Book Review: "Return to Del" by Emily Rodda

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Lief and his friends finally have all seven gems of the belt. But they must reunite the seven tribes to regain its true power. And then there is the finding of the heir. But twists and turns lead Lief confused. It doesn't help that there seems to be a traitor in their midst. And to top it off, they have to sneak into a well guarded Del.

RETURNING CHARACTERS

Lief's humility revealed more of itself than in any other book. And his unique characteristic: riddle solving, is crucial to the climax.

Barda plays an important role in this book. Again, he provides crucial wisdom that allows the quest to continue.

Jasmine is consistent in character, losing her temper once again. But she later shows how she has changed, by openly crying and seeking Lief's hand for comfort.

Doom may have let his anger cloud his judgment, but he does not come across as a dumb elder, who needed a young, less jaded person to do his dirty work. Instead he just seems screwed up and we understand why from previous revelations. There is enough tension between him and Lief to cause suspicions.

Dain returns with Doom. He helps care for a wounded friend.

PACING-SPOILERS

The pacing is still decent, even thought he bulk of the book is spent outside of Del, outside of the climax. We don't actually get to Del until chapter eleven. From there, things move fast though. And we face out share of problems even before then, including grey guards, killer plants, and a character on the verge of death.

CLIMAX-SPOILERS

We face two enemies. One, which is quickly defeated, and the second, which isn't actually defeated by Lief. And Lief wins not by any actual fight, but the discovering the belt's true power. There isn't an actual fight with the shadow Lord. Now, if I didn't know about a sequel, that would annoy me. But seeing how Lief will face the Shadow Lord in another book, I can't really complain.

RIDDLES

The riddle of this book is the secret of the belt. Throughout the story, Lief is trying to discover the true power of the belt. He returns to the book but doesn't actually understand it until the climax.

THE TRUE HEIR

There are hints about who the heir is throughout the series. There was never a time where I thought, it's so obvious. So when Rodda paints one character as the heir, and then another, they both seem plausible.

EXPLICIT CONTENT-SPOILERS

Nevets kills some grey guards and disposes their bodies by feeding them to killer plants.

CONCLUSION

In Rodda's final installment, the only thing we know is that nothing is certain. There are trails laid everywhere, and most of them are false. But all secrets are eventually revealed. We see Lief and Jasmine develop more, and maybe even hint at a romantic relationship in the future. I give “Return to Del” four stars.