Talking to Dragons is a young adult fantasy novel, the fourth and final book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede, although it was published first, in 1985.
[1] It is told in first person from the point of view of sixteen-year-old Daystar, son of Cimorene, a woman who lives at the edge of the Enchanted Forest.
Cimorene raises Daystar and tells him legends about the Enchanted Forest, swordsmanship, spells, and magical protocols.
Cimorene melts Antorell with a spell, which raises many questions in Daystar's mind; he didn't know that his mother could do any magic.
However, she burned the Head Wizard's staff, ran away to the Enchanted Forest, and got caught in the middle of the hedges.
The next morning, the bushes let Daystar out but refuse to allow Shiara to leave until she asks nicely, which takes a lot of time as she is not in the habit of politeness.
Shiara tries to help him until a cat leads them both to the house of Morwen, a witch who lives inside of the Enchanted Forest.
The castle in the meanwhile has somehow disappeared, and when they come to the next clearing, they find a strange tower-house that belongs to a magician named Telemain.
Shiara sets Antorell on fire and Daystar sticks the sword into a brazier in the room, shouting a spell his mother taught him, which allows him to see the magical network of the forest and to use it to disable the wizards' ability to use the forest's magic, leaving the wizards with only stored spells and swords and enabling Daystar to throw the key into the fire.
"[2] Kirkus Reviews wrote that while the series is "getting a little formulaic", the characters and the "effervescent" dialogue "continue to charm.
"[3] Celeste Steward of the School Library Journal wrote that the audiobook offers "sparkling dialogue, charming characters, and excellent sound quality.