Dealing with Dragons

By: Patricia C. Wrede

Narrated by: Words Take Wing Repertory Company of Syracuse, NY

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Take one bored princess. Make her the seventh daughter in a very proper royal family. Have her run away.

Add one powerful, fascinating, dangerous dragon.

Princess Cimerone has never met anyone (or anything) like the dragon Kazul. But then, she's never met a witch, a jinn, a death-dealing talking bird or a stone prince either.

Princess Cimerone ran away to find some excitement.

She's found plenty.

©1990 Patricia C. Wrede (P)1996 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, an Imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"A decidedly diverting novel with plenty of action and many slightly skewed fairy-tale conventions that add to the laugh-out-loud pleasure." (Booklist)
"A wonderful listen for the entire family." (AudioFile)

Absolutely love this book!

I've read this book several times since I was a kid. The characters truly come alive in this performance.

Nostalgic fun at it's fairytale best

The performances are a little over the top at times but I still found it ultimately entertaining. I remember listening to this particular set in the car on cassette tapes from the library. Had fun with them then and having fun with them now. It helps that I love these books.

Great for the 7 to 12 age!!!

Bought this and the next in the group for my nieces and nephew they ate it up!!! kept them happy on the drive and I enjoyed it too.

fun read

it was so fun to listen to! my kids ages 3-8 all enjoyed listening to it and loved the story.

"I won't be your ordinary princess!"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it to anyone who wants a light-hearted tale of a strong-willed female lead character in a fantasy world with a focus on intelligent dragons.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dealing with Dragons?

Hard to say actually. I felt the story was a sequence of neat moments in the life of a dragon's princess. I liked the whole of it without remembering one specific way-above-the-rest moment.
That said, I did enjoy the moment Cimorene was joined by a similarly-minded character, because that's exactly the kind of rare moment I enjoy in life: finding someone who has the same mindset and can become a great friend.

What about Words Take Wing Repertory Company of Syracuse and NY ’s performance did you like?

While not every actor was perfect and the overall performance might be a bit overdone (very theatrical), I think it matched the overall tone of the story. If anything it didn't get in the way of my enjoyment.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Princess looking for dragons. No rescuing needed."

Any additional comments?

I found that what seemed to be meant as the main plotline (since it's what the book concludes with) came way too late in the book and was rather underwhelming. It's funny that I prefered the slice-of-life parts of the beginning rather than the more adventurous later bits.

There was also that surprisingly off-tone moment with... was it a bird? It just got more violent/creepy than it needed to be considering everything else in the book.

Still a gem, even after time 100+

I absolutely adore this series, hasn't gotten old after all these years. I usually have to sleep with music or audiobooks playing and I've listened to this series more than a hundred times in the 5+ years I've been listening. I am sure I have some sections memorized.

I want to have my future children read/listen and enjoy this series as much as I have.

I love this book!

I have always loved this book and listening to it was a treat. it does have multiple narrators but only one that actually narrates the book - the others are similar to voice actors. They added to the flavor. It is good for both children and adults. It's witty, a little silly, but filled with personality. If you want something without romance but light hearted, funny (you'll giggle out loud), clever and adventurous then this is the book series for you.

Nice story, some some iffy voices

A cute, simple story with a great message for youngish readers and listeners. I would have enjoyed revisiting it as an adult a little more if all the voices were good- but the quality was inconsistent and ranged from a little cringy to really wonderful.

great book for all ages!

this book is a great book to read as a family or on your own! it's great for all ages!

All time favorite

I have been reading this book to my kids as a started book into reading, it does the trick. I ended up with kids that love to read because of it