Calling on Dragons (1993)

I'd have to say that this was probably my least favorite one in the series so far, but it was still cute. But holy cliffhanger, Batman! I had book 4 ([b:Talking to Dragons|8430833|Talking to Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #4)|Patricia C. Wrede|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285943778s/8430833.jpg|1045176]) on my Zune, so I started it right after finishing this one...

I think my MAIN issue with this book was a lack of Mendanbar (he and Cimorene were separated for the great majority of the book. That and the Jar Jar Binks-like character... He was only HALF as annoying as Jar Jar and actually served a BIT of a purpose at least. So meh. But the next book seems like it's going to be SUPER cute! :) ( )

A quick and pleasant read, though this seems to have more characters than the plot really needs (maybe there is a good reason witches aren't supposed to have more than one cat), and the rabbit was needlessly whiny and annoying. I did enjoy Wrede's humorous takes on Farmer McDonald, who grows magic crops, and Rapunzel (who was really Rachel and let down her chair instead of hair), and wish she would devote at least a short story to expanding on those. ( )

I love this one because it is Morwen-centric. We get to hear the cats talk! And they are awesome.

Killer, the eight-foot-tall floating blue rabbit-in-the-shape-of-a-donkey, is a MacGuffin and not a very good one, and Telemain is best in small doses, but I still love this unreasonably, even if the plot is not one of Wrede's best. ( )

Cimorene and the crew are back, fighting wizards to keep the Enchanted Forest safe. These books are light hearted, fun, easy reads with strong characters. The "bad guys" are not very well developed but they aren't given a lot of screen time to begin with. The good guys are 3- dimensional characters that I felt connected to. I rated this one slightly lower because it was slightly more serious and didn't have that happy ending I had come to expect with this series. (It finished on a cliffhanger, setting up the final story.) ( )

I liked the book. But, although I didn't notice this when I first read the book, I don't think it is as well-done as the second book in the series (which, in turn, didn't seem quite as good as the first book).

Also, the cats were annoying; I don't know how Morwen puts up with them. ( )