Dealing with Dragons

Oh, I like a story that starts by dissing your typical princess, and moves right on to a spunky, intelligent heroine, who happens to be disadvantaged by her birth. Princess Cimorene would rather be eaten by dragons than marry an eligible prince, so to the dragons she goes when threatened by this horrible fate. Fresh, funny and self-respecting, and a main character with an organizational bent – love it!

Dealing with Dragons is the first book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. I first read this series as a child and it stuck with me; not the details so much, but the feeling of the story. I'm now so excited to be reading it again with my daughter. :)

This book focuses on a character named Cimorene. She is a princess from a very traditional kingdom who is bored out of her mind with the role she's been born to. As a result, she decides to run away. This is a pretty standard trope of the rebel princess who seeks adventure and personal fulfillment over politics and power. Along the way she befriends a dragon named Kazul who agrees to "capture" her, another princess whose practicality outweighs her primness, and a very show more down-to-earth witch named Morwen.

The highlight of this story is the charming way in which it's written. Each situation is approached in such an absurd way, yet with such a "straight face" as it were, that you can't help but laugh. My only complaint is that Cimorene's attitude can come off a bit blase at times, making even the most climactic situations seem a bit trivial. Still, if you like dry wit, poking fun at classic fantasy tropes, and lighthearted adventure fit for kids and adults alike, this is a fun, fast read. show less

Cimorene is a princess, but she hates doing princess-y things like dancing and etiquette. So she runs away to become the personal assistant to a dragon, and foils the plans of some conniving wizards in the process.

This was my very favorite book as a kid, and it really holds up. I love that the things Cimorene runs away to do (cooking, cleaning, organizing) aren't exciting or glamorous, she just wants to be able to do things for herself. It's kind of a reverse Cinderella. (Though of course Kazul is respectful and friendly and not abusive.)

"Well, I'm not a proper princess, then," Cimorene snapped. "I make cherries jubilee, and I volunteer for dragons, and I conjugate Latin verbs-or at least I would if anyone would let me. So there!"

A princess who refuses to be proper and runs away to live with dragons? Sign me up! Combine this with turning fairy tale tropes on their head and a dash of humor and you have Dealing with Dragons, the first book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. I wish I'd discovered this series as a kid. It would easily be a childhood favorite.

I never knew I wanted to be Cimorene when I grew up. She doesn't let society's expectations of what a princess should be get in the way of living the life she wants. Organizing her dragon's show more treasure, cooking and fencing are much preferable to being a damsel in distress to be rescued by knights. In fact Cimorene has to keep turning the knights away so she can stay a dragon's princess. They are such a nuisance! Cimorene is courageous, witty, a creative problem solver and learns how to work as a team to accomplish her goals. It's a great message.

Plot wise, there is a mystery to solve. As a story aimed at a middle-grade audience it's not overly complex though Wrede manages to add a couple twists that keep things from being too predictable. There is plenty of action, the story is fast paced and plenty of sly humor to go around.

There is something magical about Dealing with Dragons. It's one of those books that as soon as I finished I couldn't wait to read it again. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. show less

Cimorene is not your traditional princess. She wants to learn magic or cooking or something useful, but her options are limited unless she feels like getting married - and she doesn't, at least not right now. So she decides to volunteer as a dragon's princess instead.

I really enjoyed the humor and the way the author plays with the conventions of the fantasy genre in this tale. Cimorene is her own person: smart, practical, maybe a bit tomboyish but she also likes to cook. She makes friends with her dragon, Kazul, and doesn't want the bother of would-be rescuing knights. Fun to read or as a readaloud, and enough to hold the interest of a wide age range.

Dealing with Dragons was a lovely story about a princess who gets bored that everything interesting is said to be improper, so she runs off to live with a dragon instead. I loved how practical Cimorene was about everything, and I loved the dragon society we got to know through her eyes, as well as the other princesses. I also loved all the references to fairytale tropes. Also, awesome female dragon!

This was just good clean fun. Dealing with Dragons is about a girl who doesn't want to be a princess, so she runs away to do absolutely anything else and quickly finds herself working as a cook, maid, and librarian to a female dragon who plays an active role in dragon politics.

This is such a cozy book. I've never wanted to live in a cave until I read this. There's a lot of Cimorene reading and cooking, but there's also a great bit of plot that kicks off when wizards start showing up in places they don't belong. Its just a really good time, and the way Wrede tied up the end of the book was really masterful. Everything that felt like a joyful diversion earlier on in the novel became key in the end.