City of the Rats (Deltora Quest, #3) (Deltora Quest 1, #3)

by Emily Rodda

Deltora Quest is one of the hallmarks of my childhood. I eagerly read and reread each book in the series when the next one came out. When they were all out, I read and reread the series whenever it struck my fancy. Which, quite frankly, was a lot. It's hard not to love them though, they're just typical fantasy and fantasy is my one true genre - no matter what else I read, it's always fantasy I come back to.

Quest stories are the quintessence of classic fantasy. There's nothing like a hero with a quest against evil. In Deltora Quest, the hero is Lief - a sixteen year old boy who wants nothing more than to return peace and happiness to his kingdom. When he is offered the chance to fulfil a promise his father made, he jumps - leaping headfirst into danger to try to make a difference.

The Belt of Deltora is the only thing that can defeat the Shadow Lord who rules but it was broken many years ago, the seven gems scattered across the realm and guarded by only the most evil creations. Lief sets out to find the gems and reunite the belt so that the Prince of Del can claim his throne and push the evil of the Shadow Lord back into the Shadowlands and away from the kingdom. Lief begins his journey with the beggar Barda, an old friend of his parents but it's not long before they're also joined by Jasmine, the wild orphaned girl they meet at their first stop - and her companions Filli (a possum? mouse? type thing?) and Kree, a raven.

Each book follows the trio as they travel the land for the lost gems, weaving a tightly written narrative with lots of action and adventure. Along the way they meet new people both friends and enemies, have to confront their own hopes and fears and figure out and solve many riddles, puzzles and problems to complete their quest.

The third book begins with the consequences of killing Thaegan and her children, Jin and Jod. The other eleven of her kids are out for blood. No sooner than Jasmine, Lief and Barda realise they are being followed, they end up hanging from the tree in the net the kids have set for them. I enjoyed how the trio deal with this situation. They kids are already busy fighting amongst themselves and so the trio use that to their advantage, encouraging the discord.

“Are they not stupid?” Lief shouted suddenly, pretending that he was talking to Barda and Jasmine. “Do they not know that they cannot have equal shares!” “Lief, are you mad?” hissed Jasmine. But Lief went on shouting. He could see that the monsters had grown still, and were listening. “There are three of us, and eleven of them!” he roared. “You cannot divide three fairly into eleven parts. It is impossible!”

Emily Rodda. Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats (p. 12). Scholastic Inc.. Kindle Edition.

While they're distracting the kids, Filli is busy chewing through the net that holds them and by the time she's finished only one child remains, the biggest of the bunch, Ichabod. They manage to take him out and cross the border.

Along the way they keeping seeing signs for a shop called Tom which boasts everything for the traveller and decide to take a look. Jasmine has never seen a shop so it's a bit of a novelty (although she ends up waiting outside) and Lief and Barda are in awe with the variety and scope of Tom's merchandise.

They finally have decided on their purchases when a man enters. Lief, Jasmine and Barda observe the stranger make the V sign of the resistance which in turn sees Tom reduce the price of the goods. When Tom realise they're against the Shadow Lord he throws in some extras.

They're about to leave when they find Jasmine patting some of Tom's horses. Barda suggests they buy the horses to help make their journey go quicker. I love that they have no more money and Jasmine is like "oh I have treasures, just let me see" and then upends a bag of gold coins. Anyway, Tom won't sell them the horses but he offers them 3 legged donkey like animals called muddlets.

Of course nothing goes to plan when the muddlets bolt and they end up in a city called Noradz. Noradz is a fortress against germs. And when they find Jasmine with Filli it's certain death. Although they do get to eat at the banquet beforehand. Thankfully they meet a lovely girl, Tira, who Lief saves when she accidentally knocks over the food and it falls on the floor.

Lief takes the blame and ends up on trial. He has to use all his wits when the leader swaps out the judgement cards so that there's two death ones rather than one life, one death. I liked this bit. He ends up slipping and letting it fall in the fire so no one could see and then asking them to check the remaining one. They get locked in the dungeon but Tira helps them escape. They also learn that the food delivered to the palace in Del comes from the people in Noradz.

They are returned to Tom's shop where they find the muddlets they bought were actually Noradz muddlets - hence why they bolted for home. Lief in particular is very angry at Tom - both for selling stolen goods and for selling goods to everyone rather than just those on the side of "good". I honestly see both sides of the argument. And Tom's right, without him they'd already be dead - regardless of him selling to "bad" people.

Travelling on, the trio finally reach the City of Rats. A large moat like river blocks the way. Luckily Lief still has Tom's free gift - Water Eaters. They get across but soon discover why the place is called City of Rats. I hate this part of the book. Even more so since I read 1984. Rats are just disgusting.

They discover the monster in the City of Rats is a giant snake named Reeah. And that the people of Noradz used to live in the City of Rats - hence the cleanliness issues. It's kind of anti-climatic. Lief throws the fire beads and manages to light everything up and Jasmine manages to slay the snake with a sword. Very Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets if Hermione was taking over. Well, maybe Ginny. She does tend to be more athletic.

I love that Jasmine takes such a prominent role in the action. Without Jasmine, Lief and Barda would be dead many times over. Unfortunately she does have to use more of the nectar from the Lilies of Life on Lief to heal him but I guess it's a worthwhile cause. Lol. The third gem, the Opal, is returned to the Belt and it's onto the next adventure.



5 stars.