This leads me to a great book called Dealing with Dragons the first book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. The heroine in our story is the Princess Cimorene who much to her parents dismay will not act like a proper princess. Our girl takes it upon herself to learn practical skills such as fencing, cooking, a bit of magic and Latin...none of which her parents deem proper for a true princess "it's just not done" being their favorite phrase. Cimorene's parents decide their best option is to arrange a marriage for there headstrong daughter, which as you can imagine does not go over so well with the princess. She runs away and volunteers to become the captive princess of the dragon Kazul. Since this is a fairytale of sorts all the normal rules apply, dragon captures princess, knights and princes looking to prove their bravery rescue said damsel in distress. The maidens parents oh so grateful grant the hand of their rescued daughter to the prince/knight/brave soul and they all attempt to live happily ever after. Of course Cimorene is having none of that as she finds herself enjoying the role of cook and treasure sorter to the dragon Kazul. To discourage princes from attempting to rescue her, Cimorene places a sign on the road leading to the dragon cave, while she is out she encounters a rather nasty wizard. Kazul tells Cimorene that the dragons and wizards disagree over the right of wizards to go into the Caves of Fire and Night as the wizard staffs absorb all magic around them, including dragon magic. Kazul becomes ill when dragon banes is accidentally burned in her cave and the smoke inhaled. Cimorene with the help of Alianora another captive princess discovers a stone prince and between them find that another dragon has been helping the wizards poison the King of Dragons, in return the wizards will help him become the next king in exchange for access to the caves. The princesses discover a mix of soapy water and lemon juice will melt a wizard. They use this concoction to save the day and allow Kazul to win the trials to become the next King Dragon.
So many things to love about this book. I think my favorite part is the fact that Kazul is actually a female dragon, who then later becomes the female King of the Dragons. This twist on the expected male dragons that are found in most traditional fairy tales is pretty cool. The fact that Princess Cimorene takes it upon herself to learn all manner of practical skills and them find ways to apply them in any situation makes her my hero. She is also very hard working which is something that I find very admirable, yet sorely lacking in wanted traits in a heroine. The humor in this book is a great counterpoint as it is mostly of a witty variety and the dragon/wizard rivalry is well done. This is a fairly quick read and the fact that there are three other books in this series makes me a happy girl. I would suggest this book to anyone who is sick of the perfect heroine and just wants to read about somebody who can come up with real solutions, and also laugh out loud several times. I give this book 9 out of 10 Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies.
What is your favorite type of heroine? What skill do you find the most practical? When did hard work lose its place in our pantheon of heroic traits?
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