Lief, Jasmine and Barda have freed Deltora from the Shadow Lord's power, restored the Belt of Deltora and even rescued the Deltoran prisoners from the Shadowlands, but all is not well in Deltora. There is a growing shortage of food as crops fail, harvests lessen and the people starve.

But new information comes to light of a curse the Shadow Lord has left - Four Sisters - terrible servants of the Shadow Lord that are poisoning the land. The only hope is to set out on a new quest to find the only thing said to be able to defeat them - the Dragons of Deltora.

Plagued by the voice of the Shadow Lord, Lief, Jasmine and Barda are exhausted trying to keep the evil back. Until Josef gives Lief an idea to stop it. Of course, in stopping the voice, other things come to light - a new evil plan of the Shadow Lord to threaten Deltora. So Lief, Jasmine and Barda, pack up their things and set off on a new adventure to cleanse the land.

Another tautly woven narrative filled with magic, legends and monsters and a fast paced plot that sucks you in from the word go. Lief and Jasmine have settled their prior feud so they are back to being the best of friends and it made for a much happier dynamic than the last series.

Jasmine remains her badass self defending Lief and Barda from danger. That's one of the best bits about these books - Jasmine is a great heroine and a role model for all young girls. So often in books, the males are the ones rushing into danger but in this one - nine times out of ten Jasmine is protecting everyone else.

Of course in this one another female warrior joins them - Lindal of Broome - once a prisoner in the Shadowlands and now a devoted Deltoran citizen willing to aid the King. I liked Lindal at least as much as I do Jasmine. I enjoyed how she was brave and reckless and protective and fierce - it was fantastic.

Lindal was to guide them. That had been decided too—or, rather, Lindal had announced it, and refused to listen to any argument.

Rodda, Emily. DQ3 #1: DRAGON'S NEST . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.

I liked the dragons and I can't wait to meet more of them. I'm curious to learn more about the history and how they're connected to the Belt of Deltora and more about Doran the Dragonlover who features so prominently in the Deltora Annals. There were a few riddles and puzzles in this but I found them a bit lacking compared to the first series. The puzzles was one of my favourite parts so hopefully the rest of the books have more of them.

Overall a fun new start to another exciting Deltoran adventure. 5 stars. ( )

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A good book if you are into things such as dragons or evil shadow lords but if one did not usually read books such as this one you wouldnt understand it very much. ( )

Barren formulaic high fantasy novel that failed to engage or repel me. ( )