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A review by thecontrarybookworm
Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
1.0
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is one of the most beloved fantasy series for children, written by Patricia C. Wrede. The first book in the series, Dealing with Dragons, is told from Princess Cimorene’s perspective as she goes to live with a dragon, which is customary in her world. The next book, Searching for Dragons, is told from the perspective of King Mendanbar (her future husband) as he and Cimorene go on a quest to save a dragon. The book after that, Calling on Dragons, is told from the perspective of Morwen, a witch who is friends with both Cimorene and Mendanbar, as they go on a quest to retrieve a lost sword. The final book, Talking to Dragons, is in the perspective of Cimorene and Menanbar’s son, Daystar, as he tries to break a sixteen-year-old curse on his father.
I can’t even express how much I hated this series. Princess Cimorene runs away in the first place not to get married, only to end up getting married in the next book! Not only that, but she wasn’t even in love with the king of the Enchanted Forest! It was more like, “I’m a girl, and you’re a guy, and we’ve known each other for about a month, so let’s get married!”
The characters were so simple and one-dimensional. Even Daystar, whose story is told in first person, you know nothing about by the end. There were were many side characters that added nothing to the plotline whatsoever. Come to think of it, none of the characters added anything to the plotline. None of the events or places added anything to the plotline! There wasn’t even a plotline. It was just a bunch of random jumbled events with a couple of halfhearted attempts at conflict, but the whole thing was so boring, the conflict didn’t stick out any more than anything else in the plot. The writing was very clunky, and there were hardly any descriptions (at least, ones that made sense), so it was like walking into the world blind. There was dialogue, but it managed to go on for a long time without getting anywhere, so it was extremely pointless. On top of that, there were certain characters who didn’t even understand each other, so it created an unnecessary confusing dynamic that the reader doesn’t want to deal with.
Also, what do dragons have to do with anything, anyway, and why are they in all of the titles? Dragons aren’t prominent in the books! The reason for this is awful editing, I’m guessing.
Additionally, the author wrote the first three books after the last book, so it’s something like a three-part prequel. Some things in the first books (like Cimorene’s and Mendanbar’s marriage) are extremely forced and out-of-nowhere, but they have to occur to make sense in the last book. There are also random characters that show up in the first books, but never show up in the last one. The last book is arguably the worst, having read the three before it, because the main character is clueless to the plot that you are already aware of, and the whole book is a bunch of random occurences that aren’t explained to him until the end, but you knew the whole time.
I have zero idea how these books got published or if they were even edited at all. I am outraged that pieces of writing this horrendous became so liked and popular. Don’t read the Enchanted Forest Chronicles unless you want to see for yourself how terrible the books really are.
Ages: 8 + (But let’s be real – no ages at all should read this!)
Rating: 1 star
I can’t even express how much I hated this series. Princess Cimorene runs away in the first place not to get married, only to end up getting married in the next book! Not only that, but she wasn’t even in love with the king of the Enchanted Forest! It was more like, “I’m a girl, and you’re a guy, and we’ve known each other for about a month, so let’s get married!”
The characters were so simple and one-dimensional. Even Daystar, whose story is told in first person, you know nothing about by the end. There were were many side characters that added nothing to the plotline whatsoever. Come to think of it, none of the characters added anything to the plotline. None of the events or places added anything to the plotline! There wasn’t even a plotline. It was just a bunch of random jumbled events with a couple of halfhearted attempts at conflict, but the whole thing was so boring, the conflict didn’t stick out any more than anything else in the plot. The writing was very clunky, and there were hardly any descriptions (at least, ones that made sense), so it was like walking into the world blind. There was dialogue, but it managed to go on for a long time without getting anywhere, so it was extremely pointless. On top of that, there were certain characters who didn’t even understand each other, so it created an unnecessary confusing dynamic that the reader doesn’t want to deal with.
Also, what do dragons have to do with anything, anyway, and why are they in all of the titles? Dragons aren’t prominent in the books! The reason for this is awful editing, I’m guessing.
Additionally, the author wrote the first three books after the last book, so it’s something like a three-part prequel. Some things in the first books (like Cimorene’s and Mendanbar’s marriage) are extremely forced and out-of-nowhere, but they have to occur to make sense in the last book. There are also random characters that show up in the first books, but never show up in the last one. The last book is arguably the worst, having read the three before it, because the main character is clueless to the plot that you are already aware of, and the whole book is a bunch of random occurences that aren’t explained to him until the end, but you knew the whole time.
I have zero idea how these books got published or if they were even edited at all. I am outraged that pieces of writing this horrendous became so liked and popular. Don’t read the Enchanted Forest Chronicles unless you want to see for yourself how terrible the books really are.
Ages: 8 + (But let’s be real – no ages at all should read this!)
Rating: 1 star