This is the second in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede and I thought she made the right call when she chose a new viewpoint for this one. I loved Cimorene, but it was fun to see her from the outside, too.
In Searching for Dragons, someone (obviously it’s the wizards because who else would be that stupid) has kidnapped Kazul and Cimorene and her new friend, Mendenbar, set out to find and rescue her. Mendenbar isn’t just a prince or knight, neither of which rank high on Cimorene’s scale of acceptable companions, he’s the laid-back king of the Enchanted Forest. He’s as down-to-earth as Cimorene, and they make a great pair of adventurers.
In the first of the series, not much is said or shown about the world outside the dragon caves, but now we’re going out into the world and meeting fairy tale characters and subverting expectations. We have the fun of meeting giants who don’t want to rampage, Jacks who don’t want to steal from giants, and a relative of Rumpelstiltskin who doesn’t want your firstborn kid. No, really, please take him home… okay, fine, but he’s going to wash dishes!
The comedy is strong but doesn’t overpower the characters of the plot, which is surprisingly tight. We get very little dragon, but a lot of Morwen the witch and Telemain, a new magician character who loves technical jargon. Wizards are still susceptible to a good washing up, and the characters face their adventures with sass and determination.
I haven’t reread the fourth of the series, yet, but this time around, I think I’d rank this as just behind Dealing with Dragons. The romance could have used a punch-up, but was fine for a middle grade novel.
4 Mendenbar-And-Cimorene-Sitting-In-A-Tree Stars
