The first three books in the series are in 3rd pov, but this one is in 1st pov. This really makes the flatness of the characters stand out.The main character has no thoughts. No signs of intelligence or life. The kid is a 16 year old boy scout who only shows the barest of hints of interest in the girl who is suppose to be his love interest [they end up together at the end yet it just feels forced as there isn't any flirting or romantic interest expressed in any other way etc throughout the book). He's super polite, careful, and just has no real substance (or flaws). He just simply isn't human or alive by any means.What do I mean when I say that? Well, there is NO emotional response or thoughts or anything when at the very end of his journey he finds out he's a prince and meets his father, a king he just saved, for the first time. What happens? NOTHING. Like...eff you so much. He's just mild and accepting and goes along with everything. No response or feelings or thoughts etc. He's not happy, overwhelmed, or any realistic intense emotion upon seeing his father, a king, for the first time in his life. I hate you author.The book revolves around keeping all of the information from the king's kid and sending him off into the woods. The girl that he runs into is useless and ill tempered. USELESS. She cries. Often. Over silly and stupid things. Did I say how often she cries? I need to emphasizes this here. The only thing she does through the entire series is either needs to be protected, chitchatting with the main character/stating the obvious, is merely there existing, crying, or some combination of those. It's rather strange how suddenly Daystar at the very end of the book shows a high level of romantic interest in her [when until that point he showed no interest in her]. Sure, she's given a few cookie cutter 'But I helped roles', however they are rather forced. I have no idea why anyone would like her, or even want her. I'm assuming it's because he grew up in the middle of the woods with only his mom around and had no friends. That is probably the only reason why he could stand her. That was too harsh, you say? Okay, I'll explain further why she's such a terrible character. At the beginning she's a witch who can't use her magic. Then she's able to, but with the limitation of only being able to do so after being recently polite. Instead of being happy about this, she complains and grumbles about it. At the beginning she is able to use magic 0% of the time. Her response to learning that she could use magic, but only after being polite/nice can be paraphrased by "NUOOOOO! This is the worst thing ever!" Yeah, this sort of person is pretty much universally hated.She is a rude idiot. For no reason. It's just her typical temperament. What a catch, Daystar!Last, but not least, there's the fact that there isn't any compelling reason for Daystar to go see the dragon or hang out in the dangerous forest [thus the entire book shouldn't have really happened]. He knows nothing, his mum just tells him to go and not come back until he knows why he was sent away and is given a sword. A few random strangers tell him to meet the dragon king and he does so...even though he knows the forest is incredibly dangerous and he believes that he'd be eaten as tasty dragon chow by the dragons. There is no good/understandable reason why he meets the dragon king. Just one stranger and then a lizard suggested it... Yeah, sure, that's good enough reason for me to risk my life too.There was a 'fake*' [read: pulled out of your bum] reason to not tell the kid about the magic sword [because then wizard/enemies will find him magically if he knew], but why the hell couldn't he be told that his father was the king, asleep, or that he needed to be saved? That's compelling reason to risk your life and meet the dragon king.
Finished! While I enjoyed this entire series, in a lot of ways I thought that Talking to Dragons was the weakest of the four books. Poor Daystar is essentially thrown into the deep end of the pool - er, Enchanted Forest - with no clue what's going on and stumbles around chancing on the right people and creatures and tasks and scraps of information. And he was sooooo nice. So nice, in fact, that he was a bit bland. So many elements of the story just kind of "appeared" at the right time. I mean, it was very handy that his mother had taught him some dragon magic under the guise of a nursery rhyme and he just somehow knew to say it at just the right time. And he just happened to pick up the exact key he needed, but didn't know he needed, while traveling through the Caves of Chance ("these things just happen in the Caves" one character said by way of explanation). I guess Ms. Wrede did "explain" everything at the very, very end. (Something about all the elements had to recognize Daystar for him to wield the sword? And Shiara's fire-magic wouldn't work because the sword knew Daystar wanted her to be polite...or something... And Daystar couldn't know anything beforehand because that would make it too easy for the wizards to find him? I think?) But then there were intriguing hints of subplots that I would have loved to know more about. There were a few wizards at the celebratory feast at the end who were on the "good" side! And when did Morwen and Telemain fall in love? I'd really like to hear their romantic back story...We hardly see Cimorene at all. Or Mendanbar, Morwen, or Telemain. Even Kazul. All the characters I really liked from the earlier books were relegated to window dressing or deus ex machina-like appearances. I would say stop after the first three books, but since the third ends with such a cliff-hanger that you'd feel obligated to read this one, I might recommend stopping after the second. Maybe even the first, which was by far the best of the bunch.For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
What do You think about Talking To Dragons (2003)?
This was not as interesting as the other three books in the series, but was still a good story. This book had the characters from the other stories included, but the main character was Daystar, Cimorene's son. This change in perspective changed the nature of the series simply because it wasn't a princess taking care of herself instead of waiting to be rescued. However, the humor was still present and the narration for the audiobook was just as entertaining as the rest of the series. I'm sorry to see the series finish. I was having a lot of fun with these characters.
—Jaret
Finishing out the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Mark Oshiro, and therefore I, just got through the fourth volume in the series, Talking to Dragons. Talking to Dragons is the one I read the least frequently when I was younger, and as a result, it is the one I had forgotten the most about. I remembered that it took place several years after the end of Calling on Dragons, and that the main character was Daystar, and something about a fire-witch, and obviously that it wrapped up the whole Wizards Have Imprisoned King Mendanbar plot. I also mostly remembered not liking it as much as the others, probably due to the relative lack of Cimorene.While there was indeed a sad lack of Cimorene, I found I actually did like the book quite a bit this time around! I cannot help but wonder if some of my change in opinion comes from knowing that this book was actually written before the other three, rather than before. The style is definitely a bit less developed than the other books, particularly the humor—it’s cute and silly and funny but I still feel like it’s a bit less polished than the rest of the series. I’m also really, really super impressed that the references to/summaries of the previous books match up exactly and quite specifically; I guess even if she wrote this book first she had the whole series outlined or something? I mean, I was basically listening with an ear towards seeing if she fucked up, and she didn’t, and I think that’s very impressive because honestly, there’s continuity errors between the first and second Discworld books and they’re just one story.The basic plot of this book is that Daystar, son of Cimorene and Mendanbar, has no idea who he is, and is therefore very surprised when one day, following a visit by the wizard Antorell, his mother gives him a magic sword and kicks him out of the house in the general direction of the Enchanted Forest. Daystar survives the Enchanted Forest largely by being very polite to everyone and everything. He means a dreadfully impolite but sasstastic fire-witch named Shiara, a small excitable lizard named Suze, Morwen (yay), Telemain (also yay), a silly princess and her doofy knight, and a small, nameless, genderless, slightly whiny adolescent dragon, not necessarily in that order. At one point, Daystar, Shiara, and the dragon are in the Caves of Chance and they all meet an ineptly demanding pile of animated blackberry jelly, which is something I had clean forgotten about right up until they met it and then it all came flooding back to me that I had once thought this thing to be the cutest little monster ever. Overall I think it makes a solid conclusion to the series in most ways, but it will probably forever remain the odd one out for me.Originally posted at http://bloodygranuaile.livejournal.co....
—Clare Fitzgerald
Ah, it always bothers me so much when they reorder series in chronological order instead of the order in which they were written. If you haven't read the series yet, read this one first. It was written first, and the end will pretty much be spoiled and boring if you've already read the other three.OK, now that I've got that out of the way, on to the real review. I have probably read this book more times than anything else I own. My grandmother sent me the book when I was a kid, and I read it until it fell apart. I bought the rest of the series, and read them until they fell apart, too. Then I bought a new single volume containing the whole set, and read it until it fell apart as well. I really need to buy a new copy.If you love fairy tails and playful satire, and are looking for a fun, sassy book for kids that you can still enjoy as an adult (as long as you haven't grown up *too* much), I couldn't recommend this book more. The rest of the series is just as fun and possibly a little better (though this one is my first love). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
—Victoria Titus
