of Dragons and the timing of Talking To

[jazzfish]

Incidentally, I've discovered another rare exception to my Pub Order Dammit rule:

It is better to read Patricia Wrede's Talking To Dragons as the last (chronological) of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, rather than the first (publication).

Talking To Dragons works perfectly well as a standalone, and it also works perfectly well if slightly tonally dissonant as the series conclusion. The reason to read it last is that the whole point of Calling On Dragons is to serve as a bridge between Dealing+Searching and Talking, and ending the series with Calling just feels narratively wrong.

... also, per Wiki Wrede made a bunch of minor updates to Talking after the first three were published, so it's almost like still reading in publication order. Close enough.

Comments

[reedrover]

Interesting! I honestly don’t recall what order I read them all in. I may have to re-cement them.

[jazzfish]

I assume that most people read them in chronological order, unless they happened on Talking when it was first published. In my case a friend loaned me Talking in junior high, and I thought it was a lot of fun and mostly forgot about it. Then years later I found Dealing and thought "this is great, and also seems kind of like that one book I borrowed from Amber." It wasn't until I got hold of a SFBC omnibus and was halfway through Talking that I recognized it.

[mneme]

Yeah. I read them in series order because I read them as they came out. Should do a full reread at some point.

[jazzfish]

My recollection from 5-10 years ago is that they're quick reads and worth the time, and the Suck Fairy has visited lightly if at all.