician.
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Summary: Excellent
Review: This book was really incredible. If you like fantasy books about magic and dragons then you will like this book.
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Summary: 3 cheers for Patrica C. Wrede!!!
Review: A story full of Action, Humor, and a slowly growing romance, this is a great book. I loved it because all the characters are so funny. Patrica C. Wrede has a great Imagination and a great writing style(Which includes the names of the chapters, did u know the name of the 16th chapter or something is like, 17 words long!?). I am looking forward to reading her other books! 3 cheers for Patricia C. Wrede!!! Hip-hip-HOORAY!!!
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Summary: Going in circles makes not for an exciting magic carpet ride
Review: Cimorene is back in an all-new adventure that sits completely in the shadow of the series debut. The characters talk endlessly but never seem to do anything or get anywhere. They either eat, sleep, or wishywash around and once Telemain is introduced into the mix then things really get dull. Cimorene has her defiance to be anything but princess-like, while Telemain's novelty is the fact he discusses in magic in 'technical jargon' which is anything but. Sure the words are 'bigger' but having Cimorene or the incredibly bland King of the Enchanted Forest repeat everything Telemain says in a dumbed down version gets repetitively boring in a hurry. Instead of doing it a few times just for kicks, it goes on throughout the book and hinders it terribly. It was also ridiculous of the 'romance' (or lack thereof) between Cimorene and the King. Sure he pops the question at the end and she accepts but there was so little leading up to it (besides a few hints that Mendanbar is enjoying the female company) that it seemed to be thrown in just to have a "Happily Ever After" ending. I guess that's what happens when you are aiming for the preteen audience. Unless you get this included in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, then there is little reason to pursue this, skip to volume 3 instead.
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Summary: An interesting and well written sequel
Review: This was an excelant book that I thought was in some ways better than the first book, Dealing with Dragons. Though at the beginning I was somewhat disapointed that the book was from the point of view of Mendenbar, since I wanted it to be more about Cimorene, I quickly warmed up to him and enjoyed his character. What happened at the end was no surprise to me, since I essentially knew they were meant for each other from page one. Part of why I liked this book is that the characters actually go on adventures, whereas in the first book everyone just kind of wanders around and gets to know each other. But don't get me wrong, the first book was good too, and in fact almost essential if you want to understand this one. This would be a good book for anyone who likes fantasy stories, though some previous experiance with other fantasy stories would help to get some of the jokes. Anyone could essentially read this series and enjoy it, though kids 10-15 would probably enjoy it best.
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