Forests Of Silence (Deltora Quest) [Mass Market Paperback]

Emily Rodda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Deltora Quest (Book 1)

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. After the land of Deltora falls to the Shadow Lord when the gems from its magical protective belt are scattered, young Lief and his companion set out for the Forests of Silence to find the missing jewels and the heir to the throne.

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439544068
• ISBN-13: 978-0439544061
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,975,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deltora Quest Series Review - Book 1 & 2, May 14, 2001

By 

John Tinucci (Eden Prairie, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forests of Silence (Deltora Quest, 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was looking for some books that my son would enjoy, to help him see that reading is FUN and often better than watching TV! I picked the first book up at the school book fair, and hit the jackpot! Not only did he not want to put it down between chapters, he pleaded with me to go to the store immediately and get the rest of the series. (And he wasn't the only one enjoying the book - so was I!) To our dismay, we could only get Book 2, and have been waiting anxiously for the next ones!!!! The author has great imagination!

What's so wonderful about the books is that they are full of action and suspense, and keep the reader hanging on every page. They are wonderful books to read together - I've enjoyed the storyline every bit as much as my son! (So much so, that I've kept reading after he's gone to bed because I didn't want to wait another day to find out what happens.)

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One boy must save an entire world from the grip of evil., March 5, 2001

By 

Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forests of Silence (Deltora Quest, 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

As a child growing up at the palace, Jarred was servant, companion, and only friend to the young prince, Endon. And as a teenager, Jarred was the only one who suspected the truth behind the sudden deaths of the king and queen. But Endon, now king, ignored Jarred's warnings, and allowed his advisors to banish Jarred. Several years later, Jarred discovers his worst fears were all true - Endon's closest advisor was a traitor, orchestrating behind the king's back the takeover by the evil Shadow Lord of the kingdom of Deltora. With Jarred's help, Endon and his wife, who is pregnant with the heir to the throne, flee, with Jarred vowing to someday return them to their rightful throne. Years later, on his sixteenth birthday, Jarred's son Lief learns the task to free Deltora from the Shadow Lord's power has fallen into his hands. Now it's up to one young boy to save an entire world. Is Lief strong enough for the enormous task that lies ahead? This book was the thrilling beginning to an eight-part fantasy saga. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the Deltora series: Great Books for Non-Bookworms, January 7, 2003

By 

Dale A. Favier (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forests of Silence (Deltora Quest, 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

~
This is a particularly good series for bright kids who are not born bookworms (although bookworms will probably love it too). The plots are intricate, but the prose is very simple and clear. There's lots of action and dreadful monsters to be fought: but there are also little puzzles, riddles sprinkled throughout the book, and many trick names which are significant if you pay attention to their sound rather than their spelling, or are anagrams, or have sinister double meanings. The adventurers find signs and symbols (illustrated in the book) that they have to puzzle out. All this appeals immensely to mathematically- or visually-inclined kids.

The moral world of Deltora is, of course, black-and-white, as befits the genre. Most of the bad guys are bad through and through, and most of the good guys are good through and through. But that doesn't mean that the books encourage a simplistic judgmental viewpoint. There are also people who seem bad but turn out to be good, and seem good but turn out to be bad. Many of the worst villains are shown to have been acting under various kinds of duress, disappointment, or obsession: some are rehabilitated. Also, although there's enough derring-do and fighting for the most dedicated comic book reader, there are also a surprising number of sticky situations that the heroes get out of by using their wits, sensitivities, and compassion. And each of the three has a slightly different moral "take" on the world, born of their varying experiences of it.

The series is mercifully un-sexist. The character of Jasmine, a wild girl who grew up alone in the forest, and can speak to trees, is as intrepid, skilled in fighting, and resourceful as her two male comrades, and she is often shrewder and more sensible. Monsters, wondrous creatures, heroes, villains, and faint-hearts, all generally come in two genders, with no fuss being made of it.

These books probably don't quite qualify as "classic fantasy," but they are among the very best of the second rank. I was very happy to find them, and my kids love them. If yours like these, go for the "Rowan of Rin" series by the same author, which is aimed at a slightly older, more thoughtful audience, and which I like even better.