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adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What an amazing children's book series - my god I wish I was raised on this rather than H*rry P*tter
Pros:
- Genuinely well structured and written with a plan in mind; the books strike a nice balance of being predictable enough where you feel satisfied at figuring out the twists early, but not so predictable that the books are an eyeroll
- The cast is very loveable, Jasmine being a standout of all of them. hooray for female authors writing great female characters!
- The book is written with a verbosity that makes it feel "old school", like you're reading a Tolkien or C. S. Lewis novel
- These books absolutely do NOT consign to the belief that children's books must be light and airy fairy; these books are dark. I'm talking grotesque horrors described in excruciating detail, frequent (and often gorey) character deaths and the misery of living under authoritarian rule kind of dark. I love the respect Emily Rodda shows to her readers. She knows kids aren't stupid and can handle these things, and I have endless respect for her for that
Cons:
- While I did say that the twists and turns aren't fully cliche, there are plenty that you will see coming from a mile off. I predicted every plot twist but one - I still found them all incredibly satisfying (mostly to see my predictions proven right) but there are some that are a bit too easily laid out for you
- The riddles get old very fast. Again, I'm not the target audience, and I know I probably would've loved them a lot as a child, but you can tell even Emily Rodda started getting sick of them as the books go on. A lot of the riddles start getting repetitive; be prepared for lots of anagrams and words spelled backwards
- Lief and Barda unfortunately suffer from stupid man syndrome. You will find yourself facepalming many times as Jasmine suggests they do something smart, but Lief and Barda flat out ignore her and decide to do something stupid instead. While I praised Jasmine earlier as a well written female character, it gets tiring seeing how the other male characters treat her throughout the story just to prove that she's "the smart one"
- A lot of the side characters are forgettable, with only 2 or 3 standouts. Most (if not all) of the side characters stay constant throughout the books, so it's sad many of them aren't all that memorable
- The Shadow Lord makes a pretty pathetic villain; he only appears once, and it's in a dream sequence. You never really get to feel his presence as a villain, nor see how he's in any way threatening. Again, I understand it's a children's book, but that doesn't mean children deserve things with no thought
- Barda has a near death experience in every book. You start to lose sympathy for him after he "dies" for the umpteenth time
All around though, this is easily a 9/10 book series for your kids. If you want to raise your children on a book series that is fun, memorable and full of adventure, give them Deltora Quest. Don't let them read Harry Potter. PLEASE.
Pros:
- Genuinely well structured and written with a plan in mind; the books strike a nice balance of being predictable enough where you feel satisfied at figuring out the twists early, but not so predictable that the books are an eyeroll
- The cast is very loveable, Jasmine being a standout of all of them. hooray for female authors writing great female characters!
- The book is written with a verbosity that makes it feel "old school", like you're reading a Tolkien or C. S. Lewis novel
- These books absolutely do NOT consign to the belief that children's books must be light and airy fairy; these books are dark. I'm talking grotesque horrors described in excruciating detail, frequent (and often gorey) character deaths and the misery of living under authoritarian rule kind of dark. I love the respect Emily Rodda shows to her readers. She knows kids aren't stupid and can handle these things, and I have endless respect for her for that
Cons:
- While I did say that the twists and turns aren't fully cliche, there are plenty that you will see coming from a mile off. I predicted every plot twist but one - I still found them all incredibly satisfying (mostly to see my predictions proven right) but there are some that are a bit too easily laid out for you
- The riddles get old very fast. Again, I'm not the target audience, and I know I probably would've loved them a lot as a child, but you can tell even Emily Rodda started getting sick of them as the books go on. A lot of the riddles start getting repetitive; be prepared for lots of anagrams and words spelled backwards
- Lief and Barda unfortunately suffer from stupid man syndrome. You will find yourself facepalming many times as Jasmine suggests they do something smart, but Lief and Barda flat out ignore her and decide to do something stupid instead. While I praised Jasmine earlier as a well written female character, it gets tiring seeing how the other male characters treat her throughout the story just to prove that she's "the smart one"
- A lot of the side characters are forgettable, with only 2 or 3 standouts. Most (if not all) of the side characters stay constant throughout the books, so it's sad many of them aren't all that memorable
- The Shadow Lord makes a pretty pathetic villain; he only appears once, and it's in a dream sequence. You never really get to feel his presence as a villain, nor see how he's in any way threatening. Again, I understand it's a children's book, but that doesn't mean children deserve things with no thought
- Barda has a near death experience in every book. You start to lose sympathy for him after he "dies" for the umpteenth time
All around though, this is easily a 9/10 book series for your kids. If you want to raise your children on a book series that is fun, memorable and full of adventure, give them Deltora Quest. Don't let them read Harry Potter. PLEASE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief
Minor: Genocide