The Enchanted Forest Chronicles : [Boxed Set ]

Rating:
Summary: i've read almost everything, and these stand among the best
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and Fun
Review: If you like fantasy and you've never read The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, get over to the library right now! The characters are original and fun, from spunky Cimorene to Killer the six foot floating blue donkey (who used to be a rabbit). The only thing I don't like is these scary new covers...I read them a few years ago and the old covers aren't nearly as creepy-looking as these!

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting Series
Review: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are a wonderful fantasy adventure. This series is what turned me on to fantasy quite a few years ago. The characters are captivating and Patricia C. Wrede does a wonderful job of bringing the reader into the story.
The lead character Cimorene is a stubburn princess from the kingdom of Linderwall. She runs away from her "boring" princess destiny one day and asks to be taken in with some dragons. The story progresses from there leaving on a wild adventure. I couldn't put these books down; I've read them several times. Recommended!

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Summary: A delightful twist on your average fairy tales.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic adventure
Review: 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!!

Rating:
Summary: What's Not To Like?
Review: They're funny, they're charming, they're clever, and they've got great cover illustrations. I love them. Don't get me wrong, I adore good old fairy tales as well, but you take that and give it a twist, and you have the best parody ever! I only have one problem, and that is with the first book. Cimorene seems to blink every two pages over something. Yes, I am perfectly well aware that blinking is a normal funtion of everyday life, but why it's necessary to tell the reader that Cimorene's doing it every chance you get is beyond me. You don't hear "Cimorene inhaled" anywhere in the book. Regardless. They're absolutely worth the money, although I lucked out when my aunt picked up the complete volume for me at her used bookstore. If I didn't own them, I would buy them. And I advise anyone with a sense of humour and a taste for light fantasy to do so as well.

Rating:
Summary: Spell-binding!
Review: What a fun and exciting series! I'm a grandma, and the books kept me spell-bound. I particularly appreciate the fact that the characters are rather atypical, and that the stories offer some fresh new ways to consider or present social and moral values--like acceptance and courtesy.

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Summary: The story of an unpropper princess and her (miss)adventures
Review: What can i say these are some of the best books i have ever read. These books follow the adventures of a princess named Cimorene, who just refuses to be propper. Instead she is a bright, strong, and humerous person altogether, she is what was considerd the opposite of a princess. So what dose she do? She runs off to live with the Dragons in the Mountains of Morning. There she can study any activityes she forbiden to do back at the castle (fencing, magic, polotics, latin, ....) and she gets the adventures she always dreamed about, from Melting pescy wizards and fighting giant rock snakes to geting Maried to the man of her dreams.
These books are the story of a princess who dared to dream of a life...... a life she wanted.
I would definatly recomend these books to anyone who enjoys the Tales of King Arthur and Masterppice of Eragon.


Rating:
Summary: Fractured fairy tales
Review: 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.