The Forests of Silence (Deltora Quest #1)

Reader reviewed by Dede

This book is really great for young (I'd say starting at 9) readers.  I don't think more mature readers would grasp and enjoy this book as much but it's a great fantasy book.  It starts out when the king of Adin dies mysteriously, his young son, Endon takes his place.  Endon's best friend Jarred is a poor boy whose parents worked in the palace.  Jarred tried to warn Endon of treachery but is thrown out of the palace by a grieving Endon.  Jarred leaves the palace to find the town outside of it has been neglected.   He becomes a blacksmith and gets married, and Endon marries and continues to be king.  The main focus is the Belt of Deltora, which was made eons ago, to protect the lands from the evil sorcerer.  The king is supposed to wear it all the time, but through the years they have become lax and lazy and only put it on once, when they are crowned. Many years after all of this (6 or 7 I believe) the gems from the Belt of Deltora are stolen by the Shadow Lords evil birds and scattered everywhere.  Jarred helps Endon and his pregnant wife (Jarred's wife is also pregnant) escape the palace and puts them in hiding.  16 years later the lands are ruled by the Shadow Lord.  This is when Jarred's son, Lief learns from his parents all that happened and they give him the choice of going to find all of the scattered gems so the Belt of Deltora can be restored and the Shadow Lord can be destroyed.  He agrees and sets off with an old palace guard Barda to find the first gem in the forest of silence. 
Many things happen in this book, they get captured by monsters, meet a free-spirited girl named Jasmine who agrees to help them out more times than one.  They must fight a immortal-seeking, body controlling creature called Gorl to try to "win" the first gem.  This book is very interesting and original.  I recommend it to lovers of fantasy books.

Reader reviewed by Carmen

So...You've stumbled upon the Deltora Quest series, eh? Well, let me tell you what!!
At first this series looked boring and "childish" to me...until, that is, until I read them!
The Forests of Silence is book number one in the Deltora Quest series. I began reading them because I had run out of other books to read (time to make a new list!!) even though that sounds impossible! And I was going to sop when I found a book that really caught my eye....but in the end I ended up reading them all! I hope you enjoy them too!

Carmen