#Kazul enchanted forest chronicles

[triaelf9]

Dealing with Dragons: Cimorene sketch ^_^

Been re-listening to Dealing with Dragons recently (anyone who knows me knows I will not shut up about how formative this series was for me re: many things but mostly dragons) and so I got the urge to draw Cimorene again (I sketched her like a year or so ago, but can't find it, so I thought a redesign with my new style was perfect!)

Also, my fav book reviewer (I have one of those now?? What??) Just covered the first book of the series, so if you want to check out a great reviewer AND my favorite book of all time, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMaKkwHQQKM

Not me trying to speak into existence an Enchanted Forest Chronicles graphic novel series that I get to adapt, whatttt noooo... ^_-

[variouspolltournaments]

Propaganda

King Kazul: She's the king of the dragons, loves cherry jubilee, and is a loving grandmother

[hollowwhisperings]

Book Jacket Credit Hunt, #1: Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede.

I popped back onto tumblr today to an explosion of reblogs on a post on Kazul, greatest & mightiest dragon of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles book series, and several corrections on the artist responsible for that specific Kazul.

Trina Schart Hyman created this version of Kazul & Cimorene, stars of Dealing With Dragons in its 1st edition, but I incorrectly credited the artist as being Dalia Hartman.

My best guess is that I stopped my search for the artist after Google & Wikipedia's crediting of "Dalia Hartman +14 others".

So which cover did Dalia Hartman do?

The only other covers with illustrator credits I've found in an exclusively virtual search are these:

JP Hardback & 2002 ENG editions, jackets by Peter de Sève.

2004 FR edition's cover, by Yves Besnier.

That's it.

Online, most vendors don't bother providing extra details on any given book past langage, page count, & publisher. It's not even a given that translators will be named, in non-English editions.

So I come to you, the collective fandoms of Tumblr, and ask: if you access to a physical copy of this book (in any language or edition), could you share what name is given for the cover artist?

In English language books, details on any given book are generally found on the first page with printed words, typically the page left of a Table of Contents but sometimes snuck before/after an Author's Note. That said, my knowledge on physical books is several years out of date: I haven't been able to read non-large print novels since 2020.

These are some other, not obviously credited covers of Dealing With Dragons that I've found:

(from left to right: 2001 German edition; ? Turkish; 2019 Turkish; ? Thai; 2006 Czech.)

Thanks to everyone who sent corrections along on the original Kazul post (which I accidentally deleted: progressively weaker vision + touchscreen = skill issue)! Seeing so much love for the Great & Mighty King Kazul, the series she stars in & the cover art of her debut book genuinely made my day. <3

[songofsaraneth]

Favorite Female Characters

(tagged by @threeofswrds yay!)

rules: make a poll of your favorite female characters (no limits - as many or as little as you want) and see which your followers like the most!

in no particular order and god i'm sure i'm forgetting someone i will later be mad i left off but!!! this is who comes to mind right now with trying to only pick 1-2 per fandom, and not counting any OC's :) I don't remember at all who has already done this or not yet but I'll tag: @alimsurana @thehardkandy @baejax-the-great @princefitzchivalryfarseer @thebookworm0001

@naxios10 @gryfowl @hawkingeloise @sparrowhawksshadow

[judgeitbyitscover]

Enchanted Forest Chronicles (1985-1995) by Patricia C. Wrede

Cover Art by Tim Hildebrandt*

Scholastic, Point Fantasy series published in 1995-1998**

Dealing with Dragons (1990)

Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart - and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon - and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.

Searching for Dragons (1992)

Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be proper, is back--but where is Kazul the dragon? That's what Cimorene is determined to find out.

Luckily--or perhaps not-so-luckily--she's got help: Mendenbar, the not-very-kingly King of the Enchanted Forest, has joined her in her quest. So with the aid of a broken-down magic carpet, a leaky magical sword, and a few buckets of soapy lemon water, they set off across the Enchanted Forest to tackle the dragon-napping and save the King of the Dragons.

Calling All Dragons (1993)

A Princess's work is never done--not even when she becomes a queen!

Princess Cimorene is now Queen Cimorene ... and she's faced with her first queenly crisis -- the Enchanted Forest is threatened with complete destruction!

Those wizards are back -- and they've become very smart. (Sort of.) They've figured out a way to take over the forest once and for all ... and what they have planned isn't pretty.

With a little help from Kazul the dragon king, Morwen the witch, Telemain the magician, two cats, and a blue, flying donkey-rabbit named -- what else? -- Killer, Cimorene might just be able to stop them.

And some people think that being a queen is easy.

Talking to Dragons (1985, revised 1995)

That's what Daystar's mother taught him...and it's a very wise lesson--one that might just help him after his mom hands him a magic sword and kicks him out of the house. Especially because his house sits on the edge of the Enchanted Forest and his mother is Queen Cimorene.

But the tricky part is figuring out what he's supposed to do with the magic sword. Where is he supposed to go? And why does everyone he meets seem to know who he is?

It's going to take a particularly hotheaded fire-witch, a very verbose lizard, and a badly behaved baby dragon to help him figure it all out.

And those good manners certainly won't hurt!

*The art for the Point Fantasy covers of Searching for Dragons, Calling All Dragons, and Talking to Dragons is uncredited; however, the style of the dragon in particular is both unique and consistent between the covers.

**as best as I can figure it.

[dainesanddaffodils]

Continuing my ffxiv naming conventions of naming things after Enchanted Forest Chronicles characters (Cimorene being my warrior of light and her company chocobo being Kazul) I have now given her 2 Lalafell retainers named Morwen and Telemain

[vickyvicarious]

1 - what was your first fandom? 2 - do you have any phobias? 3 - if you had a pet dragon what would you name it?

I think my first fandom was Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. At least, that's the first one I recall reading or writing fic for, or engaging beyond being a more casual fan. I think I wasn't able to watch the final season and ended up just looking up the episode scripts online and reading those, and that led me towards finding fic and stuff. It's been a while, so I'm not sure about all the details.

I don't have any phobias, no. I do have some preferences/anxieties about certain things but nothing to that level.

It depends on the dragon! I've never had a pet that I was able to easily name without meeting them. That said, I'd probably go for Tiamat (the classic dragon name in my mind since I was a kid) or Kazul (Enchanted Forest Chronicles my beloved <3).

.

anonymously message me (3) things you want to know about me.

[godzilla-reads]

🔥 Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5

Meet Princess Cimorene- a princess who refuses to be proper. She is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart, and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon.

I first read this book in middle school when I found it in the media center and I devoured this book. I’ve reread it a couple times and felt it was due for another reread, especially since February’s Dragon Reading Challenge is a romantasy OR a talking dragon book and this book has lots of talking dragons.

One of the things I love about this story is how Cimorene and Alianora are such good friends. Cimorene is an unconventional princess and Alianora is a typical princess, but they bond and share a love of adventure and problem-solving. They become such great friends throughout the book and one of my favorite dynamics. I mean, of course I love the dragons. Kazul formed my young perspective of a good dragon. A dragon that speaks, listens to reason, but isn’t afraid to show her teeth.

Anyway, you should definitely pick this book up to read!

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

thing is i LOVE dragon stories where the dragon shares thoughts with their special human- and i love stories where the dragons are PEOPLE-

The Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher (green dragons) with kenning of birds and dragons, Sapphira from Eragon being my FAV character (despite not being green) just for her snark and wits and ferocity as a character who is ALSO a dragon, Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight where a young (green) lady dragon loses her birth family gets adopted by an elf bookworm becomes a librarian and wrecks shit in the name of avenging her first family, the first book of the Enchanted Forest chronicles full of (green) dragon side characters who have government and Kazul the lady dragon who become King, the firelizards of the pern series (some of which are green...) with their flashes of emotion and thought shared with the human they impressed on-

but. gods. i've also had such amazing relationships with real life creatures who CAN'T talk and AREN'T telepathically linked to me...

and those bonds can be just as strong as anything else

also, what about playing with the above two ideas more? what about dragons linked to people who aren't riding them- letting someone on the ground communicated with them, or using the bond like a phone line over longer distances- dragon riders AND dragon spotters- the rider can talk to and touch the dragon directly, but in times before radio and settings where equivalent magic isn't super available- having the dragon linked to someone else- imagine the USES of that!

or if dragons are just people, then what does the rider bring to them? what's their use? protecting the dragon maybe- or using their clever hands for things, spotting for them (a person or two on a dragon's back checking their blind spots during battle or shooting arrows at anyone trying to get the drop on them)- maybe, in settings where there's no magical bond, the rider could be in charge of signaling to others with flags or horn calls while the dragon focuses on flying- humans as dragon medics and healers- as their squires- maybe things are tense between humans and dragons and buddying up lets both navigate the other's world more safely....

i know i know there are some books that dabble with this, but i just want moar. moooooore. and GREEN

all dragons are best when they're greeeeeeen.....

[needlesandnilbogs]

For the ask game: ART and Temeraire?

I don’t know what temeraire is other than a book about dragons (or maybe just the main character of a book about dragons?) so how about a different dragon and ART?

This is because I think Kazul from the enchanted forest chronicles and ART from murderbot would HATE each other. Kazul would be icily polite and ART would be snippy and neither of them would like each other

idk exactly what would happen but they’d hate each other and it would take all the efforts of Cimorene and Seth and probably Mensah (Cimorene and Mensah would get along super well tbh, they might not be friends but they’d get each other) to get them to tolerate each other for five whole minutes and there’s a fanfic there lol

[das-boog]

Hi hello! I was scrolling through the bearded dragon tag and happened upon your absolutely stunning Kazul and Morwen pet art and THAT'S. I ALSO NAMED MY DRAGON AFTER KAZUL OF THE ENCHANTED FOREST CHRONICLES.

(Kaz for short ofc so I get two literary characters in one name!)

Also also I've said this and I'll say it again: your art is delightful and you capture the perfect Brian Jaques/Redwall anthropomorphicness and there's so much life in it.

Also here is my Kazul! My awful man!

Aaaaa she’s so cute! And I’m hella pleased and flattered that you think I hit the redwall mark!

[nicnacsnonsense]

OFMD Enchanted Forest Chronicles AU

Stede as Cimorene, our primary protagonist who was born into a life of privilege, but can’t and won’t conform to the role expected of them. The story begins when they flee an arranged marriage for a life of adventure, where they still don’t entirely conform to the role, but at least this time they’re enjoying themselves and have some friends.

Ed as Mendanbar, the secondary protagonist who is powerful, respected, intelligent, and so very bored and disengaged with his own life. He finally feels a spark of excitement again when he meets our primary protagonist and is instantly taken with how they are different, just like him.

Oluwande as Kazul, practical, good leader and the first to support our primary protagonist and their unconventional way of doing things. Also if Olu is a dragon then Jim can be a dragon who refused to ever pick their gender.

And Lucius as Morwen, friend and source of good advice to our primary protagonist and later or secondary protagonist too, though they aren’t terribly impressed with him at first. Also I feel like they both give “I don’t get paid enough to deal with this shit” energy while simultaneously effectively handling this shit.

[gretchensinister]

Book Recommendations 2023!

Hello from someone who read 111 books this year! Time for favorites and recommendations!

Favorites:

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang: I read this back in January 2023 and when I did I was like, “Did I read my favorite book of the year already in January?” Well, I did. In a world where the British Empire solidifies its power with silver infused with magic based on translation, a Chinese boy becomes an Oxford student and then has to decide what he’s going to do in the face of this system. Absolutely fantastic. (Also scratches that “school story + magic” itch that we’re all supposed to pretend we never liked.)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: This one was pure fun, about students in a magical school with reasons for “no adults” and “high risk of death” that I was down with for the world. Main character has been foretold to be the most powerful evil wizard in the world. She doesn’t want this.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson: This is a nonfiction book by a lawyer who is working against the death penalty, and I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about WTF is going on in the current US criminal justice system.

Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections by Shaun Tan: Art, highly charming art of creatures and monsters.

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: This is the first book of the series The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which I loved as a child and decided to reread this year. It’s about a princess who decides to go work for a dragon as the dragon’s princess, because it’s better than being wooed by a stupid prince. Fun, earnest fantasy. Also Kazul (King of the Dragons, she/her) please call me I love you.

Translation State by Ann Leckie: Things I really liked about this were that it included people in widely varying strange situations trying to figure out their futures. And one of the people doing this was a middle-aged adult. Also involved one of those Advanced Sci-fi Intimacy situations with two other people, which I always enjoy hollering about.

Revelations by Mary Sharratt: This is a novel about Margery Kempe, a medieval mystic, her life, and her travels, taking the work of Julian of Norwich to other communities in secret. This book really stood out to me because I found it really showed a deep understanding of the era it depicts, and the characters really feel like they have the framework of their time. I’m not a medievalist but I think I have read more than average about the European middle ages and that’s what I’m basing this opinion on. I thought it was very beautiful and very human.

The Wordhord by Hana Videen: This is a nonfiction book about Old English with chapters on topics like “health and the body” “travel” “occupations” etc. The idea is to examine what we can tell about the lives of Old English speakers based on the words they had. A significant amount of Old English vocabulary is included. Made me want to start putting Old English puns in the next thing I write but maybe I recovered from that.

Other recommendations:

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez: Do you want to know WTF is going on with the Christian Right in the United States? This will help.

Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning: Another book that I felt helped me understand a little more of WTF is going on re: the military/security culture

The Stones are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean: This is a book I read as a kid and missed a lot of because I didn’t know about a lot of traditional British faeries/creatures. I think anyone interested in folk horror as a genre would have fun reading this. It didn’t go on my favorites because the main character’s older sister is treated fatphobically to a degree that taints the overall book for me.

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots: This is a fun book about a woman who makes a living as a henchperson for supervillains. After she gets injured by a superhero, she starts analyzing the actual cost of superheroes to the world, and this work leads her to working for one of the world’s top supervillains. I think this isn’t in my favorites because...IDK, it’s like...it felt vaguely like a reply to one of tumblr’s endless writing prompt posts? It’s good, and I know I have no room to talk about the tumblr style or whatever, but there’s a certain vibe...I don’t know how to describe it. I really do still recommend it.

NOTE: Reading is my main form of entertainment. I’m not keeping up with movies, videogames, TV shows, comics, etc. I have no qualifications with these recommendations except that I am a person who read 111 books this year.

[best-green-character]

Okay hello I submit the following: Beast Boy (teen Titans), Elphaba (Wicked), Double Trouble (She-Ra PoP), Jeremy Owens (Stagtown, depicted in monochromatic green as color-coding with other main characters), the Green Wind (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making; I just think this series is cool), Link (Legend of Zelda), actually, Link (Ocarina of Time), Link (Majora’s Mask), Sakura Futaba (Persona 5), Molly (Lumberjanes), Madame Vastra (Doctor Who), Dedicate Rosethorn and Briar Moss from the Circle of Magic books (they’re plant mages, called green mages, Rosethorn wears green because of this and Briar has green eyes this is extremely tenuous logic but I love my blorbos), Molly Blyndeff (Epithet Erased—green eyes/color elements and hee magic powers manifest as green), Kazul King of the Dragons and Roxim (Enchanted Forest Chronicles), Calvin “Freckle” McMurray (Lackadaisy—green is his character color), Green Hannah (Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood), Gremlin Babushka (Gremlin Babushka—webcomic), Imsh (1 HP Club), Toph Beifong and King Bumi (ATLA), Legolas Greenleaf (LOTR), Princess Muffin from Once Upon a Tower. Thank you for your patience.

Added! :)

[ladylilithprime]

Got tagged by @pirate-captain-kaira for this, so... ~cracks knuckles~

Ten (no-pressure) questions:

♫Do you play an instrument?

Not very regularly. I know the basics of how to play piano, guitar, classic flute, snare drum, xylophone, harp, and a hand-carved Native American cedar flute I've had for a couple decades.

•Favourite book characters?

Firenze and Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter), Ed (Deep Wizardry), Cimorene and Kazul (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles), Menolly (The Harper Hall trilogy in the Pern Chronicles), Aldrea (The Hork-Bajir Chronicles in the Animorphs series), Vanyel and Kerowyn and Winterhart (Valdemar series, different books), uhh.... Several others I'm blanking on at the moment.

•What's your star sign?

Scorpio. (Sagittarius rising, moon in Libra)

•Favourite colour schemes?

Blue/green/silver, blue/indigo/purple, black/burgundy/red, black/green/gold, black/gray/white/purple....

•Naps or long sleep?

Yes.

•What languages do you speak?

English, fluently. I'm acceptably conversant in ASL, Castilian Spanish, and French. I know a smattering of Japanese, German, Yiddish, Latin, Greek, Russian, Hindi-Urdu, and Arabic. (If we're counting fictional languages, add Quenya, Sindarin, and Vulcan to that last list.) And if I'm sleep-deprived and unhappy I absolutely will mix any number of those languages together to swear at you.

•Dreams/aspirations?

Short term, to finally rebuild my desktop computer. I have all the parts I need, but finding the time and the spoons to put it together.... Long term, I would eventually like to start publishing my original works, including the children's books I've been working on writing and illustrating based off stories made up to tell my kids at bedtime.

•Long hair or Short Hair?

I've had both. I enjoy having long hair, but right after giving birth it's so much easier and safer to have it cut short.

•Tea or coffee?

Tea. I can tolerate coffee in its various forms, but I vastly prefer tea, especially spiced teas and chai.

•Bring a book character to life or go into a fictional world?

Go into a fictional world, provided I could easily get back out of it. Much safer than bringing a book character to life since I'd be most likely to bring out Kazul, the King of the Dragons.

Tagging whoever wants to do this. Go, have fun!

[cloudyskies-starryheavens]

Searching for Dragons

by Patricia C. Wrede

Basic Info

Book 2 of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Year published: 1991 Page Length: 242 Genre: Fantasy Goodreads Link

Personal Info

Dates Read: 8/15/24-8/18/24 Read or Listened to?: Listened to How many times have I read this book before?: 1

Plot Summary (Spoiler Free)

King Mendenbar of the Enchanted Forest discovers his kingdom is in peril via a plot of the evil wizards. After discovering the King of the dragons has gone missing, he sets off on a quest with the dragon's princess--or, Chief Cook and Librarian, Princess Cimorene--to save his kingdom.

Full spoiler review under the cut!

Overall Look

Why I Chose to Read This Book:  Well, I suppose the simple answer is that it’s the next book in the series. This is my second time having read this book and I remembered enjoying it the first time. Overall, my goal is to reread this whole series, as I never got around to reading the fourth and final book the first time I read these books.

Overall Impression (Beginning, Middle, End): I quite like this book! I felt that the beginning was a bit slow (maybe the first two chapters), but once the journey gets started and all of our characters start interacting, I really enjoyed myself. The adventure itself was my favorite part, with Cimorene and Mendenbar traveling together and meeting a whole new cast of quirky characters along the way. I loved the creative solutions to each new side character’s problems, and they all tied together by the end very well. I wasn’t all that crazy about the ending, but overall it was a fun read and a good sequel to the first book.

Plot Notes:

Character Notes: Mendenbar: - Bio: King Mendenbar is the young King of the Enchanted Forest. He's a bit of a recluse and dislikes extravagant meetings and parties. He's also upset that he'll soon have to marry a princess in order to produce an heir. He does not like princesses due to their shallow tendencies. Mendenbar is intelligent, independent, and kind. He is our protagonist. - How I Feel About Him: I like Mendenbar well enough. I don't have a lot to say about him, but I like how he and Cimorene get along. He's also generally a good person, and I find it hard to dislike good people. There isn't much more to him than that, though.

Cimorene: - Bio: Princess Cimorene is King Kazul's Chief Cook and Librarian. She takes her job very seriously and refuses to have her work interrupted by pesky knights trying to rescue her from the dragons. She is headstrong, intelligent, and practical. She was the protagonist in the first book, but takes more of a back seat in this book. - How I Feel About Her: Cimorene remains an entertaining and compelling character. However, I feel like we lose her a little in this book.

Kazul: - Bio: Kazul is the King of the dragons. She is the missing dragon that Princess Cimorene and King Mendenbar go on a quest to find. Cimorene and Kazul have a very close relationship. - How I Feel About Her: Since much of this book's plot is about Kazul having gone missing, she isn't in much of the actual story. But I still enjoy the scenes she's in and I'm glad she returned for this sequel. Also, her being a grandma just makes sense.

Morwen: - Bio: Morwen is a witch who lives in the Enchanted Forest. She helps defend Kazul in Mendenbar's investigation and sends him to find Cimorene. Her and her cats also assist in the final fight. - How I Feel About Her: I love Morwen. She too isn't in this book that much, but I still love her interactions with Mendenbar and Cimorene as well as her witty quips and idealistic lifestyle.

Zemenar: - Bio: Zemenar is the head of the Society of Wizards. He is the primary villain in this book. - How I Feel About Him: I don't like this antagonist. I talked about him in my previous review of Dealing with Dragons. He appears very little and receives no further development. He mostly just does evil stuff to do evil stuff and the good guys have to stop him.

Telemain: - Bio: Telemain is a quirky magician (not a wizard) who wants to learn everything he can about magic of all kinds. He frequently gets caught up in explaining how magic works, often talking in ways others can't understand. He's also obsessed with conducting magical experiments, which isn't always practical in the middle of a time-constrained quest. - How I Feel About Him: I like him, I like this autistic man. Telemain has a certain charm to him that makes some of his more eccentric traits melt away into endearment. I have some comments about his voice actor in the audiobook, but overall I enjoy his presence.

What I Liked/What Worked: I liked the more quest-based format of this book. The quest has a good build up and remains entertaining throughout its entirety, mostly through the addition of various side quests. I enjoyed the new fairy tale subversions, which worked well after enjoying the ones in the last book so much. I think they may have even worked better in this book than Dealing with Dragons. I love the humor in this book, and the characters are fun, quirky, and clever. Cimorene and Mendenbar work well together, and I loved following along on their quest to find Kazul. This book doesn't take itself too seriously, which I think is perfect for a light-hearted addition to a series like this. You can easily go into this series looking for a good time and coming out more than satisfied.

What I Didn't Like/What Didn't Work: There were two big disappointments for me regarding this book. The first one I took notice of was that this story changes the "main" character. Rather than being told from Cimorene's perspective like the last story, this is told from Mendenbar's. Don't get me wrong, I like Mendenbar, but I wish we could have maybe gotten to see more of Cimorene. I complained in my previous review for Dealing with Dragons that we don't really get to go inside of characters' heads. This time I really noticed it due to the fact that we couldn't hear much of Cimorene's point of view, especially what wasn't stated verbally. It wasn't a huge issue for me, but I was disappointed that our beloved main character had been reduced to a more supportive role. The second issue I have with this book, which is probably a bigger deal for me than for others, is the insta-love between Cimorene and Mendenbar. The two of them had perhaps the most perfect set-up possible. They meet each other, they're prejudiced against each other, they realize that the other isn't as bad as they initially assumed, they go on a quest together and become closer as they solve problems and travel. This could have been perfect!! But rather than throwing in occasional hints that they're growing closer and beginning to see each other having romantic potential, they immediately get married at the end of the book. Nothing actually romantic happens between them until Mendenbar literally proposes to Cimorene out of nowhere. What?? Coming right after a book that hammered home how important it was to be your own woman and made fun of the fantasy trope of "knight rescues princess, they're wed in the morning"? It was very disappointing to me. I'm not expecting a grand romance in my children's fantasy sequel novel, but I think we could have had so much more fun with the two of them. Wrede does an excellent job of giving those two chemistry/potential for chemistry, but she just doesn't do anything with it! I kid you not, they treat each other like good friends until the very end when they get married. If I hadn't read this book before and remembered that they got married at the end, I wouldn't have thought they would get married in this book at all. I know people don't like hearing other people say this, but it does feel out of character to me to have Cimorene, the queen (princess?) of doing things "improperly", marry a man she essentially just met without flirting with him or even courting or kissing him. Mendenbar's proposal could so easily be turned into a courtship proposal as well, and we could easily have had an epilogue/time skip to their wedding to make them married by the end of this book. Sorry for the rant, but as a sucker for romance and a hater of needless, effort-less, ill-thought-out romantic side plots, I just had to speak my peace. The wizards suck in this book too, I already complained about them in the last review. It's the same complaints for me, they just feel too cartoony and shallow, in my opinion. And they're really not even in this book, they mostly show up for the final fight. Oh, also they were being too mean to Telemain. Sometimes I was actually interested in what he was saying but the other characters kept interrupting him because they thought he was being too confusing or using words that were too big. I see you, Telemain, I love you.

The Theme(s) or Message(s) of This Book: Don't judge a book by its cover. Think outside the box.

The Feelings This Book Evoked In Me: Again, joy. This book is lighthearted and fun, and was a great way to pass the time doing mundane tasks at my job. The characters were fun as usual, and easily made me laugh and smile. Until we got to the way Mendenbar proposed to Cimorene. That annoyed me. The wedding was adorable, though. Dream wedding, if you ask me (aside from the lack of a romantic relationship beforehand).

Listening Experience: I had a good time listening to this book! The full cast audio was fun, and everyone was well-cast. The only minor complaint I have is of Telemain's voice actor. I'm still on the fence where I'm not sure if it was annoying or endearing. But to be fair, I think that kind of sums up Telemain's character in general. All the "EEEEHHHH"s and the "UM TEcHniCaLLy"s had me both cringing and busting out laughing in the middle of my shifts, so I guess they get a pass for making me laugh.

Final Notes

Favorite Parts/Quotes/Passages: I really liked the scene with Herman, the great-grandson of Rumplestiltskin. I loved how Mendenbar and Cimorene helped him solve his problem of having too many first-born children because no one can guess his name, and they suggested he open a boarding school to help take care of all his kids. Herman was sweet, I liked that it turned out that he loves all the children people dumped on him. I also liked that they sent Prince Jorillam to him at the end of the story so that his uncle could be evil and stay in his Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers' Traveling, Drinking, and Debating Society. That whole subplot had me cackling. I also liked the chapter where Mendenbar meets Morwen. It really made me feel like the story was beginning to progress, and scenes with her (especially at her house) are always a treat.

Enjoyability: 9/10

Did Reading This Book Change Me in Any Way?: Not really. I still had a lot of fun, though! And that's just as important to me.

Would I Ever Reread This Book?: On its own? No. I feel like I would be more likely to just reread Dealing with Dragons and leave it at that. But this is a series I would love to share with any future children I might have, and I'd love to read the full series to them, if they'll let me.

Do I Recommend This Book?: Yes. If you liked the first book in The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, I think you'd still enjoy this one. It's not the best sequel that's been written, but I really have only minor complaints about it overall.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To? What Would I Like For Them To Take Away From It?: I'd recommend this book to people who read and loved the first book, and want to see more of these characters and this world. And for those who do give it a read, I hope they have a wonderful time with it.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10