Rating: 
Summary: "I'd rather be eaten by a dragon..."
Review: That's what Cimorene says when she hears she's being married off to this boring empty-headed prince who only cares about swords and tournements. A nearby talking frog hears her and asks her what she is going to do about it, and gives her advice. From the very first page, Patricia C. Wrede had me enthralled and wanting to read more. The first page describes Cimorene's castle, all of the perfectly normal things that happened there, and then the page ends with, "And Cimorene hated it." This is a great book for girls. Not a guy-hating feminist book, but a story about a strong-willed, brave, loyal, clever girl and her adventures and friends she meets, about how she will not let any world confine her. Not only that, but it's a great funny story poking a little fun at traditional fairy stories. All of these books are great, Read them all! I especially like the third book narrated by the witch who can understand her cats. THe author really knows how cats think!
Rating: 
Summary: A flight of fantasy with some minor turbulence.
Review: Princess Cimorene, the youngest of eight, is firmly convinced that she is the only being in Linderwall with a brain in her head. She is, well, different: tall, black-haired, and, to her royal parents' great dipleasure, as stubborn as a mule. She'd rather study sorcery and economics and cooking instead of etiquette or embroidery. Upon finding herself betrothed to the Prince of a neighboring (emphasis on boring) kingdom, she takes a frog's good advice, finds a decrepit hut in the wilderness, and enters just in time for an argument between three voices who may or may not decide to eat her. Thus begins the first story about Cimorene's adventures among the dragonkind. Consistency is a problem for humorous fantasy on the novel scale, and this light-hearted pastiche runs into its share of slow spells. What elevates "Dealing with Dragons" above the morass of lackluster fantasy is Wrede's energy: she writes with brevity and zest. Still, the book disappoints when it goes from the sparkling fancy of: "Speaking of dragons, where's yours?" "She's gone to the Enchanted Forest to borrow a crepe pan from a witch she knows." to a non-story about sneaky wizards and whatnot. Besides primitive villains who are not even funny, the novel suffers from moments of extreme contrivance: small, irrelevant details are always obvious as set-ups for upcoming plot twists (hmm, why did Cimorene pick up a pebble in the Caves of Fire and Darkness?). Wrede very successfully pokes fun at the fairy-tale tradition, only to get trapped in the less appealing cliches of modern fantasy when it comes time to build a plot of her own. Still, more than a few episodes are both clever and funny (like the knights' continual efforts to save Cimorene from "captivity"). The young princess is a cohesive, effective heroine, while her friendship with the dragon Kazul develops along realistic paths. Two and a half nights of harmless fun. The sequel is already in my reading pile.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Enjoyable Book
Review: This book is great! It is about a princess who hates doing the usual princess things: embroidery, etiquette, and drawing. So she starts taking other lessons as well: fencing, Latin, cooking, economics, and juggling.
Her parents, of course, find out about all these lessons and they stop them saying that they aren't proper for a princess. Her parents decide to marry her to a very stupid and annoying prince. When she hears about her parent's plans, she decides to run away.
While running away she meets a dragon, and she volunteers to cook and clean for the dragon. While with the dragon, she has an adventure that includes dragons, wizards, and a witch.
Rating:
Summary: Almost a PC fairy tale
Review: Proper Princesses don't speak Latin. They do not cook. And they most certainly do NOT learn fencing and magic! Why? Because it's just not done by proper princesses! Not even Cimorene would describe herself as a proper princess. She even chases away the knights who come to "rescue" her from the dragons because she is very happy where she is, thank you very much! And if that isn't enough to illustrate the author's sense of humor, it is also the book from which we get the warning, "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup." I first read this book in the 7th grade (I'm now in college) and I picked it up again out of nostalgia. Imagine my surprise when I liked it even MORE the second time. The princess is intelligent, has a sense of humor, and doesn't balk at adventure. It's always refreshing to read a book with a heroine who doesn't whine about breaking a nail or wait for someone to come rescue her. This is no damsel in distress!
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL BOOK!
Review: I just read this book last week, and I have one thing to say: WONDERFUL BOOK! This is a great, memorable book with wonderful characters, good humor, an imaginative plot, with twists and turns, and it's well written. I would reccomend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, or who is trying fantasy for the first time. This was a great book, I absolutely loved it, and I am eager to read the other three books. I am sure they'll be just as great as the first one. :)
Rating:
Summary: I Love this series
Review: This is a wonderful and original series. I love the way Wrede took a common fairy tale belief and put a twist on it. As an adult, I thought it was funny and attention getting. I've also recommended to several teenagers, who gobbled up all four books in the series in a matter of a few days.
Rating:
Summary: Dealing with Dragons
Review: This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It is funny and I love all the fantasy in it. I think that Cimorene is a very cool princess! I would definitley like to be her. I really like magic and all the magic and magical creatures got me hooked on this book. I could NOT put it down. She has written three sequels to this. I am reading the fourth one now. They are Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Draons. She also wrote the Book of Enchantments which is stories from the Enchanted Forest and beyond. I cannot wait to read that. I defintly recommend this book and other books by Patrica C. Wrede!
S.C.B.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Mother & Daughter
Review: My daughter is 11 and we both enjoy fantasy. We loved this book! Reading it together proved a great opportunity to share both the story and our opinions with each other. As a bonus it has a strong female character who knows herself which is always nice.
Rating:
Summary: exciting,and fun
Review: The female dragons had three horns, one on each side and on their foreheads. This is the way Wrede describes the female dragons in the cave Cimorene finds herself in. In the beginning of this book Cimorene the princess is acting "improper" by taking cooking, juggling, fencing, and magic lessons. When ever she tries something new her father always finds out about it and stops it. Then she tries something else. Finally he decides she is going to marry a prince. Once Cimorene runs away everything starts happening with the dragons and wizards. After a while the Dragon King dies, or is he murdered? Now someone is trying to become the king by using magic. Cimorene and her friends must stop this.
I recommend this book because it was fast paced excitement. If you like some suspense and you have an imagination you should look in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting and just plain fun!
Review: I read "Dealing with Dragons",along with the rest of the "Enchanted Forest Chronicles", a couple of years back. I had just read "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine, which I highly reccommend reading after these, and wondered what to read next. Then my sister brought this one home from the book store-and let me say that this is a very enjoyable read for a wide variety of ages. It's fast paced, but it's original and with every page you turn the more harder it gets to put the book down. I had to make frequent stops to the book store to buy the next book that came after the previous. In fact, my mom even threatened me saying that if I didn't do the dishes that night I wouldn't get the book-and it worked! So, If you like adventurous stories with dragons, wizards, and a not so princess-like princess then these are a must read! Oh, and make sure you have plenty of batteries in your flashlight because you'll be under your covers reading all night!
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