Book Review: "Cavern of the Fear" by Emily Rodda

SPOIL FREE SUMMARY

The Shadow Lord has fled, but he taken prisoners with him. Lief has grown distant from Jasmine and Barda and become reclusive thanks to multiple attempts on his life. But when a mysterious Pipe is revealed Lief decides to set out and retrieve it.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Lief feels overwhelmed with the throne. Because attempts on his life have been made by people who have previously been loyal citizens he is confused about who to trust.

Jasmine feels cut off from Lief and that he has changed, no longer trusting her. She also feels out of place in the castle, still going barefoot and still getting odd glances from people.

Glock is from the race of Jalis, a warrior tribe. He is brave but sometimes rash. He seems to see it his duty to look after Jasmine.

Barda is the same character. Still a mentor/big brother to Lief.

<>Marilen is a girl that Lief brings from Tora. She seems meek at first but quickly becomes bold, confiding in the queen.

Azan & Clef are two goblins who rescue Barda and Lief.

PACING

The pacing is slower at first. Because in order for the story to get set in motion, we must see Lief going to Tora, Jasmine finding a lost item, and then both learning from it.

JASMINE'S ROLE-SPOILERS

Jasmine ends up being led to a man who has a valuable item to the kingdom. She then brings this man and the item to Lief and is surprised that everyone is so grateful. This is crucial to the plot because Jasmine then secretly gets information while Lief later gets information. Both set out on their journey's because of that item.

PUZZLES

There are a few puzzles in the story. They occur when Barda and Lief are in trouble and Lief has to solve two puzzles. The first being one with spotting words in a maze of letters. And the second is a riddle.

FIGHTING SPIDERS

There is a scene in the beginning where both Glock and Jinks are seen fighting with spiders. These spiders are vengeful, and whenever one loses it won't stop until it finds the other. It can sense the other and will find it no matter where it is. This later plays a big role, as Lief and Barda take Jinks along with his spider, to find Glock's spider.

PREDICTABILITY-SPOILERS

Jasmine discovers a hidden chamber in the castle. Being restless and upset about Lief she goes forward and finds an item that communicates with a prisoner of the Shadow Lord. To spoil it, the girl claims to be the little sister of Jasmine's. Jasmine is furious that Lief would keep this secret from her (she thinks he must know and have learned about it).

I was kind of annoyed because I knew the moment I read it, there was no sister and this was a trap. The odds of her mom being pregnant without her knowing about it seemed zero. I understand the need was to put Jasmine and Lief at odds, but couldn't it have been less obvious? Jasmine is usually the smartest of the group, saving there lives in the majority of the books. And yet not only did she believe something with so little evidence but she assumed the worst of Lief and never even confronted him.

LIEF'S BURDEN

It's mentioned that Lief wishes he could tell his friends the truth about a certain issue. This helps set up suspense.

CLIMAX

Lief, Jasmine, Barda and Glock have to face the Fear, a huge monster. Although Jasmine attempts to kill it, it's Jalis who deals the killing blow. Everyone narrowly avoids getting crushed by the huge tentacles and Jasmine and Glock share a sad but sweet moment.

TWIST ENDING

We finally get the first piece of pipe from an unexpected source thanks to a story from Doran the dragonlover.

CONCLUSION

The world has expanded with a new group of islands and a new race of people. The monster is terrifying and the way the first piece of pipe is retrieved is surprising and poetic. My only gripe was the motivation of Jasmine with a ploy that every reader can see through. I give “Cavern of the Fear” three and a half stars.