by Patricia C. Wrede
Talking to Dragons was the first book Patricia C. Wrede wrote in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and it was never meant to be the capstone of a four-book series. Luckily for us, someone convinced her to go back and fill in the missing pieces, and we got the rest of the family story without it ever feeling like the three others were prequels. Take note, George, it can be done.
Daystar is such an original character with a matter-of-fact approach to the wildness of the Enchanted Forest that makes him feel grounded and real even while the Forest is completely wacky around him. I have no idea if I ever read this one before I read the others, and it really doesn’t matter, because I can’t remember the experience if I did. That means I can’t tell you how it would be to read this story without the weight of Cimorene and Mendenbar’s story hanging over this one. I adored both of them and seeing their son trying to figure out what he’s supposed to be doing was driving me crazy. I wanted so badly to shake him by the shoulders and tell him to quit farting around and go save his dad.
With my memory, I could always wait a couple of years (or let’s face it, a couple of months) when I’ll have forgotten the entire book again and read it out of order to see if I feel any differently about it, but for now, all I can say is that it’s a nice ending to a ground-breaking fantasy series and, even if it was written first, it feels like a worthy successor to the other Dragon books. It was rewarding to see old friends again and nice to meet new ones.
Even if you haven’t read the others in the series, read this one. In fact, go ahead and read it first and tell me how it felt. There’s the fix! Okay, I’ll be waiting. Don’t take too long, though, or I’ll forget I asked. Memory like a goldfish, have I. (Yes, another Star Wars reference. So?)
4 Hope-I-Forget-It-So-I-Can-Reread-It Stars
