A Hidden Gem

Deltora Quest is a sword and sorcery series of fantasy books that was adapted into a sixty-five (fifty-two in America) episode anime series, written by Australian author Emily Rodda. The overall series consists of fifteen books, divided into three sub-series. The first, which was the series that was adapted, is simply titled Deltora Quest, and consists of the first eight books, and is the only part of the series that I am familiar with. The second is the three book Deltora Shadowlands series, and the final four are the Dragons of Deltora series. The plot of the series is overall a very simple one. In the kingdom of Deltora, the evil Shadow Lord has taken over and forced King Endon into hiding. The Shadow Lord, an ancient magical being, had previously tried to take over the land before, but was defeated when the first king, Adin, united the seven different tribes of Deltora behind him, and with their help, forged a belt containing seven magical gems, each with a different power, that he then used to drive the Shadow Lord back to his domain. After that ancient battle, Adin was crowned king, and wore the belt constantly to keep it safe from the still living Shadow Lord. Overtime, however, his descendents grew sloppy about wearing the belt and keeping vigilant for the Shadow Lord. Eventually, the Shadow Lord and his forces are able to sneak into the castle of Deltora and start manipulating the royal family, eventually destroying the belt of Deltora and scattering the seven gems to the far corners of the kingdom, protecting them with fearsome monsters. The main story follows Lief, the sixteen-year-old son of a blacksmith named Jarred (who was the childhood friend of King Endon), and his companions Barda, a former palace guard and the son of Endon and Jarred's nursemaid, and Jasmine, a wild girl who lived in the forest that surrounded the capital city of Deltora that ran into Lief and Barda the night they set out on their quest. Throughout the series, they travel the land, defeating the monsters that guard the gems, and assisting the resistance of the land in fighting the Shadow Lord. At the end of the series, it is revealed that Lief's father Jarred is actually King Endon, with Jasmine's father, who everyone thought was dead, turning out to be not only be live, but also the resistance leader and the real Jared. With the help of his friends and the reunited tribes of Deltora, Lief is able to destroy the Shadow Lord, free the land of Deltora, and is crowned king. The story is an example of being a well executed version of a classic idea. Nothing in the series main plot is really that surprising. The evil mysterious overlord who has complete control and has spies in every corner of the land, the hotheaded young hero who is constantly getting into trouble with the evil overlord's forces because he can't stand the injustice being inflicted upon the poor townspeople finding out about his greater destiny to defeat said overlord, the stoic old swordsman who is the voice of reason protecting the young hotheaded hero, the wild girl with a fierce independent streak who can protect herself and has a strange connection with the forest, the arbitrary number of magic items that are guarded by fearsome creatures and no one has any real clue how to find them in the first place, other races that the hero must unite to gain the ability to defeat the evil overlord, swordfights, magical items unrelated to the macguffin, if Tolkien created a traditional fantasy trope, it is present in Deltora Quest in some form or fashion. The series rarely, if ever, puts any real change on the classic ideas present in ninety percent of stories in the genre. What it does do, however, is execute those ideas well. The story is simple, but there is enough present to keep the audience invested. One of the primary themes is that those who forget history are doomed. The kingdom of Deltora fell because the royalty separated themselves from the people and stopped keeping the belt safe from the Shadow Lord. This theme is a constant presence, and forms the backbone of the story. Most of Lief's greatest successes are because he knows the history of Deltora, how the belt works, and that he needs to unite the seven tribes in order for the belt to work properly. The theme of teamwork and unity is also promenient, since it is only by working together with his friends that Lief accomplishes anything, and it is only by uniting the seven tribes that Lief is able to activate the true power of the belt. It is these two themes that are most prominent and remind me the most of Tolkien, where the unity between elves and men is what allows them to resist Morgoth and Sauron.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 21, 2018 at 1:15 PM

    The story of Leif is a very common fantasy story, as you stated but the story has many elements that make it very interesting. I find the aspect of the royal family separating very interesting because it shows a real factor of what any family can go through. This is shown to be the weak point, what was needed for any destruction to occur. This factor is very interesting because you would never expect a royal family to fall because of conflicts within themselves to the point where they can be easily manipulated. I enjoyed the aspect of the royal family and how it created a journey for a young men who was determined to fight against the injustice.

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  2. tom blakeMarch 17, 2018 at 8:23 PM

    I have somewhat of an understanding from your blog of how class functions in the narrative (royals forgot their duty to the people and the belt was stolen, so they must learn their history to reclaim said belt), but how does race factor into this. The names seem significant. Adin and Leif are pretty white names, while Jasmine, described as "wild" and not aristocratic, is potentially a POC. How does Rodda handle race?

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