Deltora Quest is the original series created by the author Emily Rodda

Jennifer Rowe

Jennifer June Rowe is an Australian author. Her crime fiction for adults is published under her own name, while her children's fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson...

 in the year 2000 in Australia. There are eight books in this series: The Forests of Silence

The forests of silence

The Forests of Silence was written by Emily Rodda, and is the first book in the eight-volume Deltora Quest series. It was awarded "Notable Series in Children's Book of the Year Awards 2001: Younger Readers"...

, The Lake of Tears

The lake of tears

The Lake of Tears is the second book in the eight-volume Deltora Quest series written by Emily Rodda. It continues the trio's journey to find the seven missing gems of Deltora, braving dangers and guardians in each book.-Plot summary:...

, City of the Rats

City of the Rats

City of the Rats is the third book in the eight-volume Deltora Quest series written by Emily Rodda. It continues the trio's journey to find the seven missing gems of Deltora, braving dangers and guardians in each book.-Plot summary:...

, The Shifting Sands

The Shifting Sands

The Shifting Sands is the fourth book in the eight-volume Deltora Quest fantasy novel series written by Emily Rodda. It continues the trio's journey to find the seven missing gems of Deltora, braving dangers and Guardians in each book.-Plot:...

, Dread Mountain

Dread Mountain

Dread Mountain is the fifth book in the Deltora Quest children's fantasy series written by Emily Rodda. It continues the quest of Lief, Barda, and Jasmine to find the seven missing gems of Deltora, braving dangers and Guardians in each book. The fourth gem has been found and the fifth is hidden in...

, The Maze of the Beast, The Valley of the Lost and Return to Del in that order. These books follow with other works of Emily Rodda including Deltora Quest 2

Deltora Quest 2

Deltora Quest 2 is a series of children’s fantasy books, written by Australian author Emily Rodda. It follows the adventures of three companions as they journey outside the magical land of Deltora to rescue the many prisoners held captive by the evil Shadow Lord...

(Deltora Shadowlands), Deltora Quest 3

Deltora Quest 3

Deltora Quest 3 is a series of children's fantasy books, written by Australian author Emily Rodda...

(Dragons of Deltora), The Deltora Book of Monsters and Tales of Deltora.

Plot

The series depicts the adventures of Lief, the teenage son of a blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

, and the Good vs. Evil struggle of his country against its dictator

Dictator

A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

. He initially lives with his parents

Nuclear family

Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...

 in the city of Del, situated on the fictional island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Deltora. The main story arc

Story arc

A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...

 takes place during a time of economic depression

Depression (economics)

In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....

 and political repression

Political repression

Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....

, under the dictatorship of the evil

Evil

Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...

 Shadow Lord. This is the second time that the country's welfare has been threatened by him: the Shadow Lord's previous attempt at power was foiled by the creation of a magical jeweled Belt

Belt (clothing)

A belt is a flexible band or strap, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing.-History:...

 that was able to repel his dark magic and drive him into hiding. Over time, however, he was able to infiltrate the royal cabinet and manipulate the royal family into wearing the Belt less and less. Eventually, the Shadow Lord also managed to corrupt the trade

Trade

Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...

 system, sever communication between major cities, and render civilians politically powerless. Having established chaos, he set his seven Ak-Baba to scatter the Belt's gemstones

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

 throughout Deltora, in "fearful places, guarded by seven terrifying guardians". The people's protection gone, the Shadow Lord assumed leadership. Lief, born soon after the beginning of this dark reign, is told of the gems on his sixteenth birthday

Birthday

A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...

. His father, Jarred, has reforged the damaged Belt so that the gems may be reunited. Wanting the Shadow Lord overthrown, Lief leaves home to search for the seven gems: the topaz

Topaz

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...

, the ruby

Ruby

A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...

, the opal

Opal

Opal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...

, the lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....

, the emerald

Emerald

Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...

, the amethyst

Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...

 and the diamond

Diamond (gemstone)

A diamond is one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones...

, which represent each of the ancient tribes

Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

 of Deltora. He is accompanied by Barda "The Bear", a family friend who once worked as a palace guard

Security guard

A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...

 for the royal family, and they are later joined by the undomesticated

Domestication

Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...

forest girl Jasmine. Together the trio travel across Deltora in search of the lost gems. The locations of the gems comprise the titles of the books, and each gem has certain magical properties, which often assist with the quest.

Books

The Forests of Silence is the first book of the Deltora Quest series and acts as a sort of introduction to the series. The book is split in two, the first following the lives of Jarred and King Endon, of their childhood and adult life up to when the Shadow Lord conquers the land of Deltora and the gems are separated from the Belt. Jarred and Endon were the best of friends until the chief adviser, Pradine, frames Jarred for a crime he did not do and forces him to flee the palace. Jarred learns that everything they thought they knew about the world outside the palace was a lie. The palace was surrounded by a magical mist that caused the people of the palace to believe that the village of Del was a happy and prosperous place. Actually, the people in Del were starving and in great decline. Jarred begins his new life as a blacksmith's apprentice, later becoming a blacksmith himself. Jarred watched the palace every night for the next few years, until Endon signaled him and by then it was too late to save the gems and prevent the Shadow Lord's invasion.