The Library Vault

Magical, marvelous, and laugh-out-loud funny, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede captured my heart on the very first page of the first book. There are four books in the Enchanted Chronicles series: Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons. The first three follow the adventures of Princess Cimorene. The fourth book is about the adventures of her 17-year-old son, Daystar.

To begin, that first chapter has a great title: “In Which Cimorene Refuses to Be Proper and Has a Conversation with a Frog”. The other chapter titles are just as wonderful: “In Which Cimorene Discovers the Value of a Classical Education and Has Some Unwelcome Visitors”, “In Which Cimorene Receives a Formal Call from her Companions in Dire Captivity”, and my favorite “In Which the Wizards Do Some Snooping, and Cimorene Snoops Back”.

That first page also describes the prosperous and pleasant kingdom of Linderwall:

Linderwall was a large kingdom just east of the Mountains of morning, where philosophers were highly respected and the number five was fashionable. The climate was unremarkable. The knights kept their armor brightly polished mainly for show—it had been centuries since a dragon had come east.

This description is followed by a very short, very pointed observation: Cimorene hated it.

That is the crux of the story. Cimorene, a tall young woman with dark eyes and hair, simply does not want to be a princess. She wants to learn how to fence and cast magic spells. She yearns to learn how to cook and read Latin. Yet she is forced by her parents (who already have six blonde-haired, blue-eyed, proper princess daughters) to study dancing, embroidery, and how loud it is permissible to scream when being carried off by a giant.

It is the quirkiness of sentences like “how loud it is permissible to scream when being carried off by a giant” that makes these books so delightful. The stories are filled with similar observations, delivered deadpan, because, well, princesses simply must know how loud to scream when being carried off by a giant. If they do not know that, they cannot be proper princesses. The characters understand that they live in a magic land and they need to know How Things Are Done.

Following the frog’s advice, Cirmorene runs away and in short order encounters a cavern full of dragons. It turns out that being captive to a dragon is an acceptable occupation for a princess, so Cimorene settles in with the Dragon Kazul, cooking the dragon’s favorite dessert (Cherries Jubilee) and organizing Kazul’s library. Being a dragon’s princess is also a great way to find a husband. Cimorene encounters several other princesses who were left with the dragons by their families because no prince seemed willing to marry any of them.

Princes are, however, very fond of rescuing captive princesses and everyone knows that if you rescue a captive princess you must marry her because That Is How It Is. Also, what is the point of rescuing a princess if you don’t get to show off your, um, trophy so that everyone will know of your stupendous feat? Wrede definitely had her tongue planted firmly in her cheek when she wrote these stories.

This is a tale of strong women; Cimorene, the intelligent, action-oriented, resourceful woman who solves her own problems; Kazul, a female dragon of great power; Morwen, a no-nonsense witch who lives alone in the middle of the very dangerous Enchanted Forest, secure in the fact that everyone knows not to mess with her. (She has a sign on the outside of her house that reads, NONE OF THIS NONSENSE, PLEASE. In later books, Morwen adds a sign that warns, “Salesmen enter at your risk.”) Many of the males in these stories are basically Kens, (You all get the Barbie reference, right?) not quite as interesting, not quite as smart as the women. Keep in mind that these books were written in the late 1980s.

Side note: in Talking with Dragons we are introduced to the Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers Traveling, Drinking and Debating Society. Males may only join the Men’s Auxiliary for Wicked Uncles. As one member of the men’s auxiliary explained, “The places we went to, and the wines, and the discussions! It was everything I dreamed.” Unfortunately that same character is running out of time with the club. He must do something wicked soon or else the Wicked Stepmothers are going to kick him out of the auxiliary. I do love this author.

While aimed at the older elementary and middle school crowd, these books will still captivate adults, more so because many of the references will fly over the heads of children. A case in point is the Princess Alianora, who falls in love with a prince who has been turned to stone, albeit animated stone. She wants him to go see the witch Morwen to get changed back to his normal human form. He wants to remain in his stone form because it is so handy when fighting dragons.

“I don’t know, Alianora,” the stone prince said. “ I am beginning to get used to myself this way. And there are certain advantages.”

“There are disadvantages, too,” Alianora said, blushing slightly.

Cimorene began to giggle.

Alianora’s blush deepened. “I mean—uh—how are you going to get rid of that chip in your sleeve if you can’t change your clothes?”

“I think I see what you are getting at,” the stone prince replied, eyeing Alianora meditatively. “And you are quite right. There’s no comparison. We had better see Morwen as quickly as possible.”

First published in 1990, the magical adventures of Princess Cimorene have been delighting readers for over 30 years. The cover styles have evolved over the years. 1997 is my favorite because it most accurately depicts Cimorene. I find it annoying that the more modern covers reduce her to a stereotypical princess in a pristine white gown.

Patricia Wrede also has a new book coming out, The Dark Lord’s Daughter, her first novel in over a decade. I have not read it yet, but if it is as wonderful as her other books, it’s sure to be a winner.