By Emily Rodda
This novel is the third in an eight part
series collectively titled ‘Deltora Quest’. The three young and brave protagonists
Lief, Barda and Jasmine are on a long and perilous quest to retrieve the seven
stones of the magic Belt of Deltora in order to overthrow the tyrannical rule
of Shadow Lord. In this section of the story the group seek the opal gem. To
retrieve this precious item, the companions must travel to the city of the rats
and defeat a terrifying enemy, with another few challenges along the way.
Emily Rodda has a simple and direct writing
style. The language she uses in her children’s and teen novels adheres to a literacy
competence appropriate for those at these age groups, while still maintaining
an engaging imagery description and character monologue and dialogue for
example. As a result her extremely inclusive as it can be easily understood
even by those with restrictive vocabularies. Rodda writes from a third person
perspective. She uses emotive language through her narration to convey her
subjective feelings towards the characters and events that occur for example ‘In
moments, elven hideous, grinning creatures were capering on the track below the
tree.’ (Rodda 2000)
The three protagonists are faced with several
circumstances in which they are forced to kill their enemies. Both Reeah and
ten of Thaegan's eleven children become fatalities along the quest. (Rodda
2000) Although these characters are portrayed as evil and necessary casualties
in order for the protagonists to survive, the slaying of these characters
brings into question a heroes respect for life and its fragility. This question
is not answered through Rodda’s text, but leaves the reader to contemplate, as
there is really no right answer, it is all down to perspective. Young learners
need to consider the shades of grey in life that are encompassed by black and
white, this text and others by Rodda facilitate this reflection.
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