Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Searching for Dragons" (5* Enchanted Forest 2) by Patricia Wrede begins when the 20-year old King wants to heal scorched ruins drained of magic energy by wicked wizards to provoke suspicion and war against dragons. My only difficulty to criticize is long names, never abbreviated even in affection, so I attempt none.
A lovely princess, smart and brave, not the usual other simpering woe-is-me sillies seeking marriage, helps to find and free her friend, the female King of Dragons. They give and get aid along the way via a manner-proper squirrel, a pretty witch with cats, a sneezing giant with a faulty riding carpet, a renamed Rumpelstiltskin baby-sitter, a pontificating curious brilliant young wizard, and more funny imaginative flights. They temporarily melt nasty wizards, using lemony soapy water, handy to clean resulting goo or dirty dishes.
Unlike many current series, I am wholly satisfied by the self-contained volume, that neither depends on a prequel, which is not in my library, nor requires a sequel.
Appropriate to a juvenile audience, morality is straightforward. Pretty may be silly, help may be unreliable, but scraggly beards are always bad, especially accompanied by rich robes and polished wood staffs. So what if the raiment was dusty and tattered, or short and childish, or the rod was missing, hidden, changed or disguised? I'd like to read a similar adult-oriented style.
(Spoiler:
Happy ending wedding).
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