Fiction Book Review for ‘The Lake of Tears’ by Emily Rodda reviewed by Heather Adams
About the Book:
Lief, Barda and their unpredictable new companion Jasmine are on an urgent mission to find the seven stones stolen from the magic Belt of Deltora. The golden topaz has already been found. But only when all the stones have been restored to the Belt can their land be freed from the dark power of the evil Shadow Lord.
To find the second stone, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine must travel through territory ruled by the monster-sorceress Thaegan. Their journey will be filled with treachery, trickery, and gander. And at its end they will find the biggest challenge of all-the hideous guardian of the enchanted Lake of Tears!
My Review:
Four Stars
The phenomenal adventure of the Deltora Quest Series continues in the second book the Lake of Tears. Emily Rodda brings to life the world of Deltora in her series and makes you care for the characters as if you were receiving personal letters of their adventures.
My review for the first book I complained about how the progression of the story was too fast for my taste. However, after reading the second book I now realize that the first book Rodda just had to cram in some background in the first part before moving on to the actual Quest. Now in the second book everything flows smoothly from moment to moment guiding the reader along side the three unlikely hero’s as they encounter pitfalls and injury until they finally achieve their goal.
Roddas’ writing style keeps me interested throughout the novelette. Each chapter is short enough that I hardly notice when I finish one and just continuing plowing forward into the story, I am so enraptured in the lives of the characters. Roddas’ descriptors are also what keeps me reading, because through her imagery the world of Deltora truly comes to life in my imagination. There is not a moment when I am unsure of what I am seeing because she describes every moment in such detail that nothing should be missing.
The characters of The Lake of Tears are also fantastically developed. In the first book we just got a little peak into their minds but as they continue on in this story we begin to see more about them. We see how Jasmine, though she has been deprived of normal societal things, is very smart and quick witted, willing to sacrifice herself for the cause. Barda, though at first seems rough and tumble actually cares for his companions. Leif is developing new skills and becoming more accustomed to his leadership position as they travel. The other characters that they encounter along the way are also very lovable and easy to picture as fully flushed out people or monsters. Though this is a short tale Rodda did not spare anything when it came to making her characters come to life.
My only problem that I found with the tale was that it was somewhat predictable. At moments I was quite capable of guessing what was about to happen. Of course I already know that they will likely succeed by the end of the tale and move on to get the next stone. That is not what is too predictable. It is the progression up to that, I was able to guess what encounters they would have and how they would occur. Most of all I was able to predict the magical ending after the got the stone that they would succeed in doing more then placing more power into the belt.
Over all, I am very impressed with the Deltora Quest because Rodda is capable of making this entire world within just a few pages. It truly shows the skill of the writer when they are able to create something so powerful within a short story. I did once imagine this tale being better if it was longer. However, as I read further into the story I can’t imagine it any other way because it is already so powerful just within the novelette it is.
About the Author:
Emily Rodda grew up with her two younger brothers on Sydney’s North Shore and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA in English Lit. Always an avid reader she moved naturally into a career in publishing, first as a book editor and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson. She has written or co-authored well over fifty books for children and as Jennifer Rowe (her real name) she writes popular mystery novels for adults. She is a prestigious award winning author who has won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year award several times and in 1995 Emily won the prestigious Dromkeen Medal. For more information visit http://www.emilyrodda.com/about/.
About the Book:
Lief, Barda and their unpredictable new companion Jasmine are on an urgent mission to find the seven stones stolen from the magic Belt of Deltora. The golden topaz has already been found. But only when all the stones have been restored to the Belt can their land be freed from the dark power of the evil Shadow Lord.
To find the second stone, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine must travel through territory ruled by the monster-sorceress Thaegan. Their journey will be filled with treachery, trickery, and gander. And at its end they will find the biggest challenge of all-the hideous guardian of the enchanted Lake of Tears!
My Review:
Four Stars
The phenomenal adventure of the Deltora Quest Series continues in the second book the Lake of Tears. Emily Rodda brings to life the world of Deltora in her series and makes you care for the characters as if you were receiving personal letters of their adventures.
My review for the first book I complained about how the progression of the story was too fast for my taste. However, after reading the second book I now realize that the first book Rodda just had to cram in some background in the first part before moving on to the actual Quest. Now in the second book everything flows smoothly from moment to moment guiding the reader along side the three unlikely hero’s as they encounter pitfalls and injury until they finally achieve their goal.
Roddas’ writing style keeps me interested throughout the novelette. Each chapter is short enough that I hardly notice when I finish one and just continuing plowing forward into the story, I am so enraptured in the lives of the characters. Roddas’ descriptors are also what keeps me reading, because through her imagery the world of Deltora truly comes to life in my imagination. There is not a moment when I am unsure of what I am seeing because she describes every moment in such detail that nothing should be missing.
The characters of The Lake of Tears are also fantastically developed. In the first book we just got a little peak into their minds but as they continue on in this story we begin to see more about them. We see how Jasmine, though she has been deprived of normal societal things, is very smart and quick witted, willing to sacrifice herself for the cause. Barda, though at first seems rough and tumble actually cares for his companions. Leif is developing new skills and becoming more accustomed to his leadership position as they travel. The other characters that they encounter along the way are also very lovable and easy to picture as fully flushed out people or monsters. Though this is a short tale Rodda did not spare anything when it came to making her characters come to life.
My only problem that I found with the tale was that it was somewhat predictable. At moments I was quite capable of guessing what was about to happen. Of course I already know that they will likely succeed by the end of the tale and move on to get the next stone. That is not what is too predictable. It is the progression up to that, I was able to guess what encounters they would have and how they would occur. Most of all I was able to predict the magical ending after the got the stone that they would succeed in doing more then placing more power into the belt.
Over all, I am very impressed with the Deltora Quest because Rodda is capable of making this entire world within just a few pages. It truly shows the skill of the writer when they are able to create something so powerful within a short story. I did once imagine this tale being better if it was longer. However, as I read further into the story I can’t imagine it any other way because it is already so powerful just within the novelette it is.
About the Author:
Emily Rodda grew up with her two younger brothers on Sydney’s North Shore and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA in English Lit. Always an avid reader she moved naturally into a career in publishing, first as a book editor and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson. She has written or co-authored well over fifty books for children and as Jennifer Rowe (her real name) she writes popular mystery novels for adults. She is a prestigious award winning author who has won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year award several times and in 1995 Emily won the prestigious Dromkeen Medal. For more information visit http://www.emilyrodda.com/about/.
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