Book Review: "City of the Rats" by Emily Rodda

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Lief, Barda and Jasmine head to the city of rats, but are stopped when they end up trapped in a weird cult obsessed with cleanliness. They accidentally become trapped and have to find a way out. But even so, they still have to find the City of rats.

RETURNING CHARACTERS

Lief is still slightly naive (at least when it comes to Tom) but is not stupid. He notes how strange the group of people they meet are, even before the truth comes out. He later reveals how he figured out a strange connection no one else saw.

Barda still doesn't have much of a part to play, I am afraid. Although he does remind Lief of an item that saves them in one scene. But other than that, he doesn't do much.

Jasmine, again does much of the hard work. She helps Lief defeat the snake while Barda does nothing but watch. I do not know why Rodda didn't simply let Barda do it. Jasmine already helped in the first quest and she saved them from Jin and Jod in the second.

NEW CHARACTERS

Tira is a young girl who Lief saves from a fierce punishment. She later comes to their aid and although she seems timid and helpless, she proves herself brave.

Tom is the shopkeeper to where the group purchases many items for their quest. Jasmine does not quite like the shop and even Barda is suspicious at first. But Lief is easily won over by the many amazing items. But Tom may not be what he seems.

Reeah is the huge snake that guards the opal and lives in the city of rats.

Lord Ra-kacharz is the leader of a strange cult that the group comes upon in a city called Noradzeer.

PACING

The pacing is decent and like the other books, many chapters are cliffhanger endings.

STRUCTURE

The structure is similar to the last book, as the main part of the story keeps them from their goal, but helps them learn about the enemy or obtain something to help defeat the enemy (Manus and his flute in book two for example). A large portion of the book is spent with the weird cleanliness cult, and then getting to the city.

CLIMAX

The actual confrontation with Reeah the giant snake is only one chapter long. I kind of expected it to be longer. It was mostly a scene where we started to understand the odd cult that we ran into before.

RELATIONSHIPS-SPOILERS

The relationship between Jasmine and Lief develops as Jasmine admits she does not believe that the kings and queens could be so stupid and blind as Lief says. She even suggests that she stay behind in one scene because they do not agree on some things (being the truth of the kings). Barda is mad at her but Lief understands. He used to feel the same way.

Also, Jasmine tends to provide a counter view on many things, like when she notes that Tom only believes in himself, like many creatures do. Lief argues with her about how he is not a creature and should know what is right.

RIDDLES

There are riddles just like in the last book, some with words twisted, and another where Lief has to avoid being tricked by two pieces of paper that both say death. The riddles are simple but it's still interesting to see them solved.

EXPLICIT CONTENT-SPOILERS

A man is killed by poison. The snake is killed by cutting its throat open.

CONCLUSION

Rodda creates another unique tale with fun riddles to solve. Jasmine and Lief's characters are at odds often in the book but develop quite well. Although Barda is still rather useless and the climax is short, I still found the book a worthy entry in the series. I give “City of the Rats” three and half stars.