Talking to Dragons
Daystar is living as perfectly normal of a life as someone can while living on the edge of the Enchanted Forest until a wizard visits his mother and gets melted. With no explanation, his mother than hands him a sword and pushes him into the forest and tells him to figure it out. It doesn't take him long to find an adventure and pick up some interesting companions along the way, including a teenage Dragon and a fire-witch with a block on doing magic. A lizard occasionally points the way.
While written first I, for once, agree that 'Talking to Dragons' should be read last. It could be argued that the prequels take away a lot of the mystery, because the readers know what to expect, but I don't agree. A reader may know who Daystar is, and who Morwen and Telemain, etc., are, but the mechanics of what he has to do to break the spell are unique to 'Talking', and that's enough.
The world of youth fiction has changed considerably in thirty years, but Wrede was ahead of the game in creating sophisticated, charming characters - with one irritating blue exception - that allows her stories to stand up with the fantasy coming out today.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Previous: 'Calling on Dragons'
