Deltora Quest 3

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And so the Deltora Quest sagas come to a close (?) with the third instalment of adventures in Deltora Quest 3, which proves to be even more exciting, suspenseful, and glorious than its predecessors…

Lief may have rescued his people imprisoned in the Shadowlands, but his troubles and torments with the Shadow Lord are far from over. Deltora lies within the grip of a terrible famine; the land is poisoned, reducing the amount of food harvested for winter. Lief suspects great evil is behind it and, sure enough, he discovers the existence of the ‘Four Sisters’: a quartet of sinister monstrosities that are slowly poisoning Deltora from all corners. But even with Barda, Jasmine, Filli, and Kree by his side, these foes pose a threat too great for Lief to tackle alone and so he must travel his realms once more to awaken and enlist the help of the last seven dragons in Deltora.

This is officially my favourite collection of adventures in Rodda’s excellent series! Honestly, as soon as dragons become involved, I’m sold. But aside from having the most beautiful and awesome-sounding dragons ever (aside from Smaug of course) Deltora Quest 3 is a very interesting conclusion to a truly remarkable children’s fantasy series.

The emotional attachments to the characters are back to what they were at the beginning, but stronger of course because we have been travelling with these guys for a long time, so in this series Rodda retains her action-packed fantasy style and signature moves of ending each chapter on a tender hook while simultaneously rerouting certain aspects of the genre to get the same feels, but not in a way you expect.

From The Forests of Silence way back in adventure series 1 there has always been this clear and established route on which our characters were travelling and these books –for the majority- are no exception. However, through some very clever red herrings and seemingly generic turns, Rodda somehow manages to skip out on the genre-anticipated ending. I don’t want to give anything away, and I certainly do not want to say that the ending is anticlimactic because it certainly is satisfying; it’s just satisfying in a way that you’re really not expecting, and it’s kind of brilliant.

Image credit: Dymocks

The characters are all now at their very apex, their emotional attachments with the readers having been beautifully strengthened over time, and this adds further flavour to the already delicious adventures they embark on because there is real chemistry that enhances the reading experience.

And even though the prose and the structure of the series does not differ from its predecessors at all, the series still manages to somehow be more exhilarating, anticipatory, and satisfying than all that has come before it.

I am definitely a fan of Deltora Quest!

Deltora Quest 3 is the third series of adventures in the Deltora Quest chronicles written by Emily Rodda and published by Scholastic Australia in 2003 and 2004. The series is made up of four books: Dragon’s Nest, Shadowgate, Isle of the Dead, and The Sister of the South.