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Patricia C Wrede Books in Order

Explore Patricia C Wrede books in order, from Enchanted Forest to Frontier Magic, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy where-to-start picks.

Last updated: July 9, 2026

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26 books

Shadow Magic

by Patricia C Wrede

1982

Princess Alethia is kidnapped just as old enemies rise against Alkyra. To get home and save her kingdom, she must trust the dangerous forest, its hidden peoples, and powers from half-forgotten stories.

Daughter of Witches

by Patricia C Wrede

1983

In a city where witches are hunted, servant girl Ranira tries to survive by keeping her head down. When three magical strangers arrive at her inn, she is forced to face the power that destroyed her family.

The Seven Towers

by Patricia C Wrede

1984

Seven kingdoms, seven towers, and a spreading magical threat pull a large cast into the same deadly game. Princes, soldiers, outlaws, and sorcerers all have a part to play before the world comes apart.

Talking to Dragons

by Patricia C Wrede

1985

Daystar's mother hands him a magic sword and sends him into the Enchanted Forest. He stumbles into dragons, wizards, and family secrets as he tries to free his father.

The Harp of Imach Thyssel

by Patricia C Wrede

1985

Minstrel Emereck and his friend Flindaran find a legendary harp in an abandoned castle. Once its power wakes, they are drawn into a struggle over a weapon that could reshape a kingdom.

Caught in Crystal

by Patricia C Wrede

1987

Widow and former witch Kayl has built a quiet life running an inn, until a sorceress from her past arrives. To protect her children and her world, she must reopen old wounds and use magic again.

Book of Enchantments

by Patricia C Wrede

1988

This collection brings together ten fantasy stories, from fairy-tale retellings to Enchanted Forest adventures. It shows Wrede's range, with sharp humor, clever twists, and even a cake recipe.

Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

by Patricia C Wrede

1988

Separated for the summer, cousins Cecelia and Kate swap letters from country and city as their debut season turns strange. A bewitched chocolate pot, suspicious wizards, and a growing conspiracy pull them into danger.

Snow White and Rose Red

by Patricia C Wrede

1989

Wrede reimagines the Grimm tale in Elizabethan England, where two sisters live close to the edge of Faerie. Their kindness draws them into enchantment, danger, and a story with a bear at its heart.

Dragonsbane / Dealing with Dragons

by Patricia C Wrede

1990

Bored with princess lessons, Cimorene runs away and volunteers to work for the dragon Kazul. She gets dragons, wizards, and overeager princes instead of the tidy fairy tale everyone expects.

Mairelon the Magician

by Patricia C Wrede

1991

Street thief Kim is paid to break into a traveling magician's wagon and gets caught. Instead of punishment, she is offered apprenticeship by a real wizard, and pulled into intrigue far above her station.

Searching for Dragons / Dragon Search

by Patricia C Wrede

1991

Cimorene teams up with Mendanbar, the practical king of the Enchanted Forest, when Kazul disappears. Their search leads to stolen magic, dragon politics, and a partnership built on common sense.

Calling on Dragons

by Patricia C Wrede

1993

Now queen, Cimorene has to outthink wizards who are trying again to seize the Enchanted Forest. With Morwen, Telemain, cats, and Killer the blue donkey-rabbit, the rescue mission gets wonderfully strange.

The Raven Ring

by Patricia C Wrede

1994

After her mother's death, Eleret sets out to reclaim her belongings and a family inheritance. The journey becomes a fight for survival as enemies close in around a powerful ring.

Magician's Ward

by Patricia C Wrede

1997

Kim is learning magic and manners in Mairelon's household when wizards begin disappearing and Mairelon loses his powers. Solving it means returning to London's streets and everything she thought she had left behind.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

by Patricia C Wrede

1999

Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi cross paths with young Anakin Skywalker as the Republic slides into crisis. This junior novel retells the start of the prequel saga in a brisk, accessible way.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

by Patricia C Wrede

2002

Anakin and Padme are drawn together while Obi-Wan hunts the source of a deadly conspiracy. The junior novel follows the growing war and the choices that push Anakin toward darkness.

The Grand Tour

by Patricia C Wrede

2004

Newly married cousins Cecelia and Kate head across Europe with their husbands for a honeymoon, then stumble into a plot tied to stolen royal magical artifacts and Napoleon. Their trip turns from romance to investigation very quickly.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

by Patricia C Wrede

2005

The Clone Wars reach their breaking point as Anakin is pulled between loyalty, fear, and ambition. This adaptation tracks the fall of the Republic and the rise of Darth Vader for younger readers.

The Mislaid Magician

by Patricia C Wrede

2006

Ten years later, Cecelia and Kate are married and facing change as railroads disturb magic. A vanished foreign wizard sends Cecelia north to investigate while Kate manages children, family, and trouble at home.

Thirteenth Child

by Patricia C Wrede

2009

In an alternate frontier America shaped by magic, Eff Rothmer grows up feared for being a thirteenth child. As her family moves west, she has to decide whether she is doomed to bad luck or meant for something more.

Across the Great Barrier

by Patricia C Wrede

2011

With her twin away at school, Eff joins a scientific survey beyond the Great Barrier Spell. What begins as fieldwork turns into a dangerous look at frontier wildlife, settlers, and the hidden costs of expansion.

The Far West

by Patricia C Wrede

2012

Discoveries from Eff's last expedition spark a new mission toward the Rockies, where earlier parties never returned. Politics, magic, and the unknown west all close in as she searches for the truth.

Wrede on Writing

by Patricia C Wrede

2013

This collection gathers Patricia C Wrede's practical essays on craft, process, and the everyday work of being a writer. It is clear, useful, and especially good on solving real problems without fuss.

Points of Departure

by Patricia C Wrede

2015

These linked Liavek stories, written with Pamela Dean, roam through a hot, magical trade city where luck powers spellwork. The collection mixes family trouble, politics, gods, and street-level surprises.

The Dark Lord's Daughter

by Patricia C Wrede

2023

Kayla thinks she's an ordinary girl until she learns she is heir to a dark throne in another world. Getting home means learning magic, meeting her father, and deciding what kind of Dark Lady she wants to be.

Where should I start?

If you want funny fairy-tale fantasy: Dealing with DragonsSearching for DragonsCalling on DragonsTalking to Dragons
If you like magical Regency letters: Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate PotThe Grand TourThe Mislaid Magician
If you want a sharper Regency adventure: Mairelon the MagicianMagician's Ward
If you want an alternate-history frontier: Thirteenth ChildAcross the Great BarrierThe Far West
If you want classic secondary-world fantasy: Shadow MagicDaughter of WitchesThe Harp of Imach Thyssel

Author bio

Patricia C Wrede was born in Chicago on March 27, 1953, and grew up in a house stuffed with books. She has said there were shelves on nearly every wall, with more books tucked into cupboards and closets. That early reading diet, especially Oz, Narnia, fairy tales, and myths, shows up all through her fiction: practical magic, storybook setups, and characters who would rather think than pose.

She studied biology at Carleton College and graduated in 1974, then moved to the Twin Cities. After a year of clerical work, she went back to school for an MBA at the University of Minnesota, which she earned in 1977. It is not the most expected road into fantasy writing, which is part of what makes her career feel so grounded.

After graduate school she worked as a financial analyst and wrote in her spare time. She finished her first novel, Shadow Magic, while holding that day job, sold it in 1980, and saw it published in 1982. Around the same time, she became one of the founding members of the Scribblies, the Minneapolis writing group that included several future fantasy and science fiction writers.

For a while, she was doing two full-time jobs at once.

In 1985, after several books and with more on the way, she left finance to write full time. That decision opened the door to the books many readers know best. Dealing with Dragons and the rest of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles turned fairy-tale logic upside down with a heroine who solves problems by being sensible. The books are funny, but they are never careless. Wrede likes rules, consequences, and characters who notice when everyone else is behaving foolishly.

That same mix of brains and adventure runs through the rest of her work. In Sorcery and Cecelia, written with Caroline Stevermer, letters between two cousins turn a Regency social season into a magical mystery. Mairelon the Magician brings real wizardry to London streets and drawing rooms through the eyes of a former thief. Thirteenth Child shifts to an alternate American frontier, where Eff Rothmer grows up surrounded by magical danger, government systems, and family expectations.

Practical people are her thing.

Again and again, Wrede writes about capable girls and women, social rules that need testing, and magic that behaves like part of the world rather than a decorative effect. Even when the setting changes, from fairy-tale forests to Regency England to the Far West, her books tend to prize competence, observation, and a dry sense of humor. Readers who like flashy destiny stories can find those elsewhere. Wrede is usually more interested in what a clever person does next.

She still lives in the Twin Cities area, and writing remains central to her work. Alongside her fiction, she has shared years of practical craft advice through her writing blog and the collection Wrede on Writing. More recently, she returned to middle grade fantasy with The Dark Lord's Daughter, about an ordinary girl who learns she is heir to a dark throne. It feels fitting. After all these years, Wrede is still doing what she has always done best: taking a familiar fantasy idea, asking sensible questions about it, and seeing what happens.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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