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A review by brittney_tyler
The Sister of the South by Emily Rodda
5.0
Star Rating: 5 stars
Date: 9/19/23 – 9/21/23
Note: This is the 4th book in Dragons of Deltora and the 15th and final book in the overarching Deltora series so this will not be an in-depth review.
I have been reading a lot of classic epic fantasy and science fiction, and I decided that I wanted a little bit of a “break” so I picked up The Sister of the South, book 4 in the Dragons of Deltora arc and the 15th and final book in the overarching Deltora series. This book is intended for young readers just getting into chapter books and is an amazing series to start children with if you want them to develop a love for fantasy as it is one of the earliest books I remember reading in the genre. I have been re-reading them over the last few years to try and make my Goodreads an accurate representation of my reading preferences so it gives me good recommendations, and they also make great “break” books.
This series tells the story of a kingdom called Deltora, once a beautiful, unique, thriving country filled with many different creatures and peoples, protected by magic and ruled by a benevolent and loved royal family. However, the Shadow Lord, a sorcerer from a neighboring kingdom grew jealous of Deltora’s abundance and launched a multi-layered plan to conquer the kingdom and destroy its wonder. He was thought to be successful until a young blacksmith’s son discovers a family secret and sets out on a quest of epic proportions that just might save his world. As I stated previously, this book is perfect to introduce young readers to the fantasy genre as it has many of troupes that more versed readers will recognize but demonstrated in a much more approachable way. Also, it has lots of puzzles and riddles included in the narrative with cool formatting, which will engage young readers and keep them reading.
Another of the things I think this series does amazing and that I want to highlight is the themes that it introduces to young readers. In this volume and at multiple points in this series, we explore censoring and inflammatory “media”, and with how our world is going, this is a great concept to introduce to kids and educators and parents can use the feelings that this series sparks in that regard to open conversions about this topic. It also delves into environmentalism and why we should protect our natural resources as well as the cycle of history and how we should learn from our mistakes to not perpetuate the horrors of the past. Finally, it discusses leadership and what makes a good leader and what it means to lead. All in all, if your young reader is ready to be challenged with more complex narratives, but you still want to have some literary weight, this may be a good series to try.
However, when it comes to my own personal experience, this book and series gave me exactly what I wanted from it: nostalgia and a “break” from some of the harder and more complex books I’ve been reading. I think the narrative is actually unique and fun and I really liked how as the series went on, the books slowly got more complex (It aged up with its readers, which is something all good middle grade series should do). I think it holds up as an adult, albeit in a different way than it did as a child, and I will be keeping it on my forever shelves, re-reading it again in the future, and passing it on to my children if I end up having any. 5 stars!!!!!!!!
Date: 9/19/23 – 9/21/23
Note: This is the 4th book in Dragons of Deltora and the 15th and final book in the overarching Deltora series so this will not be an in-depth review.
I have been reading a lot of classic epic fantasy and science fiction, and I decided that I wanted a little bit of a “break” so I picked up The Sister of the South, book 4 in the Dragons of Deltora arc and the 15th and final book in the overarching Deltora series. This book is intended for young readers just getting into chapter books and is an amazing series to start children with if you want them to develop a love for fantasy as it is one of the earliest books I remember reading in the genre. I have been re-reading them over the last few years to try and make my Goodreads an accurate representation of my reading preferences so it gives me good recommendations, and they also make great “break” books.
This series tells the story of a kingdom called Deltora, once a beautiful, unique, thriving country filled with many different creatures and peoples, protected by magic and ruled by a benevolent and loved royal family. However, the Shadow Lord, a sorcerer from a neighboring kingdom grew jealous of Deltora’s abundance and launched a multi-layered plan to conquer the kingdom and destroy its wonder. He was thought to be successful until a young blacksmith’s son discovers a family secret and sets out on a quest of epic proportions that just might save his world. As I stated previously, this book is perfect to introduce young readers to the fantasy genre as it has many of troupes that more versed readers will recognize but demonstrated in a much more approachable way. Also, it has lots of puzzles and riddles included in the narrative with cool formatting, which will engage young readers and keep them reading.
Another of the things I think this series does amazing and that I want to highlight is the themes that it introduces to young readers. In this volume and at multiple points in this series, we explore censoring and inflammatory “media”, and with how our world is going, this is a great concept to introduce to kids and educators and parents can use the feelings that this series sparks in that regard to open conversions about this topic. It also delves into environmentalism and why we should protect our natural resources as well as the cycle of history and how we should learn from our mistakes to not perpetuate the horrors of the past. Finally, it discusses leadership and what makes a good leader and what it means to lead. All in all, if your young reader is ready to be challenged with more complex narratives, but you still want to have some literary weight, this may be a good series to try.
However, when it comes to my own personal experience, this book and series gave me exactly what I wanted from it: nostalgia and a “break” from some of the harder and more complex books I’ve been reading. I think the narrative is actually unique and fun and I really liked how as the series went on, the books slowly got more complex (It aged up with its readers, which is something all good middle grade series should do). I think it holds up as an adult, albeit in a different way than it did as a child, and I will be keeping it on my forever shelves, re-reading it again in the future, and passing it on to my children if I end up having any. 5 stars!!!!!!!!