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In this book, Merlin must return the dark hills to normal and restore all the land in Fincayra with the flowering harp. He is aided by his friend Rhia and Bumblewy, a pathetic jester. His longing for his mother soon takes priority over restoring the land. With the help of the wisest shell he is able to bring his mother from Earth to Fincayra. But she quickly catches the death curse and the only way to cure it is by traveling to the otherworld to retrieve the Elixir of Dagda. In order to do this he must find the souls of the seven songs of magic, travel through the otherworld well, fight a Cyclops named Balor, retrieve the Elixir and return it to his mother. With the help of his two companions, he will have to do this in one month before his mother dies.
This second book of the Merlin series was good. It was well written and interesting. The only thing I didn't like was how easily everything fit together, and how something always happened to break Merlin's way when he was looking for the souls of the songs. I think T.A. Barron did a great job of expressing the emotion of the characters. This book is filled with magic. I would recommend this for people of all ages.

The Seven Songs of Merlin is the second book in the Merlin series written by T.A. Barron. This is a story about a young boy who is discovering himself and what's within him. It is an adventure including mystical creatures, distant lands, and eccentric characters. This series of five books tells the adventures of a well- known wizard before he was famous. It is prologue to the stories King Arthur. The Merlin series is a great series and I do recommend it.
For you to understand some things I will explain about the Seven Songs book, you must know a little about the previous book. The first book starts out with Merlin waking up on a shoreline not knowing who or where he is. A woman takes him in and claims to be his mother, but he is not sure that she is. Merlin discovers he is not an ordinary boy and goes to the mystical land called Fincayra. On this island he finds out that the woman is his mother and discovers his fate. He has powers and is destined to become a greater wizard than his grandfather Tuatha. He goes on an exciting adventure and finds a new friend Rhia. When the first book ended it left me hanging and wanting more, and that is what led me to read this book, The Seven Songs of Merlin.
The book starts out with Merlin missing his mother and wanting her to be with him on Fincayra, so he finds a way to bring her to him. This way is to find the talking shell and tell it what he wants most. When he does this his mother arrives on the beach. When she arrives she is enticed by a cursed flower and the second she touches it she becomes extremely ill and weak. Merlin is filled with guilt and rage. Then he is told that the spirit Dagda has an elixir to cure the disease, but the only problem is Dagda is in the otherworld which is where all spirits live and Merlin is in Fincayra, the middle world. Fincayra is neither mortal or spirit; it is called the in- between place. Merlin is told he must follow the seven songs of wisdom left for him by his grandfather. He must get through all seven songs in time to save his mother. This journey will prepare him to face the giant vile ogre Balor guarding the entrance to the otherworld. Merlin finds these songs on the inside of an ancient tree and sets off on his quest. These tasks are not easy and they take him all over the land. He learns many things about magic as well as things about himself.
Will he make it to the otherworld in time, will the ogre, whose smallest glance can kill, be Merlin's end, or will he prevail and accomplish the task he set out for? Read this fantastic book to find out. I really enjoyed this book. It never had a dull moment and I just couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure or fantasy. The character development was great and it had an intriguing plot. Free time is not something to be wasted, so have a good experience by reading this book. Plus, when you're done reading this one, there are three more books left that are just as good, if not better, that you can read which also tell the story of an interesting adventure.
There are only a few drawbacks that I was able to come up with. The first one that came to my mind is that you have to read the first book to read the second one so you will understand the plot. So, if you want to read the third one you must read the first and second. Its not a drawback if you like to read, but if you're looking for a book that you can just sit and read without wondering what happened in the previous book or what is going to happen in the next book, then this is not the book for you. Another drawback is this book isn't very short and takes a while to read. It is around 300 pages. I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and have personally read 4 of the 5 books and consider them all to be well written and excellent books. Once more I would like to say I personally recommend this book and series to anyone, but mostly fantasy fans.


John F.

This is a wonderful sequel to the already great 1st book, the lost years of merlin.


After merlin topples stangmar, his father, he needs to "revive" the land with the flowering harp. however, he decides that he wants to bring his mother to Fincayra 1st. Using the wisest shell from the shore of speaking shells, he summons his mother to the island. when merlin's mother tries to smell a flower, a death shadow slides out and forces her to swallow it. A death shadow is Rhita Gawr's most painful way of killing someone.It gives the victim a month to live in which the victim will begin to suffer more and more pain. at the end of the month, he or she will die while enduring almost unbearable pain. Merlin finds out that to stop his mother from dying he must retrieve the elixer of Dagda. that means that he must journey to the otherworld to get it. However, the only way of getting to the Otherworld(apart from dying)and returning to the real world alive is to master the seven songs that Tuatha himself carved into Arbassa, Rhia home, a tree. After mastering all of the songs he must defeat/slay Rhita gawr's most fearsome servant, Balor, the one-eyed ogre. While merlin is quickly trying to get the elixer of Dagda, he discovers some thing abouut Rhia that leaves him in a great shock but only makes him triple his efforts to finds the elixer.

This is truly the best book that i have ever read and i think it deserves seven stars out of five. I hope you enjoy it as much as i do.
COMPLIMENTS TO YOU MR. BARRON!!!!!!

This is a wonderful sequel to the already great 1st book, the lost years of merlin.


After merlin topples stangmar, his father, he needs to "revive" the land with the flowering harp. however, he decides that he wants to bring his mother to Fincayra 1st. Using the wisest shell from the shore of speaking shells, he summons his mother to the island. when merlin's mother tries to smell a flower, a death shadow slides out and forces her to swallow it. A death shadow is Rhita Gawr's most painful way of killing someone.It gives the victim a month to live in which the victim will begin to suffer more and more pain. at the end of the month, he or she will die while enduring almost unbearable pain. Merlin finds out that to stop his mother from dying he must retrieve the elixer of Dagda. that means that he must journey to the otherworld to get it. However, the only way of getting to the Otherworld(apart from dying)and returning to the real world alive is to master the seven songs that Tuatha himself carved into Arbassa, Rhia home, a tree. After mastering all of the songs he must defeat/slay Rhita gawr's most fearsome servant, Balor, the one-eyed ogre. While merlin is quickly trying to get the elixer of Dagda, he discovers some thing abouut Rhia that leaves him in a great shock but only makes him triple his efforts to finds the elixer.

This is truly the best book that i have ever read and i think it deserves seven stars out of five. I hope you enjoy it as much as i do.

The second installment of the Lost Years of Merlin finds him fighting not only for his own life, but also the lives of 2 people close to him. He must solve the mysteries of the seven songs and come to understand their meanings before he can be of any use to those who desperately need him. The perils are many, the rewards are spectacular.

T.A. Barron writes another winner as he continues his saga of Merlin, before Camelot and King Arthur. The characters in this book are full of life and begin to feel like old friends as you read the story. There are appearances from past friends also and Barron makes certain they remain true to their character. These books are intended for a younger audience, but the story is so engaging and wonderful, readers of any age will find them hard to put down.

Join Merlin and company as they journey to exotic lands full of strange creatures, friend and foe. Cheer over their triumphs and feel saddened by their losses.

I highly recommend this series to all ages and interests. This is rich story telling at its best. It's also fun to discover where Merlin came from and how he became such a powerful wizard. The books are short and easy to read.

In this book, the Animorphs and Ax morph misquitoes to get blood from a govermental official the Yeerks will try to infest so they can aquire him. They end up in Z-space and an Andalite ship picks them up. The ship is headed for Leera (remember book 15) and the pilot turns out to be a tratior! One of the officers kills the captain and self-distructs the ship, because it landed behind enemy lines. The Animorphs start disapering. Two have disapered by the time they reach the sea. The remaning Animorphs morph sharks and go into the ocean. Finally Ax and one remaning Animorphs are on a mission to destroy some Yeerk thing. Only Ax is left and he does it. What will happen next? Read the book to find out!

For a good synapsis of the actual story, I suggest you read the reviews before mine. They give an excellent overall idea of the story, so I don't want to repeat it in this review, as well.

As another outlook of someone way over the target audience, I've been reviewing the Animorphs for other adults who might be curious. This is another very well written and interesting story which introduces us to the earlier mentioned Leeran race which the Yeerks were attempting to make shark controllers for. Ax faces some very tough decisions in this particular story. Although the main theme is action packed alongside humor, we again have a story about a very lonely young boy who is growing up to fill the shoes (or hooves, as it were) of an older brother who was a legend, serve his people according to his beliefs, and yet where does that put him with the humans, who are almost a foster family? His loyalties are put to the ultimate test when he faces fellow Andalites, who are mortified to think humans have been given the morphing technology. The secret shame of the Andalites in unleashing the Yeerks on the galaxy because of a well-meaning Andalite has made the race very strict about offering anything to another race ever again. Ax was forced with the burden of accepting responsibility for giving the Animorphs their power to keep Elfangor's name cleared so his people can have a hero to look up to in a dark time of war in an earlier book. He has to face that again, this time to his own people, who he's wanted to see for a very long time. Ax also finds himself tail to tail with Visser Three once again, leaving the young cadet to wonder about fear, how to overcome it, and the real meaning of a coward. All of this is rolled into an exciting story about the Animorphs finding themselves swept up into a war between Yeerks and Leerans on a far distant planet due to a Z-Space fluke and a tiny morph. Ax's loyalties are questioned by himself, but also by the rest of the Animorphs. Is he one of them, or isn't he? What is he, really, Andalite or in his hearts, partially human? Ax is able to find his peace by the end of the story, and learns some very harsh realities about his own people, himself, and the world around him.

Animorphs: The Decision By K.A. Applegate

Ax is an andalite stuck on earth because of the horrible Visser Three, a monstrous Yeerk that is the only one to control an andalite's body. Visser Three destroys the andalite dome ship and kills Ax's brother, Elfangor. Now Ax is left with the task of avenging his brother's death and helping his human friends to beat the Yeerks and save Earth. I think the story was excellent and really portrays being a newcomer to a new place.

In this book you will find a new twist on the Z Space Theory. Hint: Just keep in mind how small mosquitoes really are. If you're into aliens you'll love this book. Psychics can be a problem when you're trying to keep a secret. If you're an Animorphs fan you definately need this book.

I like when two different breeds of aliens have war. Animorphs #18 provides an excellent source of science fiction literature. If you enjoy down-right wonderfully written sci-fi this is the book for you!

This is one of the most interesting books that I've ever read. We originally got it to make up our own book of shadows for Halloween, but not I can't stop reading it! Highly recommended.

While this book is quite interesting, the authors seem to confuse, potions, charms, incantations, spells and magical ceremonies quite frequently. Also the majority of 'spells' listed are quite outdated or obscure.

This encyclopedia has almost every spell that you could need. From banishings, cleansings, love spells and even curses, this book is as close to the classical ancient tome of spells that you are likely to get. It was money well spent. It truly is the Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts.

This book is trulu amazing! I could not wait to get it, and when I did I was not disappointed. I spent 2 days reading this book and I can't imagine what other book you would ever need. It contains everything from recipes for inks, oils, incenses, and potions, to history, health warnings on herbs, spells, hexes, and antidotes. This is definitely a book that will be well used and well loved. It is a huge book with huge potential and would be a welcome addition to anyone practicing spellcraft. Highly recommended!!

The book is amazing. It's so big and I payed the full price for it but its one of my best new age reference books I have. The spells come from all kinds of magickal forms. So you can weed out what you need and what you do.
Amazing book!!

This is a terrific book, as good as I've seen for the intermediate user. I'm not a professional but in my opinion, once you've learned the basics, selecting and masking are skills essential for improving your photographs, or whatever type of art you do with Photoshop. This book is a treasure trove of information I've never seen in other books or in tutorials from the web. And I even learned how to use the pen tool, something I've only been frustrated with before.

The author uses a unique combination of tutorials (along with sample files from her website) and descriptions of Photoshop features that will help you easily master every technique.

However, I'll warn you. The pages from my copy were falling out when I first received it from Amazon. If I had been willing to ship it back and wait another couple of weeks, I'm sure they would have replaced it. But it was a frustration. I've managed to keep the book intact with a generous application of glue to the pages, but the binding was unacceptable and I doubt my copy was the only one in that condition.

This book is a must have for designers! Eismann makes masking an easy task and offers some really great tips on how to mask difficult objects such as veils, water bottles, glass, and translucent fabrics. And of course HAIR!

I have other photoshop books, but this one explains it the best.

~Stacey~

Ms. Eismann hits all the areas necessary for one to become proficient in masking and compositing. She is recommended by all the current photoshop gurus for a very good reason. This book is an excellent primer and also delves into advanced techniques. It's a great resource book and I've got post-it flags everywhere. You can't go wrong with this book.

Debbie Schmidt
dsh Solutions
http://www.dshsolutions.com

The most comprehensive book on selecting, masking and layers. It was easy to read and follow. Adobe Photoshop CS3Photoshop Masking & Compositing (VOICES)

The cost of any book by Katrin Eismann is returned to the reader in value many, many times over. This book is everything the photoshop user needs to know about the sometimes daunting, but now made easy by Katrin, masking and compositing images. Now you can make those tough cut-outs of thin strands of hair against tough backgrounds that you used to run away from before.

Katrin is one of the best and this book continues that tradition!

I thank my teacher friends, who gave me this phenomenal recording as a retirement gift. From the first sound of the music and sound effects, through the incredible narration, to the comprehensibility (thanks to the NIV version), I am mesmerized. I have read the Bible a number of times, but I have never experienced it until now. I thought the readers were going to be identified, but I'm glad they were not because as I listened they became the people from the Bible, not actors. I greatly appreciate the attempts at pronouncing some of those names that I don't think anybody really knows how to pronounce, particularly given the way we spell and pronounce some of our children's names these days. A stellar project.

This is a wonderful way to hear the Bible in a manner that allows it to come alive. I have heard some other audio versions of the Bible and they always sounded boring. This one makes the Bible sound like what it really is EXCITING!

My shipment came right on time and was in perfect condition. All the CD's were present in the case with no scrates or marks. Listening to the audio Bible has been awsome for me, it's helped me read along some of the books I find difficult and long. Am a single mom of two and it's the audio Bible has been a perfect away for me to spend time in the word.

If you want a good audio Bible for either your home or your Church for Bible studies this is the complete audio Bible for you "Inspired by the Bible Experience" is the one that you should have cause it has great audio effects as well as a wonderful script and great actors playing the parts the best way they know how. also if you use this for a Bible study this will be a good way to tell the story so they can really get the feel of what the bible is really about. So I highly recommend "Inspired by the Bible experience"

This was a wonderful collection!! I travel a lot and have listened to the Bible on CD before but this is a classic...it is so well acted out that I have cried, laughed but mostly pondered the messages. Talk about making "it real"! Nothing takes the place of reading the Word for yourself but this is excellent...I strongly recommend it.

If you like romance novels then you'll love this on. It tells the story of April who is diagnoised with cancer, she falls in love with a young man named Mark.I won't give away the ending but it's a real tearjerker.

I picked up this book at my local bookstore because i absolutely adore Lurlene McDaniel's books. They are so heartwrenching and tug at your heart strings. This book was especially great. I read it in two days and could not put it down. i recently bought her 2nd part to the novel. This book is absolutely incredible and if youre into those heart-breaking-loving-romantic stories this is the book for you. Anyone can relate to this story no matter what. Not only is this a great read but its educational.i learned a lot about CF and how it effects people. PICK THIS BOOK UP TODAY!

I loved this book! I still do love this book! I am so happy that I chose this book randomly off the bookshelf at the book store, because if I hadn't then I wouldn't have gotten to read "Till Death Do Us Part".

April's trying not think of why she might really be in the hospital agian. She's 17, and hasn't been in the hospital since she was 5, and had a brain tumor. She's been having terrible headaches lately though, and she fainted in class. April is desperatly hoping that the headaches arne't related to the brian tumor she had 12 years ago. Her worst nightmare comes true though. The tumor's back. Only this time, they can't just surjically remove it. It's too close to her brain. Radiations her only hope.

April can't believe it. When she tell her popular soccer playing boyfriend, Chriss, he doesn't know how to handle it. Her best friend, Katie, is trying, but it's hard to know how to act.

The only good part abaout being in the hospital is Mark. Mark has CF, and has problems breathing. His illnes is terminal, and he will die. He falls in love with April though. At first April's afraid to date him, because he's sick, but her makes her feel more special than anyone in the world.

April begins to fall in love with Mark. He always knows how to cheer her up, and truly wants to be with her. She loves going to the track to watch him race cars, his hobby. It's bad for his CF, but April knows that it's one of the few ways he can control his life. She also loves going to their favorite Italian restaurant, and just being with him.

When Mark asks April to marry him, she says yes. She never dreamed that the wedding would never happen. How could she have known that there would be a racing car accident? Thar Mark would wind up in the hospital.

This book was so sad, and I just wanted to bawl my eyes out. I can only say one thing. DON'T READ THE SEQUEL. In my opinion, it absolutely ruins the wanderful story that Lurlene McDaniel has writen.

It was so sad that in the end i cried. I know what its like to loose someone close to my heart and it made i easier to relate to this book. The book kept me wanting to know what would happen to April and Mark. It showed me that it's just as hard fo other people to go through hard times.

As the widow of a man with cystic fibrosis I can relate to this book as if it was my own. I was amazed at the reality used in this book and how true it can be to the actual feelings that a person feels in this situation. When my husband asked me to marry him at age 23 (me being 19) I agreed thinking that we would have many happy years together. However after being married exactly one year to the date his CF worsened and he passed away after 1 year, 6 months of marriage. He left behind a wife and a beautiful son that he was never able to meet.

I rented this book on CD and thought, how could I go wrong with Nora Roberts. I found this book to be slow and I really did not care about the characters. The language bothered me and Eve Dallas just did not come across well in this book. I did not find this book interesting and for an 8 hour drive I fought to finish it. Nora is too good for this kind of writing. Read her Irish trilogy a much better choice.

Once again Eve tracks down the sadistic bad guy. Ms Robb has a superior talent. I am glad she decided to share this talent with the rest of the world. I hope she continues in this matter.

As ever with the Death series JD Robb rocks. All the favorites character are here and continues to draw you into their lives. You feel invested and entwined in their lives as Eve & Company continue solving crimes and making you care.

Another winning book in the "...IN DEATH" series, this one finds Eve fighting for justice for the lower class citizens of New York.

After finding a street sleeper dead in his crib, his heart surgically removed, it doesn't take Eve long to figure out that there's some type of conspiracy involved within the medical community. When the threats become personal and Eve is forced to hand over her weapon and her badge, her personal life takes a turn for the worse.

This is a very emotional Eve & Roarke read, and highly recommended!

Someone is killing the homeless of New York, in the year 2058, and removing their body parts! As Lieutenant Eve Dallas unravels the mystery behind who is killing them and why (affectionately known as the "sidewalk sleeper murders"), she is forced to face an adversary who will stop at nothing, including framing her for murder, to get her thrown off the case. Torn between a love for the job, a pursuit for the truth, and fighting to keep the one thing that she REALLY loves, besides Roarke, her badge, Eve is stripped of everything, and for the first time in the series, we see Eve really vulnerable and hurting (even too sad to spare with Summerset, who we all know she has a love/hate relationship with). With her true friends support, Eve continues her journey in discovering the truth, no matter what the consequences. And we all learn how really important her careeer and badge are.

If you love the "in death" series, you will love this book as well. You even get an opportunity to see Dr. Mira, Feeney, McNab, Peabody, Baxter, Webster (old lover of Eve's), and Commander Whitney. And I finally find out how Trueheart and Dr. Louise's characters are introduced into the "in death" series. [I must admit that I have not read the series in order, so finding out these things is always helpful]. I highly recommend this book.

My daughter was reading this book for her government class and I started reading this. I could not put this book down. Even my husband started reading Lady President. This unique tale of international intrigue and political double-dealing is almost right out of todays headlines. President Marie Arcola is a tough, well created character and a role model for the women in our nation. I am going to bring this one to my bookclub and I hope to see a sequel soon.

The ladies from my book club stumbled on this Lady President novel over their summer reading from two of their teenage daughters. My gosh! The way this story is told is as if the author could see the future. The situation in Iraq and Iran, the events from last September, the incidents in Washington, D.C. President Marie Arcola is very much a mirror of what women are going through in todays world. I am a manager of a big company and I can relate to the stereotypes in this novel. Many of my friends who read this book were surprised about the certain prophecies touched upon in this fast-paced story. And we are only two years away from a Presidential election.

I had to pick a bunch of books to do my government paper. Lady President was one of the books. My teacher said it was great for a fiction but since there has not been an America woman president I could only use it for entertainment purposes. Still this book was the talk of my class. And I did my paper on other women in American politics. My older sister and my mom read Lady President and they loved it. They thought President Marie Arcola was a strong, tough character. We also liked Senator Ttrevor Thomas and the other characters. Someday this story might be true or a story like it. I will be going to college in two years and plan to go into education. I know for a fact there is politics in the field of education. I think this book educated a bunch of my friends and I about America with a woman president.

I am doing a high school paper about women in politics and I read Lady President. It is difficult to understand why women have to struggle in this country and I can identify with President Marie Arcola as she tries to get the generals and senators to cooperate and let her do her job. My teacher brought up this idea of an American woman president in class and the class was divided. Some of my friends read this book and were impressed. My government class has learned alot about other countries from this story. Especially Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. And the way the Taliban treated women. I think Lady President is ahead of its time and we hope to see another book with President Marie Arcola.

I am a San Francisco professor on Sabbatical. I was talking with my daughter about this extraordinary Lady President novel and I have brought it to my sisters attention. We were in New York City during the summer and two weeks after September 11th. Part of my teachings deal with how books and movies mirror our inner egos. In Xavier Carbajal's Lady President novel a tense dramatic statement is introduced for the future of America. Right off the bat, this author causes chaos: America has its first woman vice president and she wants to quit. Vice President Marie Arcolas life is near perfect. She has a wealthy, loving husband, two beautiful children and is ready to relax into a life of writing childrens novels. But terrorism makes the mark. My sister read this book a few months ago and she told me it was like walking through a maze of mirrors. I noticed this author wrote a Jules Verne sequel called Captain Nemo and another work on Edgar Allan Poe. Those other works are very different from this novel. I am curious as to how this author had the intuition to create Lady President. Although Hollywood and other writers have attempted to invent America with its first woman president, they will never come close to what Lady President has to offer. There is a sense of primal fear intertwined with every page. The author takes the lady president and asks us "What do you think? How is America with a woman president?" Now, since my daughter and I read this novel, my sister read it again and brought some interesting theories to light. My husband also read this novel and introduced a totally new revelation of Americas future: all the soldiers, the call to duty and the sacrifices made to fight true evil and our country now becoming a fortress. Mr. Carbajal left the end of this story with us wondering. We still have dozens of unanswered questions. I hope to see a sequel to this marvelous story.

this has to be the most awesome book series yet while harry potter is one of my favorite books this comes whithin a two point close at second. i like how Mr. Riordan has everything packed into a couple hundred pages that means at every turn theres always something exciting happening. Mr. R. my favorite series about Olypians is denfinetiely this series. can't wait for the last one

"This book is about a little boy named Percy Jackson, who is a half-blood -- part god (one of Triton's sons) and part human. In this Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy is trying to save the half-blood camp, where all of the little half-bloods go; from a boy named Luke, who has turned upon his own kind and sides with Kronos (Triton's father), who wants to destroy the camp. I think the book was a very enjoyable book to read (I read it all in one day) and I loved the way this series of books were written and put together."

My husband, 10 year old son and I have been following the Percy Jackson saga - and this latest installment did not disappoint. The old characters are back and though they are consistent there is appropriate growth. Plenty of new monsters, new obstacles, and a very satisfying continuation of the larger plot. We look forward to the next book!!!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1IPFDUA4Y24PZ Hey, I am a fan of this series and think Rick Riordan has done a good job creating a world. Personally, I also feel this is a great place to go after Harry Potter. It has a very similar, but unique and original feel.

Check http://jorgie-books.blogspot.com if you would like more of my opinions on books.

One again I haven't read this book but my grandson loves the set. He says that they're really good.

DELTORA QUEST are a fantastic book series for juvenile readers, filled with action and magic and adventure. THE FORESTS OF SILENCE is anything but silent. It absolutely SCREAMS fine work and captivates readers on the first page. The Shadow Lord is a non-appearing villain in this book, much like the main villains in LORD OF THE RINGS and ERAGON & ELDEST, but Rodda makes up for it easily with Gorl the evil knight, the sinister Grey Guards and who could forget the absolutely wicked Prandine. This book is a true modern classic and will and should be remembered for years.

This is absolutely one of the best series. Sure they are short books. There are 15 books in all. The main story is Leif and his friends Barda and Jasmine have to go on a very important mission to save all of Deltora. I'm not going to give any of the plot away though!

I was rather surprised to see so many positive reviews of this book, but I guess I'm not the standard in this case.

When I bought this book I had never heard of Deltora Quest or Emily Rodda before and the only reason I paid money for it was because I wanted to read a marginally written children's fantasy. But this has nothing to do with my taste in books.

As I read it, I became increasingly embarrassed by the writing. The book's pace was unsettlingly quick so by page fifty the characters were already grown up and had families. It's meant as a children's story so the book is given some allotment of cheesiness, but it's taken to another level with the constant barrage of cliched phrases and cookie-cutter characters that are just plain boring. To be honest, it read like an unskilled preteen's idea of fantasy with a plot line thought up during third period math class.

The majority of my problem with this book doesn't lie with the plot because any plot can be made interesting with some crafty writing. This book didn't have crafty writing. The dialogue was weak at best and the occasional attempt at dated language was painful. The zooming plot line mixed with the excruciating descriptions make it hard to read.

I suppose in the end I got what I wanted, thus the two stars, but this book just isn't that good. Yes, it's a children's book and any child would like it, but even children deserve some quality writing and for a seasoned writer, this shouldn't be considered a huge success.

Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. It is about two boys name Jarred and Endon who have been best friends since they where little. They lived in a castle, Endon was the son of the king of Deltora and Jarred was the son of a butler at the castle. Endon's dad has just died and he is about to take over the thrown. Jarred has done some research on the belt of Deltora and knows that if Endon does not where the belt all of Deltora will fall to the dark lord. One of the kings friends talks Endon into thinking that Jarred is going to betray him, so Endon has called the guards on Jarred but will he escape?
Deltora is vast land suppurated into 7 tribes who each had a magical gem. The story of the land goes that there once was a blacksmith. He wanted to bring the tribes together. So he makes a belt with 7 slots to put the gems in. After he made the belt He went to each of the tribes to ask them to set there gems in the belt. One by one the each put there gem inside the belt, then he put on the belt and all of the tribes where united and he was known as the king of delta but what he doesn't know is that someone is planing to kill him.
I would recommend this book to anybody with a great since of imagination and adventure.

This book was my first fantasy book, and it made me a lifelong fan. Rodda's way of writing is magnificent, and her descriptions are amazing. For those who read "epic", if you want your kids to become like you, this is a great place to start, reminiscent of Robert Jordan.

Storyline:
Young Lief of Del, a boy living in living nightmare to all, is called forth by his father, Jared. The first half is taken in the POV of Jared, the second Lief. Lief and Barda set out to the Forests of Silence, to find the first gem of the belt of Deltora.

Pros:
-Nice unclichéd characters, although one reminds me of a character from the Wheel of Time, slightly.
-Good worldbuilding that stretches over the entire series; one that could almost be real.
-Great sense of danger; the monsters are unique in fashion; like the Oz tales.

Cons:
-Random seperations of characters; anger used in unhelpful situations.