Hi there Deltora fans and active contributors. I thought I would try something different in writing a personal review/general synopsis on The Three Doors series which I have just finished reading. These thoughts are my opinion, so let me know if you agree or disagree or just want to discuss further. Here I will discuss The Golden Door which is my favourite book in the series, follow up articles for The Silver Door and The Third Door will be published soon. Obviously do not read unless you have read at least The Golden Door!!
The first book, in my opinion the best in the series, focuses on the introduction of the main protagonist, Rye, who is the youngest of three brothers living the walled city of Weld. Weld itself is currently being terrorised by flying creatures called 'skimmers' which come at night and terrorise and pillage the various communites within the Wall. In response, the Warden, who is the leader of Weld, decides to send the best heroes of Weld through three mysterious Doors into the outside world in order to stop the skimmers. Rye's two brothers, Dirk and Sholto, go missing beyond the Doors and this forces Rye to go through the Doors himself in order to save them. While beyond the Golden Door, Rye travels with a girl named Sonia, who I personally like due to her fiesty attitude and strong will, which in comparison to Rye's general shyness is a good contrast. Rye and Sonia travel to a town called Fleet, which I find very interesting as this was the town that the people of D'Or in the original Deltora series abandoned. Here the protagonist meets Nanion, the current Chief of Fleet, and Faene D'Or, the daughter of the former Chiefs. While in Fleet, both Faene and Sonia are kidnapped in order to be sacrificed to Chieftain Annoltis (Olt) which is the older brother of the Shadow Lord from the Deltora series. Rye manages to save both of them and finds his older brother, Dirk, who is in with Faene, while defeating Olt and saving the capital of Dorne, Nerra. The Golden Door is an exciting and action-packed book from Emily Rodda which, although being original, draws upon many of the elements from the original three Deltora series, in order to engage active Rodda readers. Rye and Sonia work extremely well together and both contrast the other which creates a interesting dynamic. Faene and the people of Fleet were a fantastic element to the story and they link well to the Deltora series, while providing a timeframe for when this story takes place. I love how Rodda makes subtle connections between characters and locations. For example; the Three Brothers; Annoltis, Malverlain (Shadow Lord), and Eldannen; which can be compared to; Dirk, Sholto, and Rye and the people of Fleet and D'Or. Rodda never fails to provide interesting characters who can be made to be relatable to the real world, and The Golden Door is no exception. I do however note that this series provides many different themes in writing. Rodda refrains from codes and rhymes which were very common in the Deltora series, instead relying upon general mysteries such as who is the real enemy? And who is sending the skimmers? This works well as it caters for an older audience who may have read Deltora Quest in their younger years. Ultimately, I find this series to be one of the best of Rodda's works, at least on par with Deltora Quest 3, and until I read the Star of Deltora series I believe this to be my personal favourite book for the time being. I like the dynamic relationship between all the main characters, and compared to the other books in the series, particularly The Silver Door, I really like the environment and setting.
Please leave your thoughts below, did you find the book interesting or not? Did you like Rye and Sonia? Did you like Dirk and Faene?