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Enchanted Forest Chronicles #3
Calling on Dragons
"We need to see King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene right away. . . ."
They're back! Except Princess Cimorene is now Queen Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest, and she is on a very important mission with Kazul the dragon king, Morwen the witch, Telemain the magician, two cats, and a blue, flying donkey-rabbit named Killer. It's not going to be easy.
The wizards have become very smart (sort of) and have found a way to capture the most powerful source of magic in the Enchanted Forest --- King Mendanbar's sword. If the sword is not returned to the forest in due time, the forest will begin to die. And you can bet your last dragon scale that Cimorene won't stand for that!
They're back! Except Princess Cimorene is now Queen Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest, and she is on a very important mission with Kazul the dragon king, Morwen the witch, Telemain the magician, two cats, and a blue, flying donkey-rabbit named Killer. It's not going to be easy.
The wizards have become very smart (sort of) and have found a way to capture the most powerful source of magic in the Enchanted Forest --- King Mendanbar's sword. If the sword is not returned to the forest in due time, the forest will begin to die. And you can bet your last dragon scale that Cimorene won't stand for that!
244 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1993
About the author
Patricia C. Wrede
61 books3,929 followersPatricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. She finished it five years later and started her second book at once, having become permanently hooked on writing by this time.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,023 reviews
August 8, 2021
My least favorite of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. When I recently acquired the e-box set, I discovered Wrede put a little introduction in front of each book. She begins this one by saying, ""Calling on Dragons is not merely a book I hadn't intended to write; it is the one book of the four that I actively didn't want to write. It was the last of the four... to be written." This was written last, with left-over bits from book two, and then a goal to ease the chronological transition between the events of the last book and the last (which was more or less the first-ish book). As such, the ending is a bit problematic, leaving a giant gap of sixteen years between it and the next. Some might say it's a cliff-hanger, although Wrede felt like it was wrapped up to an equilibrium point. I suggest having Talking to Dragons to hand.
Regardless, at fourteen I was most irritated by Killer the rabbit. It turns out that not much has changed in [redacted] years; I remain annoyed by a rabbit with a bad dye job. Yes, of all the horrible things in the Enchanted Forest, a rabbit with no sense of self-preservation (do they ever have one?) and a tendency to eat the wrong thing (as they do) is the one that sticks out. Perhaps Wrede meant the disasters that befall it as comic-relief to what she felt was a 'darker' book, but mostly, it's just irritating to have someone so stupid be part of an adventuring party. Really, it's inclusion means that time is taken away from fleshing out characters or describing the wood.
Each book is narrated by a different member of the Enchanted family, which left a bit of a problem with this one. Wrede settled on Morwen, partly because she is interesting, and I think partly because of the cats. Unfortunately, though this is narrated by Morwen, we actually learn very little about her. There is a lot of dialogue with her nine cats, however, which may or may not be entertaining, depending on how you feel about cats.
Somewhat surprisingly, it holds up to memory. Just not in a good way.
Regardless, at fourteen I was most irritated by Killer the rabbit. It turns out that not much has changed in [redacted] years; I remain annoyed by a rabbit with a bad dye job. Yes, of all the horrible things in the Enchanted Forest, a rabbit with no sense of self-preservation (do they ever have one?) and a tendency to eat the wrong thing (as they do) is the one that sticks out. Perhaps Wrede meant the disasters that befall it as comic-relief to what she felt was a 'darker' book, but mostly, it's just irritating to have someone so stupid be part of an adventuring party. Really, it's inclusion means that time is taken away from fleshing out characters or describing the wood.
Each book is narrated by a different member of the Enchanted family, which left a bit of a problem with this one. Wrede settled on Morwen, partly because she is interesting, and I think partly because of the cats. Unfortunately, though this is narrated by Morwen, we actually learn very little about her. There is a lot of dialogue with her nine cats, however, which may or may not be entertaining, depending on how you feel about cats.
Somewhat surprisingly, it holds up to memory. Just not in a good way.
August 2, 2012
Calling on Dragons, though it does give us great background information on witches in general and Morwen in particular, is by far the weakest entry in the series.
My dislike, or perhaps I should say my lack of liking, for this book is primarily due to the character Killer, an enchanted bunny that Morwen finds in her garden. He's a hopping, talking MacGuffin; because a wizard was involved with his enchantment, Morwen takes him to the castle to consult with Mendanbar and Cimorene (who, incidentally, is pregnant), thus kickstarting the plot.
As the story goes on, far, FAR too much time is spent discussing Killer and letting us know what he said and did and how everyone else (especially Morwen's cats, each one of whom has to get in his/her say on everything*) reacted to it. And he's taken along on the main quest for a spurious reason. (The real reason is because the author thinks she needs to deliver exposition, and a character who doesn't know anything is a handy way to do that.)
Maybe if Killer were funny (which he's supposed to be), I could forgive this hamfisted approach, but he's just so annoying. Every time he talks, I want him to shut up because Cimorene, Kazul, or Morwen, all of whom are awesome, could be talking. And he keeps doing stupid things that end up being important later. He's like the Mary Sue of giant blue flying donkeys that are actually small brown rabbits.
Also, as mentioned previously, I read Searching for Dragons first and love it best, so the lack of Mendanbar in this book is a negative for me. It's still a nice, light read, though.
*YMMV if you are a cat person. I'm decidedly not, which may be part of why I found them annoying.
My dislike, or perhaps I should say my lack of liking, for this book is primarily due to the character Killer, an enchanted bunny that Morwen finds in her garden. He's a hopping, talking MacGuffin; because a wizard was involved with his enchantment, Morwen takes him to the castle to consult with Mendanbar and Cimorene (who, incidentally, is pregnant), thus kickstarting the plot.
As the story goes on, far, FAR too much time is spent discussing Killer and letting us know what he said and did and how everyone else (especially Morwen's cats, each one of whom has to get in his/her say on everything*) reacted to it. And he's taken along on the main quest for a spurious reason. (The real reason is because the author thinks she needs to deliver exposition, and a character who doesn't know anything is a handy way to do that.)
Maybe if Killer were funny (which he's supposed to be), I could forgive this hamfisted approach, but he's just so annoying. Every time he talks, I want him to shut up because Cimorene, Kazul, or Morwen, all of whom are awesome, could be talking. And he keeps doing stupid things that end up being important later. He's like the Mary Sue of giant blue flying donkeys that are actually small brown rabbits.
Also, as mentioned previously, I read Searching for Dragons first and love it best, so the lack of Mendanbar in this book is a negative for me. It's still a nice, light read, though.
*YMMV if you are a cat person. I'm decidedly not, which may be part of why I found them annoying.
March 3, 2018
4.5/5stars
This was my 4th time reading the series and it was just as good as the first 3 times. Also I was able to notice and focus on many things that I haven't before.
I really like how each book focuses on different set of main characters - this way by the end of the series the reader gets to know everybody from different points of view.
This will probably forever be my favorite middle grade series and I am very happy to say that I still enjoy them after so many re-reads, and even if I'm probably way too old for these books :)
Also, there are many, many cats in this book. And they are hilarious.
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This was my 4th time reading the series and it was just as good as the first 3 times. Also I was able to notice and focus on many things that I haven't before.
I really like how each book focuses on different set of main characters - this way by the end of the series the reader gets to know everybody from different points of view.
This will probably forever be my favorite middle grade series and I am very happy to say that I still enjoy them after so many re-reads, and even if I'm probably way too old for these books :)
Also, there are many, many cats in this book. And they are hilarious.
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March 11, 2017
►MY FEELINGS
This book was very interesting from the beginning. I was very gripped by this book. For once I thought this book will be the best book in this series. BUT I think this book was very predictable for me after reading its previous books.
Nevertheless, This was a very enjoyable and interesting read for me. I am satisfied that this book didn't hurt me like its second book did.
Be Alert! Don't open any spoiler if you are looking farword to read this book or you don't want any revealations. Without opening spoilers you will be safe from any hints.
I think this series follows the same pattern:
►MAJOR CHARACTERS
Mowen
Bio:
--She is the witch and always appeared in the previous books.
My feelings:
--This book focuses on her. She was adorable. I liked her way of story telling.
Cimorene
Bio:
--She is the Queen of Enchanted Forest and the wife of Mendanber, the King of Enchanted Forest
My feelings:
--As always, she is very well written. I liked her.
Telemain
Bio:
--A magician.
My feelings:
--He was adorable. I liked him in this book more then in second book.
KILLER (new)
Bio:
--He is literally a rabbit BUT he is always the target of some weird magics Like:
My feelings:
--I didn't give a bit of my attention to this character because he was so irritating. He always made unnecessary interuptions. But
►OVERVIEW
Morwen finds Killer in an unusual form which is different from the typical rabbits. She assumes that maybe the effect of wizards' magic. She immediately calls Telemain to tell him that maybe wizards have come to the Forest again (Wizards are dangerous as they absorb magic which can cause death of the Forest). So, They tell all about this to the King and Queen of Enchanted Forest. King considers this matter and plans to solve this problem. But They find out that Mendanber's Magical Sword is missing which is necessary to keep wizards of out of Forest (Mandenber and Telemain casted the spell in the second book which job was to keep the wizards out of the Forest. To maintain that spell Sword and Mendanber should be in the forest.) So; Morwen, Telemain, Cimorene and Kazul go on the quest to search the Sword.
►THINGS I LIKED
Beginning
I liked it very much. This was very interesting and the best beginning I have ever read in this series.
The Story
This was very powerful. There was a threat of lose of magic of Enchanted Forest because when the sword will be outside the Forest it will start leaking magic of the Forest.
The Ending
That was just full of suspense. That looks like the story will continue in the last book. *Feeling So Excited!*
Setting, Scenes, Dialogues & Writings Style = Awesome!
►THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
I am very confused between 3 to 4 stars....
According to facts I mentioned above, I would like to give:
**3.5 Bright Stars** (round off to 4 stars)
Next book will be the last book of this series. I really hope that will be a good ending of this series.
►RECOMMENDATION
I highly recommend this book to children below 10. But it will be fine for teens also.
Feel free to point out my mistakes in the review if you find any. I would be happy to see that! ^__^
Thanks for your attention!
November 4, 2016
This series is so entertaining and innovative. I did find Morwen's ten cats and their contributions to be a bit distracting at times, especially when all of the cats were together. I love cats though and it is fun to see them contribute to conflict resolution in a story. Love Cimorene and hope to see more of Mendenbar in the final installment.
May 6, 2013
I enjoyed "Calling on Dragons" but not nearly as much as the first two. Now, I wasn't able to read this nearly as quickly as I was the previous two, so I'm sure I lost a bit of the flow because I had to stop and start so much. But, I just felt the book plodded more than its predecessors, and that every time we got close to something interesting, the story would back off and resort to something funny, or take that climax moment and start explaining something that really didn't need to be explained in such tedious detail. It was almost like the book was written for a very young audience -- that it was explaining the events, instead of letting the readers draw the conclusions themselves. But, the characters are so much older that the typical MG or YA protagonists -- Cimorene is married and pregnant in this tale. So, it felt a little disconnected to me.
I did love the cats being such pivotal characters, and was glad to see this tale told from Morwen's perspective, but I was sad Mendenbar wasn't in it more. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending... I'd think a lot of fans of Cimorene and Mendenbar might be a bit unhappy, but I'd have to wait to say for sure until I read the next installment. Which I plan to do, just not right away.
I still love the world of the Enchanted Forest, but for some reason this book didn't feel as captivating as the others.
I did love the cats being such pivotal characters, and was glad to see this tale told from Morwen's perspective, but I was sad Mendenbar wasn't in it more. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending... I'd think a lot of fans of Cimorene and Mendenbar might be a bit unhappy, but I'd have to wait to say for sure until I read the next installment. Which I plan to do, just not right away.
I still love the world of the Enchanted Forest, but for some reason this book didn't feel as captivating as the others.
September 4, 2018
So far this has been the least fun book in this series, for three reasons. First, spending half of every page on the "nobody can understand what Telemain says haha" gag is way too much. This gets old really fast. Second, Killer is incredibly annoying. Third, there is no resolution! The whole book is spent on a drawn-out trek and then, right at the end, an interesting problem is posed and the book is over. We have to wait until book four to find out how it gets solved.
I did enjoy Morwen's cats in this book, and their very cat-like individual personalities. But I'm worried about Mendanbar! Based on the sneak peek, the next book does promise to be better, so I'm inclined to think of this as just some normal middle-series awkwardness. Hopefully what happens next will bounce the series back to its usual level of fun.
I did enjoy Morwen's cats in this book, and their very cat-like individual personalities. But I'm worried about Mendanbar! Based on the sneak peek, the next book does promise to be better, so I'm inclined to think of this as just some normal middle-series awkwardness. Hopefully what happens next will bounce the series back to its usual level of fun.
June 17, 2022
2.5/5 (warning: swearing involved)
Ugh. What a long boring pile of snore.
I couldn't even be happy that it ended because of the cliffhanger epilogue.
The first two books of this series are delightful, with lovely fun characters and an interesting plot.
However, this book failed because of the following:
- The plot basically had the same bad guys, the wizards, which worked the first time, but is seriously tiring now, the cart is broken, the horse has run off, so please take a feckin' rest with this. Can you just kill the bad guys, please for once commit actual murder, because they keep doing shitty shitty things.
- The whole witch Morwen and her cats speaking farce. Only Morwen and other animals could hear what they said, therefore it was a little unnecessarily confusing to navigate through..
- Telemain the magician, was the main reason I kept falling asleep, because he would of course speak about EVERYTHING in a technical way and then some other character would be like "wtf did u say?" so someone else would have to explain it. A good third of the book could be removed without this unnecessary slog.
- The fact that the epilogue was tiny but apparently squished two months worth of story time in it, and I have to read the last book now because at the end the castle is besieged by wizards so the next book must show how they won or something obvious like that.
- BUT MOST OF ALL KILLER THE ASS-BRAINED RABBIT.
I could have dealt with everything else and probably given a higher rating if it were not for this gigantic shlump of a being whom killed any goodwill I had left.
Killer the rabbit, turned into a giant rabbit, then a donkey, then a blue donkey, then a flying donkey, then a ghost..all because of a lack of boundaries when it came to eating things which were CLEARLY unsafe.
Sounds interesting and funny in theory..but in reality makes you want to bang your head on a wall repeatedly. The bleeding idiot makes stupid look good on other people. I get it, you're hungry all the fecking time I fecking get it, I wish you'd eaten something poisonous and died at the beginning so we wouldn't have to deal with your pathetic whining BULLSHIT.
It really surprised me that the group could put up with him at all, with only the cats being snarky when he did something dumbass. This donkey is the equivalent of Veruca Salt-Bella. Apparently they needed him. God knows why. #snowflakeplotdevice
Seriously? No. Fxck no. I'm done. #latelymybadreviewsmakemelooklikeIhavealotofzeangerissues
Ugh. What a long boring pile of snore.
I couldn't even be happy that it ended because of the cliffhanger epilogue.
The first two books of this series are delightful, with lovely fun characters and an interesting plot.
However, this book failed because of the following:
- The plot basically had the same bad guys, the wizards, which worked the first time, but is seriously tiring now, the cart is broken, the horse has run off, so please take a feckin' rest with this. Can you just kill the bad guys, please for once commit actual murder, because they keep doing shitty shitty things.
- The whole witch Morwen and her cats speaking farce. Only Morwen and other animals could hear what they said, therefore it was a little unnecessarily confusing to navigate through..
- Telemain the magician, was the main reason I kept falling asleep, because he would of course speak about EVERYTHING in a technical way and then some other character would be like "wtf did u say?" so someone else would have to explain it. A good third of the book could be removed without this unnecessary slog.
- The fact that the epilogue was tiny but apparently squished two months worth of story time in it, and I have to read the last book now because at the end the castle is besieged by wizards so the next book must show how they won or something obvious like that.
- BUT MOST OF ALL KILLER THE ASS-BRAINED RABBIT.
I could have dealt with everything else and probably given a higher rating if it were not for this gigantic shlump of a being whom killed any goodwill I had left.
Killer the rabbit, turned into a giant rabbit, then a donkey, then a blue donkey, then a flying donkey, then a ghost..all because of a lack of boundaries when it came to eating things which were CLEARLY unsafe.
Sounds interesting and funny in theory..but in reality makes you want to bang your head on a wall repeatedly. The bleeding idiot makes stupid look good on other people. I get it, you're hungry all the fecking time I fecking get it, I wish you'd eaten something poisonous and died at the beginning so we wouldn't have to deal with your pathetic whining BULLSHIT.
It really surprised me that the group could put up with him at all, with only the cats being snarky when he did something dumbass. This donkey is the equivalent of Veruca Salt-Bella. Apparently they needed him. God knows why. #snowflakeplotdevice
Seriously? No. Fxck no. I'm done. #latelymybadreviewsmakemelooklikeIhavealotofzeangerissues
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2022
9 October, 2007
cliffhanger ending, wow
5 September, 2015
I am perhaps most inclined to love this volume because Morwen, a witch with lots of cats she can talk to and books. But that stupid rabbit is annoying as hell and just won't ever stop whining. It's like being trapped in a car with the worst toddler imaginable for eternity.
cliffhanger ending, wow
5 September, 2015
I am perhaps most inclined to love this volume because Morwen, a witch with lots of cats she can talk to and books. But that stupid rabbit is annoying as hell and just won't ever stop whining. It's like being trapped in a car with the worst toddler imaginable for eternity.
October 2, 2020
3.5
Creo que a esta altura no hay manera de que un libro en este universo no sea lindo.
No fue TAN divertido como los dos anteriores, pero de todos modos me gustó mucho y me hizo reir muchas veces.
Ahora la protagonista es Morwen, y pensé que con ella al frente iba a tener un argumento más dinámico, pero fue una historia relativamente sencilla. Al principio me mareó bastante que hubiera tantos gatos hablando a la vez, y tengo que decir que Killer llegado un punto me cansó, pero al margen de eso los personajes son siempre geniales.
El gran impacto para mí fue el final, y a pesar de que ya empecé el siguiente (no pude esperar después de ese desenlace) todavía no puedo creer que haya pasado lo que pasó.
Creo que a esta altura no hay manera de que un libro en este universo no sea lindo.
No fue TAN divertido como los dos anteriores, pero de todos modos me gustó mucho y me hizo reir muchas veces.
Ahora la protagonista es Morwen, y pensé que con ella al frente iba a tener un argumento más dinámico, pero fue una historia relativamente sencilla. Al principio me mareó bastante que hubiera tantos gatos hablando a la vez, y tengo que decir que Killer llegado un punto me cansó, pero al margen de eso los personajes son siempre geniales.
El gran impacto para mí fue el final, y a pesar de que ya empecé el siguiente (no pude esperar después de ese desenlace) todavía no puedo creer que haya pasado lo que pasó.
May 27, 2024
Apparently the author wrote that CALLING ON DRAGONS "is not merely a book I hadn't intended to write; it is the one book of the four that I actively didn't want to write. It was the last of the four... to be written." Well... it shows, lol. I never quite understood the point of the annoying donkey-rabbit. Read via library/audio (narrated by a full cast).
April 10, 2014
Calling on Dragons was possibly my favorite one of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles books when I was younger. It’s a little bit darker and a little bit weirder than the other ones, but this is offset by a heightened number of sassy talking animals.
Calling on Dragons is told from the perspective of the witch Morwen, who has been previously established as totally awesome in the first two volumes. While it’s great to hear a story from Morwen’s perspective just because Morwen is awesome, the real treat here is that Morwen is the only human who can understand her cats when they talk. Morwen owns nine cats—none of whom are black—and they are fantastically catlike, filling the whole range of cat personalities from lazy to snobbish to hungry. (Fiddlesticks in particular reminds me of our own lovely dumb cat Khaleesi.)
Morwen is dealing with her usual witchy business—namely, planning a garden show and trying to avoid the whinings of a cranky traditionalist named Arona Michelear Grinogian Vamist who thinks she’s not stereotypical enough—when her cats find a six-foot-tall white rabbit named Killer. Killer is not actually supposed to be six feet tall; he has accidentally gotten enchanted. In investigating Killer’s size issues, Morwen also finds evidence of wizards, who are supposed to be banned from the Enchanted Forest. With the help of the nerdtastic mage Telemain, one of the architects of the spell that is supposed to stop wizards from causing trouble, Morwen reports to King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest, where they discover two very important things: one, Queen Cimorene is pregnant, and two, Mendanbar’s magical sword is missing.
You might think Mendanbar would be the most obvious member of the royal household to go a-questing for his sword, since it’s his sword and he’s not pregnant, but this is impossible due to nerdy magic reasons. (Mendanbar is predictably unhappy about this.) So Morwen, Telemain, Cimorene, Killer (who is now a floating blue donkey), Kazul the King of the Dragons, and two of Morwen’s cats go a-questing to get the sword back from the Society of Wizards instead. Killer picks up a few more unfortunate enchantments, we run into a lot of characters that make amusing meta references to other fairy tales (including one Farmer MacDonald), that annoying Vamist dude turns up again, and eventually, after many wacky hijinks and parody/metahumor/deconstruction of fairy tale conventions, the sword is retrieved. Unfortunately, they do not live happily ever after; they are instead mercilessly CLIFFHANGERED and then you have to go read the fourth book.
Rereading this book again as an adult (and being helped along by the perspective of someone who has no idea what’s going on… this person, as usual, being Mark Oshiro, my #1 source of cheating on my annual book challenge and of not passing out from boredom at work), I got to re-appreciate how clever a lot of the jokes are (you know how jokes start to seem more obvious than they are when you’re familiar with them), but also how some of the stuff dealt with in this book is a bit more… heavy? Real-world-y? There are a lot of ways in which this book is a little bit less about fairy tales and more about, like, regular bad people. The first two books were full of the heroes temporarily melting wizards; in this one, Kazul finally loses her patience giving them chances to regroup and starts actually eating them. Up until this point the series had really shied away from characters the reader has met actually dying. Arona Vamist is very much a garden-variety bully, conformist, and authoritarian; he’s not a magical creature in any way, just a busybody using fear, lies, and social pressure to screw innocent people over in the name of abstract ideas like “tradition.” And, of course, there’ s the ending, in which it turns out that it will take years to undo the mess the wizards left them in, rather than everything getting wrapped up in a nice shiny bow at the end of a few weeks. There’s also a strong message of “don’t eat random shit that you don’t know what it is, particularly when people tell you not to eat it.”
On the other hand, there’s also cranky magic mirrors and an always-hungry floating blue donkey who keeps getting insulted by sassy cats, so it’s not like the book is overall much of a downer.
Originally posted at http://bloodygranuaile.livejournal.co....
Calling on Dragons is told from the perspective of the witch Morwen, who has been previously established as totally awesome in the first two volumes. While it’s great to hear a story from Morwen’s perspective just because Morwen is awesome, the real treat here is that Morwen is the only human who can understand her cats when they talk. Morwen owns nine cats—none of whom are black—and they are fantastically catlike, filling the whole range of cat personalities from lazy to snobbish to hungry. (Fiddlesticks in particular reminds me of our own lovely dumb cat Khaleesi.)
Morwen is dealing with her usual witchy business—namely, planning a garden show and trying to avoid the whinings of a cranky traditionalist named Arona Michelear Grinogian Vamist who thinks she’s not stereotypical enough—when her cats find a six-foot-tall white rabbit named Killer. Killer is not actually supposed to be six feet tall; he has accidentally gotten enchanted. In investigating Killer’s size issues, Morwen also finds evidence of wizards, who are supposed to be banned from the Enchanted Forest. With the help of the nerdtastic mage Telemain, one of the architects of the spell that is supposed to stop wizards from causing trouble, Morwen reports to King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest, where they discover two very important things: one, Queen Cimorene is pregnant, and two, Mendanbar’s magical sword is missing.
You might think Mendanbar would be the most obvious member of the royal household to go a-questing for his sword, since it’s his sword and he’s not pregnant, but this is impossible due to nerdy magic reasons. (Mendanbar is predictably unhappy about this.) So Morwen, Telemain, Cimorene, Killer (who is now a floating blue donkey), Kazul the King of the Dragons, and two of Morwen’s cats go a-questing to get the sword back from the Society of Wizards instead. Killer picks up a few more unfortunate enchantments, we run into a lot of characters that make amusing meta references to other fairy tales (including one Farmer MacDonald), that annoying Vamist dude turns up again, and eventually, after many wacky hijinks and parody/metahumor/deconstruction of fairy tale conventions, the sword is retrieved. Unfortunately, they do not live happily ever after; they are instead mercilessly CLIFFHANGERED and then you have to go read the fourth book.
Rereading this book again as an adult (and being helped along by the perspective of someone who has no idea what’s going on… this person, as usual, being Mark Oshiro, my #1 source of cheating on my annual book challenge and of not passing out from boredom at work), I got to re-appreciate how clever a lot of the jokes are (you know how jokes start to seem more obvious than they are when you’re familiar with them), but also how some of the stuff dealt with in this book is a bit more… heavy? Real-world-y? There are a lot of ways in which this book is a little bit less about fairy tales and more about, like, regular bad people. The first two books were full of the heroes temporarily melting wizards; in this one, Kazul finally loses her patience giving them chances to regroup and starts actually eating them. Up until this point the series had really shied away from characters the reader has met actually dying. Arona Vamist is very much a garden-variety bully, conformist, and authoritarian; he’s not a magical creature in any way, just a busybody using fear, lies, and social pressure to screw innocent people over in the name of abstract ideas like “tradition.” And, of course, there’ s the ending, in which it turns out that it will take years to undo the mess the wizards left them in, rather than everything getting wrapped up in a nice shiny bow at the end of a few weeks. There’s also a strong message of “don’t eat random shit that you don’t know what it is, particularly when people tell you not to eat it.”
On the other hand, there’s also cranky magic mirrors and an always-hungry floating blue donkey who keeps getting insulted by sassy cats, so it’s not like the book is overall much of a downer.
Originally posted at http://bloodygranuaile.livejournal.co....
February 16, 2015
Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the first two.
In Calling on Dragons, the ever annoying Society of Wizards decides to become a serious threat to Mendanbar, Cimorene and the entire Enchanted Forest. They want the magic that's omnipresent in the forest and have decided that they're not going to let Mendanbar and his magic sword prevent them from getting it. So when the sword gets stolen, Cimorene, the witch Morwen, the magician Telemain, the dragon king Kazul and an assorted number of beasts including some cats and a rabbit (whose penchant for eating magical things gets him in a lot of trouble) set off to get it back before the wizards can do real damage to the forest.
This book is essentially filler and as such, it isn't overly interesting. It's not bad, mostly because the characters are still entertaining, but it's really just setting the scene for the final book in the series. While I flew through the other books, I kept checking the pages to see when this one would be over. There's also a lot of Morwen and her cats in just about every scene and since much of the story is in Morwen's point of view, we get to hear all the conversations between her and the cats. What's cute for a scene or two gets extremely old by the end of the book.
I do have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see more of Telemain. He's your typical distracted scholar who can't help speaking in more complicated terms but he's always fun. And the fire witches were a neat touch, but even between the two I ended up having to force myself to finish it so I could read the last book. Overall though, if you like the series, it's worth a read just to see where they're headed with the last book.
In Calling on Dragons, the ever annoying Society of Wizards decides to become a serious threat to Mendanbar, Cimorene and the entire Enchanted Forest. They want the magic that's omnipresent in the forest and have decided that they're not going to let Mendanbar and his magic sword prevent them from getting it. So when the sword gets stolen, Cimorene, the witch Morwen, the magician Telemain, the dragon king Kazul and an assorted number of beasts including some cats and a rabbit (whose penchant for eating magical things gets him in a lot of trouble) set off to get it back before the wizards can do real damage to the forest.
This book is essentially filler and as such, it isn't overly interesting. It's not bad, mostly because the characters are still entertaining, but it's really just setting the scene for the final book in the series. While I flew through the other books, I kept checking the pages to see when this one would be over. There's also a lot of Morwen and her cats in just about every scene and since much of the story is in Morwen's point of view, we get to hear all the conversations between her and the cats. What's cute for a scene or two gets extremely old by the end of the book.
I do have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see more of Telemain. He's your typical distracted scholar who can't help speaking in more complicated terms but he's always fun. And the fire witches were a neat touch, but even between the two I ended up having to force myself to finish it so I could read the last book. Overall though, if you like the series, it's worth a read just to see where they're headed with the last book.
February 1, 2024
Least-favored child
In her Introduction to Calling on Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede comes very close to saying that it is her least favorite of the Enchanted Forest chronicles. She doesn't quite do that -- I gather that an author saying, "This is my least favorite book" is like a mother saying "You are my least favorite child" -- it is just not done. Calling was the last of the four written. Wrede wrote Talking to Dragons first. The illustrious Jane Yolen asked her for another children's book, and thus was Dealing with Dragons born. Dealing is set in the distant past of Talking. Thus Yolen asked for another novel to fill in the gap.
There was a problem. Wrede *HATES* cliffhangers. But, not knowing that she was writing the final book in a series, she wrote herself into a trap when she wrote Talking. The beginning of Talking necessitated a cliffhanger ending to any immediate prequel. Wrede evaded this problem with the second book Searching for Dragons, by having it end well before Talking. But Wrede's publisher and Yolen, who is obviously a force to be reckoned with, demanded that the gap be filled in. And so it was, and we got Calling.
Calling suffers from two handicaps: first, like Searching it is filler. Second, it ends in a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger didn't really bother me, in part because Talking is already available for immediate follow-up. But like Searching, Calling has a meandering filler plot.
It reads like a succession of jokes. Calling is told from Morwen's point of view. You may remember that Morwen is the Enchanted Forest Witch. She has a lot of cats, whose speech she can understand. Thus we get a lot of comic cat dialog. In addition, there is Killer -- he's the blue winged donkey you see flying around on the cover. I won't spoil his story for you, but he is there mostly as comic relief. The jokes are fun.
In the end, I would have to say this is MY least favorite Enchanted Forest novel. It is still fun, and I'm not sorry to have read it. But it doesn't really stand on its own as a coherent story.
Blog review.
In her Introduction to Calling on Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede comes very close to saying that it is her least favorite of the Enchanted Forest chronicles. She doesn't quite do that -- I gather that an author saying, "This is my least favorite book" is like a mother saying "You are my least favorite child" -- it is just not done. Calling was the last of the four written. Wrede wrote Talking to Dragons first. The illustrious Jane Yolen asked her for another children's book, and thus was Dealing with Dragons born. Dealing is set in the distant past of Talking. Thus Yolen asked for another novel to fill in the gap.
There was a problem. Wrede *HATES* cliffhangers. But, not knowing that she was writing the final book in a series, she wrote herself into a trap when she wrote Talking. The beginning of Talking necessitated a cliffhanger ending to any immediate prequel. Wrede evaded this problem with the second book Searching for Dragons, by having it end well before Talking. But Wrede's publisher and Yolen, who is obviously a force to be reckoned with, demanded that the gap be filled in. And so it was, and we got Calling.
Calling suffers from two handicaps: first, like Searching it is filler. Second, it ends in a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger didn't really bother me, in part because Talking is already available for immediate follow-up. But like Searching, Calling has a meandering filler plot.
It reads like a succession of jokes. Calling is told from Morwen's point of view. You may remember that Morwen is the Enchanted Forest Witch. She has a lot of cats, whose speech she can understand. Thus we get a lot of comic cat dialog. In addition, there is Killer -- he's the blue winged donkey you see flying around on the cover. I won't spoil his story for you, but he is there mostly as comic relief. The jokes are fun.
In the end, I would have to say this is MY least favorite Enchanted Forest novel. It is still fun, and I'm not sorry to have read it. But it doesn't really stand on its own as a coherent story.
Blog review.
July 12, 2021
Rating: 3.5 stars
A ha! I had been wondering whose point of view we'd be treated to next. Calling on Dragons, the third book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, is told from Morwen's point of view. The wizards are at it again, threatening the Enchanted Forest with their latest devious scheme. It's up to Morwen, Cimorene, a couple cats and Kazhul to figure out what's going on and find a way to stop them.
I like how each book is from a different point of view. Morwen and her cats are a great pick. You just knew in the first two books the cats were saying things and now we finally get to understand. It was worth the wait. The cats tend to steal the scenes they are in with their fun banter. Morwen is practical and efficient. I enjoyed her point of view and learning a little more about magic in this world.
Then there's Killer, the enchanted rabbit found eating in Morwen's garden at the beginning of the story. Good lord he's annoying! There was also less of the fairy tale aspect to the book, which was a shame. Even with less twisted fairy tales involved, I love Wrede's take on Rapunzel.
Between my two complaints, this entry didn't captivate me as much as the first two. It also ends unresolved. Still the story remains a nice, light read. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
A ha! I had been wondering whose point of view we'd be treated to next. Calling on Dragons, the third book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, is told from Morwen's point of view. The wizards are at it again, threatening the Enchanted Forest with their latest devious scheme. It's up to Morwen, Cimorene, a couple cats and Kazhul to figure out what's going on and find a way to stop them.
I like how each book is from a different point of view. Morwen and her cats are a great pick. You just knew in the first two books the cats were saying things and now we finally get to understand. It was worth the wait. The cats tend to steal the scenes they are in with their fun banter. Morwen is practical and efficient. I enjoyed her point of view and learning a little more about magic in this world.
Then there's Killer, the enchanted rabbit found eating in Morwen's garden at the beginning of the story. Good lord he's annoying! There was also less of the fairy tale aspect to the book, which was a shame. Even with less twisted fairy tales involved, I love Wrede's take on Rapunzel.
Between my two complaints, this entry didn't captivate me as much as the first two. It also ends unresolved. Still the story remains a nice, light read. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
July 14, 2022
On the one hand, this book is pretty much 80% setup for the fourth book in the series (which apparently was the first written/published, which puts the other three in an interesting context).
On the other hand, it's Morwen's turn at the third-person-limited POV, with cat commentary, so I can't dislike it. I just don't love it as much as the first two. However, it does manage to tell a story where the heroine's pregnancy is plot-relevant without using said pregnancy to totally take her out of the action, so that's a plus!
Standout moments: the magic power of cats to put humans to sleep (I can attest to this personally) and the Old McDonald reference, which is just perfect
On the other hand, it's Morwen's turn at the third-person-limited POV, with cat commentary, so I can't dislike it. I just don't love it as much as the first two. However, it does manage to tell a story where the heroine's pregnancy is plot-relevant without using said pregnancy to totally take her out of the action, so that's a plus!
Standout moments: the magic power of cats to put humans to sleep (I can attest to this personally) and the Old McDonald reference, which is just perfect
December 14, 2022
Not my favorite in this series. Not even, like, half my favorite. Morwena is great and I'm glad she gets a POV (she's so young! Under 30! When did that happen?) but I freaking cannot stand Killer.
This blue, flying donkey-rabbit makes Jar Jar Binks look intelligent.
Also I feel this book doesn't hold up as a standalone which is a bummer.
But even a miss for Patricia C. Wrede would be considered a win for most!
This blue, flying donkey-rabbit makes Jar Jar Binks look intelligent.
Also I feel this book doesn't hold up as a standalone which is a bummer.
But even a miss for Patricia C. Wrede would be considered a win for most!
December 13, 2016
'Calling on dragons' no me ha gustado ni de lejos tanto como las dos primeras partes de la saga (mucha culpa la tiene el estúpido personaje de Killer ¬¬) pero aún así sigue siendo un libro infantil entrañable y divertido, además deja con ganas del cuarto y último volumen que parece que va a ser bastante diferente a los anteriores :)
January 8, 2018
I adore every book in this series! Imaginative setting, quirky characters, and an adventurous plot full of magic and dragons, secrets and intrigue.
It’s just as wonderful re-reading each book as it was the first time.
It’s just as wonderful re-reading each book as it was the first time.
October 13, 2016
Annoying characters (Killer and Telemain voices grates on my nerves!) and a very bad cliffhanger :(
Read
August 20, 2018A story of many magnificent cats, and one of the most annoying rabbits in all of invention.
April 6, 2023
To echo a few other reviewers, this is likely the weakest of the series. But since it’s the follow-up to two fantastic books and by such a great author as Wrede, this one is judged by a higher standard than most MG. I enjoyed Morwen as a POV character but would have preferred a tighter supporting cast. Killer was… interesting, but I would have preferred more Cimorene+Mendenbar.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy this one and I’m looking forward to the final book of the series.
As a personal note, my younger brother (of his own free will! guess he trusts my reading tastes now - finally!!) picked up Dealing with Dragons and says he’s liking it. Surprising but great!
Nevertheless, I did enjoy this one and I’m looking forward to the final book of the series.
As a personal note, my younger brother (of his own free will! guess he trusts my reading tastes now - finally!!) picked up Dealing with Dragons and says he’s liking it. Surprising but great!
December 12, 2023
First we had talking dragons- Now we’ve got a bunch of talking cats and also a talking rabbit/donkey in the mix.
Cute and fun, as expected! This series is perfect for sweet, cozy palette cleansing stories.
Cute and fun, as expected! This series is perfect for sweet, cozy palette cleansing stories.
April 16, 2023
"I, ah, was just going," said the rabbit. "You see, I’m late."
"For what?" Morwen demanded.
"Something important, I’m sure. Not that it matters. I’m always late, you see. It runs in the family; my brother even got himself a big gold pocket watch, and he still can’t get anywhere on time."
In this book, we mostly follow the witch Morwen and I was SO into that. I love Morwen, I love the cats, I was just SO ready to completely adore the book, unfortunately... some things went... sour.
1. This book has 9 (nine!!!) speaking cat characters that are all completely cat-like, completely individualistic, funny and just overall wholesome. I have to say, the cats were the highlight of this book. I would probably re-read it just for the cats. 🐱👤
2. Unfortunately, the book also has a speaking rabbit character... well, more like a rabbit-blue-donkey-with-wings, don't ask. He's HUUUNGRYYY, oh, sorry, I meant to say annoying!
I mean... I was fine with him in the beginning, he wasn't so bad, but as the book progressed he was getting worse and worse and it was also a joke that was over-repeated. The narrator also gave him extra annoying voice which didn't help matters much.
3. The other one-bit joke the book does is Telemain talking in jargon no one gets, so things got to be repeated more simply. The problem is... I get it the first time! Once more, it's overused and annoying...
Mendanbar pursed his lips. “I don’t think we have any unicorn water.”
“Yes, we do,” said Cimorene. “It’s in the cupboard by the buckets, in a jug marked ‘Magic-Mirror Cleaner.” Don’t look at me like that. It was the safest place I could think of. Ever since we put the gargoyle in charge of answering the mirror, nobody but me dares to clean it.”
4. The partnership between Morwen and Telemain was interesting to observe... I mean, parts of it were really sweet, parts of it were kind of annoying.
5. The easily worst thing about the book is the ending though... I just hate it it's the which... just no. And it also ends on a kind of cliffhanger on the top of that. I don't approve!
6. I also need to talk about the wizards for a moment... perfidious wizards are the villains in this series, that's nothing new. In the previous two books they got melted a lot - the important thing here is though that the melting isn't permanent. They get melted for a few days/weeks and after that they are brand new! In this book though... the wizards actually I have to say that I'm not sure how I feel about that since it isn't problematized at all. Just thought I'll mention that.
7. Also, the fun retellings are gonne from this one! We get one Rapunzel bit, but... it's not really so good.
8. We also learn that "witch" is a gender-neutral term in this universe so it's not witches (women) against wizards (men). Though we didn't see a female wizard yet...
9. Also, Jasper's friendship with mice! Love that!
10. Also, almost forgot about this, pregnant heroine on a quest is also a nice feminist motive, but I feel like it wasn't truly part of the story... so, that's a shame...
I really wanted to love this book, I would really love to give it a great rating, especially because the cats, those are just the perfect highlight of the book, but... there is just so much annoying things about it... so... yeah... I'm a bit disappointed...
September 11, 2015
3 Stars
Tamika,
This series is SO incredibly cute! I have to admit that books 1 and 2 are my favorites but I think the entire series is worth the read. It is a Young Adult fantasy series that (mostly) stars a woman and has a little bit of gendered role reversal. Cute!
Caveat: Books 3 and 4 are pretty annoying and book 3 (this one) has THE WORSE ENDING. Seriously. If you decide not to read them, give me a call and I'll give you the run-down. Have water handy, lol.
http://bookslifewine.com/r-calling-on...
Tamika,
This series is SO incredibly cute! I have to admit that books 1 and 2 are my favorites but I think the entire series is worth the read. It is a Young Adult fantasy series that (mostly) stars a woman and has a little bit of gendered role reversal. Cute!
Caveat: Books 3 and 4 are pretty annoying and book 3 (this one) has THE WORSE ENDING. Seriously. If you decide not to read them, give me a call and I'll give you the run-down. Have water handy, lol.
http://bookslifewine.com/r-calling-on...
April 3, 2022
This was a disappointing book. The book featured the annoying character from the last book, Telemain. Telemain is joined by even more annoying cats and most annoying of all a creature named Killer. I was going to give this 2.5 stars until I got to the unsatisfying ending. 2/5 stars.
August 24, 2017
.
This is a fantasy that will whisk you away in an adventure.
I really like it and would recommend it!
This is a fantasy that will whisk you away in an adventure.
I really like it and would recommend it!
January 14, 2021
I think my least favourite of the series. Killer just really annoyed me for pretty much the whole book, and some of the magic stuff was confusing but that might just be because I was tired while reading. The ending was definitely not what I was expecting though, so I’m curious to see how things end
April 11, 2019
I've done reading the whole series, so will copy these comments to 3rd and 4th book, too.
Love the humor. Love the breezy adventure and endearing characters. Each book focuses on different folks, but the sequence events counts, and I do not recommend trying to read them as stand-alones. The ending of #2 is a bit worrisome, and the ending of #3 is a cliff-hanger, and #4 does have some intensity not necessarily suitable for the youngest readers. On the whole, they're clean and fun, I'd say fine for ages 9 up but if your younger child wants to read them you should also.
Um, they're also not really memorable - they're probably best suited for people who like to reread books because there's a lot going on, but nothing heavy enough to make an impact on the reader's worldview. I know it's partly my fault because I read them so fast - but then, they were fast reads, and I couldn't help it.
Love the humor. Love the breezy adventure and endearing characters. Each book focuses on different folks, but the sequence events counts, and I do not recommend trying to read them as stand-alones. The ending of #2 is a bit worrisome, and the ending of #3 is a cliff-hanger, and #4 does have some intensity not necessarily suitable for the youngest readers. On the whole, they're clean and fun, I'd say fine for ages 9 up but if your younger child wants to read them you should also.
Um, they're also not really memorable - they're probably best suited for people who like to reread books because there's a lot going on, but nothing heavy enough to make an impact on the reader's worldview. I know it's partly my fault because I read them so fast - but then, they were fast reads, and I couldn't help it.
August 12, 2018
Unfortunately, most of this book is just irritating.
I know that part of this is that the charm of the writing wears off with each addition of the series. But I think that the author made some mistakes in this book. The biggest one (yes, I made a pun) is the inclusion of Killer the rabbit. I understand that he is important for the premise of the book, but he detracted from the rest of the story. I think that he is meant to be comedic, but he was just annoying the entire novel. His comments were repetitive and added nothing to plot or dialogue. And since Morwen's cats were making snarky comments through the whole story, more comedy wasn't even needed. Honestly, his portion of the dialogue just seemed like filler to add length the story. Not even the other characters could stand him.
The rest of a novel was okay, but merely okay. I didn't enjoy the story being told from Morwen's point of view as much I had expected, and part of that is because most of her life is listening to the whining of cats, dragons, donkeys, and rabbits. I did appreciate her no nonsense attitude with both Cimorene and Kazul.
One final note is that I think that this book broke from the formula from the other books. Unlike the previous two books, this book requires a sequel whereas the previous two books were solid stand alones (you could honestly read book two without book one because of the intracharacter recaps). But this book doesn't have a tidy ending like the others. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but I felt that it broke the flow of the series. Also, from a formulaic perspective, the story shouldn't have been told from Morwen's point of view. Each of the other three books is told from the point of view of a character *new* to the series. Since we have already gotten to know her in the previous two books, we lose the exploration of a character like we get in the other stories.
I know that part of this is that the charm of the writing wears off with each addition of the series. But I think that the author made some mistakes in this book. The biggest one (yes, I made a pun) is the inclusion of Killer the rabbit. I understand that he is important for the premise of the book, but he detracted from the rest of the story. I think that he is meant to be comedic, but he was just annoying the entire novel. His comments were repetitive and added nothing to plot or dialogue. And since Morwen's cats were making snarky comments through the whole story, more comedy wasn't even needed. Honestly, his portion of the dialogue just seemed like filler to add length the story. Not even the other characters could stand him.
The rest of a novel was okay, but merely okay. I didn't enjoy the story being told from Morwen's point of view as much I had expected, and part of that is because most of her life is listening to the whining of cats, dragons, donkeys, and rabbits. I did appreciate her no nonsense attitude with both Cimorene and Kazul.
One final note is that I think that this book broke from the formula from the other books. Unlike the previous two books, this book requires a sequel whereas the previous two books were solid stand alones (you could honestly read book two without book one because of the intracharacter recaps). But this book doesn't have a tidy ending like the others. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but I felt that it broke the flow of the series. Also, from a formulaic perspective, the story shouldn't have been told from Morwen's point of view. Each of the other three books is told from the point of view of a character *new* to the series. Since we have already gotten to know her in the previous two books, we lose the exploration of a character like we get in the other stories.
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