Review – The Forests of Silence by Emily Rodda (3/5 stars)

This is the first book in the Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda. I think the series is 8 books in length but I am not certain. These books were about what I expected them to be. They say they are aimed at the 9-12 year old age and I think they are really much younger books than that.

These books were a super easy read. I read a lot of young adult books and I think these would be classified more as childrens’ books; kind of beginner chapter books. They are written very simply. The writing is easy to read and the vocabulary used very basic.

I thought the the character conversations were very forced. They all sounded awkward, like the characters were reading from a bad script. I know the author is trying to keep vocab easy but especially the beginning of the book was hard to get through.

The story itself is also not that creative. It is a very classic evil lord takes over the realm and young boy must collect the seven magical gems to overcome him story. The characters are very stereotyped; I felt like I was reading a session of Dungeons and Dragons where the players weren’t all that interesting or creative.

Despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy the book that much, I think a younger kid might. This book would be a good starter chapter book and a good entry into the fantasy realm for a kid just starting out reading on their own. In many ways it reminded me of the choose your own adventure books I read as a kid; except you couldn’t choose anything in this book.

There was some charm in this being such a classical type of fantasy adventure story. I just honestly think that they are many better fantasy books out their for both children and young adults. This is a good starter series nothing more. I don’t think I will read any more of these. I will keep this book around for my son though and when he is older he can read it and see if he wants to continue with them.