A fun little classic fantasy book. I admit that dragons are one of my least favourite creatures in the genre, as I tend to find them overused and boring, with not much personality put into them. I don't even like hyped-up dragon books, such as 'Seraphina'.
However, 'Dealing with Dragons' surprised me ever so much.
It has great female characters. Princess Cimorene is awesome - smart, savvy, sarcastic, proud, hardworking and cautious; with enough believable human flaws that make her relatable to anyone. Kazul the dragon is like a wise mother figure - though if she were male, nothing in the story would change (even a female leader of dragons is still called a king). Princess Alianora is both Cimorene's friend and foil; naive and sweet, but will turn out not to be as dumb as all that. Like Cimorene she wants to help others as much as she can. Morwen the witch is another funny character and a great help to the plot.
There are also a lot of spells, magic tricks, and smart observations on fairy tales. Really, 'Dealing with Dragons' is a great edition to feminist fantasy from the 90s.
Funny and easy to read, I would recommend it to everyone. It is a little too short, with not every plot thread ending satisfactorily (and why doesn't the stone prince have a name?). And I'd have liked it better if Cimorene had used her sword more than once.
But that's where sequels come in.
Final Score: 4/5
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