The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
#1354.17 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 1985–1993 Reading commitment Low Patricia C. Wrede Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Overview
Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles is a comic fantasy quartet that inverts fairy-tale conventions, following Princess Cimorene, who runs away from an arranged marriage to voluntarily become the princess of a dragon named Kazul rather than wait passively to be rescued from one. Published between 1985 and 1993, the four novels -- Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons -- were written out of internal chronological order, with Talking to Dragons appearing first before Wrede went back to tell the earlier parts of the story. The series parodies standard fantasy-kingdom tropes throughout: princes who insist on rescuing unwilling princesses, wizards plotting to steal magic, and a Enchanted Forest whose rules of etiquette matter more than swordplay. Aimed primarily at younger readers, the books have remained popular as an accessible, humorous entry point into fantasy that plays consciously against genre expectations.
Comic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Patricia C. Wrede
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dealing with Dragons | 1990 | 1 | core | 4.16 (95,030 ratings) |
 | Searching for Dragons | 1991 | 2 | core | 4.18 (44,649 ratings) |
 | Calling on Dragons | 1993 | 3 | core | 4.18 (37,797 ratings) |
 | Talking to Dragons | 1985 | 4 | core | 4.18 (37,797 ratings) |
A comic fantasy quartet; Talking to Dragons was written and published first (1985) but reads last in internal chronology and was revised in 1993 to match the later books.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Enchanted Forest Chronicles? The Enchanted Forest Chronicles's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for The Enchanted Forest Chronicles? Publication order, starting with Dealing with Dragons. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Enchanted Forest Chronicles finished? Complete (1985–1993).
- How much reading does The Enchanted Forest Chronicles take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books · ~994 pages).
- How is The Enchanted Forest Chronicles ranked? #135 in this site's official ranking, based on 215,273 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #135?
Ranked #135 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.17 across 4 core books.
- Backed by 215k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 4 rated core books rate within 0.02 of each other.
- 0.03 behind #134, Greenwild.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 4 books · Complete · 215k ratings · Ranks #135 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- Talking to Dragons (1985)
- Dealing with Dragons (1990)
- Searching for Dragons (1991)
- Calling on Dragons (1993)
Documented internal/story order
- Dealing with Dragons (1990)
- Searching for Dragons (1991)
- Calling on Dragons (1993)
- Talking to Dragons (1985)
Awards (verified)
- No independently verified awards on file for this universe yet.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.17 across 215,273 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C. Wrede) accepted 2026-08-21
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Patricia Wrede Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is all four novels, read by internal chronology (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Talking to Dragons); Talking to Dragons was written and published first but is set last in the internal timeline.