Customer Reviews

Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal (Rowan of Rin #3)

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I thought this book was almost as good as the first Rowan story (on the mountain). I liked this story because it had things that happened when I least expected it. It had riddles, which i really like. It gave me a good reason to stay up late! It took me about a week to read. My brother and I both think Rowan is a great series.

Rowan vainly tries to make himself strong and witty, but can't and won't not with his weak body and pale, thin face.In this particular book, Rowan's mother must find all keepers of crystal before the original one dies.If the original dies before a new keeper is found, Zebak, vicious and cruel warriors who love to kill will take over the lands.

When Rowan's mother falls sick at her destination, it is up to Rowan, and Rowan alone, to choose the next keeper.Will Rowan be able to find the next keeper before the Zebak take over the territory?Read this wonderful story of the third book in the Rowan of Rin series!It's another of Rodda's classic!

In Australia, Emily Rodda is one of the most renowned children's authors. She has written many fantasy books for children/ young adults and this amaizing book is just one example.
Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal is a book in the Rowan series. It has the same feel and quality as all the other books. Rowan, a boy with special powers, is brought to decide who will be the Keeper of the Crystal. He journeys with them to learn their attitude, personality and abilities. But one of those that he journeys with desires the Crystal for evil. The unique story will possess you.
Once you have finishes this book, it is safe to say you will read it again but be pleased that Emily Rodda has written so many books. I can also guarantee this will not be the last of her books you will read. This book encourages you to read the rest of the famous Rowan books, or the very extensive and popular Deltora Quest series.
Maybe you havn't read any books like this before, but once you have read one, you will most likely read one after another. So add this to your reading list, and you will understand why young adult fantasy is so popular.

Emily Rodda writes stories that younger children love. Her Deltora Quest series has been read by my daughter and loaned to cousins and friends, all of whom loved it. This book is much in the same vein.

Rowan lives in a land called Rin, but his life is turned upside down when it turns out that his mother is to be called upon to act as the chooser of the next Keeper of The Crystal - a magical crystal that embues knowledge, wisdom and power upon the keeper and keeps the lands safe from dangerous enemies.

The choosing is a dangerous time, for it is known that a failure to choose a new keeper will cause the lands of Maris to fall prey to invaders. The chooser is in great peril and should anything happen to his mother, Rowan is next in line.

Unlike the Deltora Quest books that I have read, this book is not laced with puzzles that the reader can hope to solve - although there is one key puzzle that Rowan must solve, and a nice plot twist at the end.

Children of about 7+ should love this book, but it is not a young adult read. This is not the first of the Rowan series but that will not matter - the story is fully self contained and would work very weel even if not part of a larger series

The book Rowan of Rin and the Keeper of the Crystal, is about a boy named Rowan and his mother who have to go to Maris and choose the keeper of the crystal. On the way, his mother is poisened, he has to find the cure, choose the keeper, and escape a serpent.

There are a couple of messages in this story and they are that love can conquer anything and that you should never betray anyone no matter how much you hate something or love something.

The author did a great job at making the characters come to life and making the story dramitic.

Although there is good story line and a couple of messages, it is not one of the better stories in the series.

In this third addition to the Rowan of Rin series, Rowan's mother is summoned to assume the very dangerous role of Chooser of Rin. Finding that she has to take Rowan and travel to the far-away land of Maris, Rowan is both confused and fearful. Jon tells him of the horrors that's take place when the Keeper of the Crystal of Maris is selected. But of course, tradgedy strikes. Rowan is becconed to a cave, low below the sea, where he finds his mother, dying, on the bed. The current Keeper of the Crystal, who is also slowly dying, sits beside her, explaining to Rowan that he is to be chooser in place of him mother, who was mysteriously poisoned. Rowan is angred when the Keeper tells him he should simply let his mother die. He refuses, and with the help of the three candiates of the clans of Maris, he sets off on the journey of a lifetime, searching for the antidote to the poison by the first Keeper, Orin's, words.This is a magical, enchanting book.

The "Rowan of Rin" series is one of the best book series out there for the who are not yet ready for the Prydain Chronicles or "The Hobbit." In the third story, "Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal," we get more of a glimpse of this beautiful and dangerous world and the diverse people who inhabit it.

Rowan is stunned when the fishlike Maris folk summon his mother Jiller to the Cavern of the Crystal, there to choose a new Keeper. For reasons too complex to summarize, the Maris clans require an outsider to choose their Keeper, who helps protect them from the savage Zebak warriors. Jiller is the latest in a long line of Choosers, and Rowan will be her successor.

But upon arriving at the Cavern, Jiller is mysteriously poisoned. But after Rowan is appointed the new Chooser, he refuses to choose any of the three candidates until they help him find the ingredients for the antidote. The three set off on their quest -- but Rowan begins to wonder which of the three poisoned Jiller, and what motives are behind it.

As in the previous two books, Emily Rodda creates a believable world without the usual fantasy trappings like elves and wizards. The mystery surrounding Jiller's poisoning and the question of who would be chosen to be Keeper -- and why -- remains a question until the penultimate chapter, and events near them hint at the fourth book. The writing is beautifully descriptive without being too much so, and the dialogue is growing more realistic with every new book.

Rowan shows some personal growth since the first book, where he was outstandingly timid; here he is more self-assertive and confident, even when surrounded by strangers, and even defies the Keeper in an effort to save his mother. Jiller and Jonn (now formally engaged) are fairly nebulous. The three candidates are sufficiently defined that they don't blend together, especially Doss, who has a secret; Seaborn, who inexplicably doesn't like being a candidate; and Asha, who adheres viciously to how she thinks the world should work.

"Keeper of the Crystal" is an excellent young kids' fantasy, something for them either to read themselves or be read to at bedtime. Excellent second sequel.

For thousands of the year, the fishlike people called the Maris folk have lived peacefully in their land with their mysterious Crystal, which protects them from the neighboring barbarian Zebak. When Rowan's mother is called upon to her ancestral task of choosing then next Keeper of the Crystal the stakes are high. As always, when the Keeper of the Crystal is near death three chosen Candidates come to compete for the next keeper. However on the first day Rowan't mother, Jiller is poisned and falls into a deathlike sleep. Now Rowan finds himself in the poision of Chooser and has the big task ahead of him to find the antidote for his mother's poison out of a old wrinkled rhyme. Accompanied by the three untrustworthy Candidates, Rowan journeys to the sacred Island to seek the ingredients listed in the rhyme. However gathering the ingrediants means one peril after the other as Rowan as he battles wild beasts and political intrigue. However he has one last test in front of him when he realizes that the chosen Keeper has been bespelled by the Zebak.
Will Rowan be able to get the antidote in time to save his mother? Will he save the Maris from a attack from the Zebak?

The third book in this series was another hit for me. As always Rodda manages to evolve a fantasy world right in front of our eyes. I can's wait to read the fourth edition of Rowan, one unlikely hero!