Hi there folks! I've only recently finished reading the newest book in the Star of Deltora series, The Towers of Illica! There's plenty to discuss and explore in the newest chapter in Britta's journey. As such, there will be spoilers.
In the novel, we see Britta and co. reaching the island of Illica, home to the descendants of pirates whose three families collect rare objects in their towers. Naturally, a new island has me pretty excited, especially in regards to the lore and world of Deltora. Once again, the Star of Deltora is met with an awkward introduction and see's Britta, Jewel and Vashti invited to stay the night at one of the towers. This leaves Britta and Jewel to have a moment to explore the town, and a what a place it is! The idea of the town folk being called "name the object associated with their occupation" is quite fascinating! For example, we see Perlo the Bath and Brett the Ship.
We also get mention of a new island! The Isle of Jade. How exciting. This suggests that jade as a stone exists in the world, and we see it used in the hairclip Britta found in Bar Enouch's cave and on the circlet Mishatweet's mother was wearing. Seems like quite the rare stone! We also got a few mentions of Lief and Adin which is honestly the highlight of Star of Deltora. Rodda loves to tease the old series. We found out that Adin began to stamp out piracy in the Silver Sea, which suggests he had more control that just over Deltora.
Rodda gave us a classic Deltoran exploration and riddle story, one which I enjoyed very much. It brought back childhood memories of decoding the various ones in Deltora Quest. Quite to my amusement, and the joy of a few users I'm sure, Britta and Sky had a 'moment' on the ship. The shipping between the two began...on a ship. I'm really beginning to enjoy the dynamic between Britta, Jewel and Sky, as their individual personalities develop more.
The question of who Britta's enemy is has been a common question in the books. While the bosun Crow seems to be the likely culprit, I believe this is a red herring and that the situation is more complex than it seems. I've also suspected the healer Kay to be hiding something, but we'll see where this goes. It could simply be Crow's suspciion of Britta due to her mark of Tier, Vashti's parents hiring one of the crew, or perhaps Mab has some sinister motives and wants the staff for herself, realising Britta's connection to Dare. There's lots of directions this could go in, I just know Rodda will put her classic twist on it.
While I could see the plot of the 'sunrise pearl not as rare as she thought' and Britta being mistaken for stealing it, Rodda's writing allowed me to become invested in the story. I don't think we've seen the last of Collin and Misshatweet, as I'm hoping for Collin to admit to stealing and for things to be set right with Britta and Olla-Scollbow.
Was the inclusion of Britta's Goozli doll moving the lid of the crate that once held the Staff symbolic of how Dare was able to take the staff curse-free? That he used a Goozli doll to take the staff from the corpse, then bring it to his ship? The gravestone says any living person who took it from him would be cursed, but does that include Goozli dolls? And once it's moved from the body, does the curse still apply? Perhaps that's the loophole Dare found. We know he went into the swamplands after visiting the gravestone prior, so this makes sense. I also enjoyed learning a bit more of Jewel's family, revealing she has quite a few brothers. I'm personally hoping that she's related to Barda and Lindal, perhaps she's their niece?
Overall, I found myself fully invested into the book, and really enjoyed the fleshed out relationships between Britta, Jewel and Sky. I can't wait for The Hungry Isle, and can't wait for a cover reveal so we can disect it in detail. I look forward to understanding Dare's full story and the conclusion of the series!
What did you think of the book? Leave your thoughts below!