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.

Lief, Jasmine and Barda have defeated the first of the Four Sisters, the Sister of the East and have made plans to travel towards the second - the Sister of the North. On the advice of Doom they are travelling in secret and under false names - only trusting old friends to help them on the way.

This one was creepy. Lief, Jasmine and Barda come across the travelling acrobatic troupe, the Masked Ones - all of whom wear realistic masks shaped like animals. I didn't like the idea of this. It was creepier when it was revealed the masks of the 'inner circle' are moulded to their faces with some sort of adhesive. But honestly the whole troupe has a sinister vibe. On the other hand, Kree is the best. Him moving the table around so the poisoned drink is drunk by the culprit rather than Barda was inspired.

And dragons.

‘Do you like my surprise?’ it asked. ‘Are you not pleased? Dragonfriend always said it was the greatest happiness, to ride upon a dragon.’

Rodda, Emily. DQ3 #2: SHADOWGATE . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.

The dragons are funny. Although the lapis-lazuli dragon is a bit suss. It totally convinced Lief to break his vow to stay out of other dragon territories for some as of yet unseen reason that's going to bite them. On the other hand, go sneaky lapis-lazuli dragon!

Lindal of Broome decides to remain in Broome but the gang have more old friends - Steven (and therefore, Nevets) and the bees. When they run into trouble, Steven comes to the rescue, allowing them passage in his caravan. I was a bit disappointed there's not more discussion of what Steven has been up to now that the Resistance isn't exactly in full swing.

Like the last book, this one is lacking in puzzles and riddles compared to the first series. Although I did like the music inspired clue. But it's still got a fair amount of action and adventure and a fast paced plot.

5 stars. ( )

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