A Princess’s work is never done–not even when she becomes a queen!
Princess Cimorene is now Queen Cimorene … and she’s faced with her first queenly crisis — the Enchanted Forest is threatened with complete destruction!
Those wizards are back — and they’ve become very smart. (Sort of.) They’ve figured out a way to take over the forest once and for all … and what they have planned isn’t pretty.
With a little help from Kazul the dragon king, Morwen the witch, Telemain the magician, two cats, and a blue, flying donkey-rabbit named — what else? — Killer, Cimorene might just be able to stop them.
And some people think that being a queen is easy.
This is my favorite on of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It’s told entirely from Morwen the witch’s perspective and that means you get to hear the running commentary from her 9 cats as well. (Side note- Wrede ABSOLUTELY owns cats. Her descriptions of their moods, behaviors, and internal thoughts are spot on). Once again, the wizards are up to mischief, and once again our group of faves bands together to go on a journey and stop them.
This is easily the grimmest of the books in the series as well. SPOILERS BELOW:
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The book ends with Cimerone’s husband trapped in stasis, her about to give birth and raise her son alone, in hiding, and needing to wait until her son is old enough to free his dad. This is my favorite book, but I have always hated the ending. The final book in the series follows the son as he accomplishes this quest and is my least favorite book. Mainly because Daystar is meeting all our favorites for the first time and doesn’t know what’s going on. I love the easy camaraderie of the previous book and our gang’s dynamics. It’s also just kind of depressing that Mendenbar and Cimerone only got to be happily married for a year before they were then separated for FIFTEEN YEARS where she had to be a single mom.
Does it ruin an otherwise great series? No. Is it a grimmer scenario the older you get? Hell yes.
