Calling on Dragons, book three of the Enchanted Forest series, features an ensemble cast, but is told from the perspective of the very practical witch, Morwen. Who better to herd the actions of hardheaded and scattered magical types than a witch who lives and works with nine cats? I kind of adore Morwen, but the adventure she presides over is sort of a mess. (This isn't really Morwen's fault. Book four of the series had already been written, and it put our intrepid author and characters in a bind: the plot of book four is such that book three was destined to have a somewhat unsatisfying ending.)

In Calling on Dragons, the dastardly wizards are back with an even more dastardly plot. (Throughout the series, the wizards have struck me as just slightly more competent, dangerous, and driven than Gargamel on the Smurfs. They are capable of real harm, though, and do have to be taken seriously.) Morwen, her cats, the magician Telemain, Chief Cook and Librarian to the King of the Dragons Cimorene, the King of the Dragons herself, and a few new characters set off to foil the wizards and save the forest.

Unfortunately, I found a few too many characters and plot devices to be tiresome or clumsy. One of the new antagonists is the embodiment of the type of unthinking tradition the books subvert, but he's one-dimensional and a poor stand-in for the way these themes were more cleverly addressed in the first two books. Another new character is troublesome, dimwitted and manages to enchant and re-enchant itself while irritating other characters and readers alike. Even main characters seems a bit off and off-putting at times.

Spoiler

Kazul loses her temper like an untrained fire-witch. I mean, sure, she's a dragon, she's entitled, and maybe it was past due, but it felt out of place. The constant necessity of translating Telemain's explanations got a bit old, too, but younger readers may not notice or mind as much. Morwen's cats are a welcomed addition but a little hard to keep straight. Cimorene's role is thin, practically relegated to being bookends for the plot. And Mendanbar... in the last book we learn about his ties to the Enchanted Forest and watch him work his magic, care for his kingdom, creatively solve problems for his subjects and others, and appreciate and support Cimorene. His part in this book and the next is frustrating and disappointing.

Although I'd give the series as a whole a 4-star rating, especially for younger readers of YA, this book only gets a 3 — and that's because I like Morwen, Cimorene, Mendanbar, and the Enchanted Forest itself enough to round it up from a 2.5.