The Third Door

The Three Doors Trilogy #3

by Emily Rodda

Rye and his friends have survived the perils of the first two doors. Now, to save their home, they must journey through the Third Door.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Childrens, Magic, Young Adult, Mystery

282 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Emily Rodda (real name Jennifer Rowe) was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA (Hons) in English Literature. Moving into a publishing career, first as a book editor, and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson, Rodda's first book was published in 1984.

Reviews

[jv poore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sometimes question my reasoning and decision-making skills when I dive into a trilogy. Particularly concerning, are the times that I make this huge Leap-of-Faith commitment with the release of Book 1. Knowing myself well enough to accept the facts that I am not patient and I detest waiting; good sense would have me holding out until all three books are released, and I can purchase them simultaneously to even read them one after the other, in a row…if I so choose.

My restlessness aside, there is one more very valid reason to pause. The third book is so very risky. It has the power to make or break the whole trilogy, and it can happen at any point within the final book. So much hinges on this one book. I’ve clearly enjoyed the story, thus far. I’ve been with it since the beginning, and I’m here for the end. This means, of course, that I’ve chosen these books over hundreds of titles calling to me from my To-Read List. The third book cannot let the reader down.

In this case, the third book met and exceeded my expectations.

The Third Door is so much more than a fabulously written conclusion to an engrossing and intriguing trilogy. Mysteries that had been slowly, tantalizingly, revealed previously may now be solved; however, new questions abound. Shocking revelations peppered this final adventure and surprises were plentiful without becoming gratuitous.

Having quickly been captivated by Rye in the The Golden Door, I was not surprised to become completely enamored in the last and most consuming journey. This trilogy began with Rye listening in as his two older brothers discussed the attacks plaguing their walled city. The occupants would not survive the barrage of winged, blood-thirsty creatures much longer. Brave boys would need to leave the only place they’d ever known in a potentially useless and quite possibly suicidal mission to find the dwellings of these beasts and destroy it. Rye knew that he was the one that could accomplish this goal.

Ms. Rodda’s writing is compelling. Her words are so alluring that, at times, paragraphs are almost lyrical. These characters are rich and interesting with honest relationship portrayals. The adventure is exciting, the mystery intriguing and the individuals learn, grow and mature along the way.

This trilogy is marketed to our 8 -12 year old readers; and while I agree that it is a spectacular children’s trilogy, it is certainly too good to be limited to a genre. Ms. Rodda has written an amazing story and readers of all ages are sure to enjoy Rye’s incredible journey.

This review was written for Buried Under Books Blog.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Rodda: you are a god. This it the twenty-second book I've read of hers & it's middle grade. Needless to say, I didn't expect to be too surprised by anything. I WAS WRONG. That plot twist. Absolutely nuts, man. Absolutely nuts.

The Third Door was a wild ride and a very good one at that. It had all the joy and unrestrained nature of middle grade fiction and I adored it. The story was fun and unexpected, and tied the separate works in the trilogy together in ways I could never have expected.

As far as specific details, I am so glad that The Third Door did not become multi-perspective. I definitely expected it when everyone was separated and Rye lost his damn memory, but so happy that it didn't. It allows for such a nice focus and consistency. And even if I didn't see the plot twist coming, I should have anticipated Sonia's ending, having read Deltora Quest. I didn't though, because I am a fool who blindly (and happily) follows everything Rodda says.

I am so glad I read this trilogy and can't wait to read the other series set in the Deltora universe!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't let this year go by without finishing off this series and I expected it to be a fairly predictable hero saves the day just in time kids' book ending, but what I got though blew my mind a little. I applaud you Emily Rodda, how do you keep surprising me so?

This is probably my favourite in the series and sneaky Emily even dropped a few Deltora references...so apparently this is set in the same world *self-depreciating face-palm moment*. I can't really say much without giving it all away...but the third door lends itself to more adventures, magic and above all, many, many plot twists that you won't see coming. Really won't see coming. And I appreciated every second of it, even those moments where I was quite busy thinking "what just happened? did what I think just happened actually happen?"

As a kid I never read any of Ms Rodda's fantasy work (how this happened is anyone's guess) but I now think it's definitely time to visit Deltora Quest and Rowan of Rin (a good few too many years late).

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

*WARNING: There may be spoilers in this review, but big ones will be marked.*

I-I-I can't even begin to explain how good this was. I-it was just...amazing. I almost can't put it into words! It was one of those books that your mind just stops working for a bit afterwards. And not in a bad way. Well, my mind, It just...stopped, i a way. I kinda went, 'Whoa! Whatshappening?' And the n it stated working enough for me to say; "Oh, my god."

Well, first thing to keep in mind while reading this; IT IS A SPIN-OFF SERIES FROM DELTORA QUEST! DO NOT do what i did and read the first two series of it and forget to read the 'Deltora quest series; 3!' You will regret it FOREVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!Well, not really. It just would've been more interesting if I'd read them first.

Okay. I have to start by saying- EMILY! WHY CAN YOU NOT UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE AND/OR GOODREADS TO LET US KNOW WHEN THIS IS COMING! I Feel that i NEVER know what she is writing, because she is uninformative. But your still awesome. And i'm still following you :D
Just a word of advice- I NEED TO KNOW WHEN THIS AWESOMENESS COMES OUT!!!

Okay, about the book (SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON!!!:
It was good. Before it came really confusing. Then Rye and Sonia were like, "No, YOU are the bad guys. No. YOU are the bad guys!!! Oh, dammit sorry guys- i was wrong. YOU ARE THE EVIL ONE!!!!" (O.O)
It was mind-blowing... And i still don't know if that's a bad thing or a good thing. By the end of it (And since the first book) I've loved Sholto. I LOVE HIM!!! I was totally fangirling at this bit:
"That is pointless, Rye," Dirk said impatiently.
"Sonia is safe here, and she will not stir in the little time we will be away. When the girl decides she is tired, nothing can wake her! Remember how she was on the roof of the harbour? Dead to the world, amid all that excitement! She is a mystery to me!"
"She is...remarkable," Sholto murmured.
Awwww! How i love Sholto! (Plus, if she'd killed him off. I would not be a happy fan!)

And when he's all like "I have no wish to marry your daughter, Warden." And he didn't mean Annocki at all! He meant he didn't want to marry Sonia! HE FIGURED IT OUT! THAT DAMNED HOT GENIUS! Even before i did, and i am usually very quick with that kind of stuff. I mean, Emily switches characters around a lot (SPOILER FOR DELTORA QUEST SERIES ONE!!!)) First everyone thought Jasmine (I think that was her name... I read this a few years ago...) Was the heir to the Deltora Throne. But it was Lief!!! Who would've known!

Anyway. Despite this is one of the biggest reviews i have ever written, i MIGHT write more to it.

PS. Emily Rodda, No matter how old i am- i will still love you books (Although i might never know when they are coming out :)

[Olivia Caola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow! After the second I was definitely hesitant going into this one, but once I was halfway through, the plot started picking up, and everything tied together beautifully. All the random things that didn’t make sense throughout finally tied together and it made it worth it. I love Sonia, and Rye has grown SO much as a character so it’s really neat to see that transformation.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stayed up late because I had to finish it! Starts a bit slow, but the end! Oh the end!

[Ellyn → Allonsythornraxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

August 2016

There's nothing like a good old mind fuck. But really guys, this book was an amazing finale. If you havent read this trilogy I urge you to pick it up!

[Lyds · Rating 4 out of 5]

My twelve year old heart is full. The tie in with Deltora Quest was *chefs kiss*

[Bron S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the ending of this book.

[Aelvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rye has rescued both of his brothers: Dirk, the oldest, from the golden door, and Sholto, the middle brother, from the silver door. But the source of the skimmers who are attacking Weld, and the Enemy who is sending them, was not found behind either. Rye himself has always been drawn to the wooden door, the third door. And now he finally gets to see what's inside . . .

The interesting thing about this book, like the whole series, is how it takes folktale tradition and uses it, but also spins it on its head. One of my favorite bits of self-reference was when a character explains he was drawn to the golden door but chose the wooden one because in fairy tales the humblest door is always the best choice (in a way, though, he's not wrong---once Rye figures out the real meaning of the three doors, he also learns why the wooden door is the only one that isn't a guaranteed exile from Weld).

Rye continues to grow up. This time, it isn't so clear who is good and who is not, or what might be done even when the evil is discovered. It's a story that explores consequences. Rye's slaying of Olt has much further-reaching repercussions than he could have imagined. Also, a number of confusing little details from The Silver Door suddenly make perfect sense.

It's also nice to get more depth on characters like Sholto, who amusingly enough has a softer side he's embarrassed to show.

Read the first two books before reading this one to get the full impact of the story. It's a very tight trilogy, with no wasted detail, and is worth a re-read to catch all the additional implications once the final mystery is unraveled. I rate this book Highly Recommended.

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Third Door' is the brilliant final book in Emily Rodda's new fantasy trilogy, an action-packed and exciting roller-coaster ride with enough chills and shocks to keep the most reluctant reader glued to the page.

Our heroes, Rye and Sonia, continue their heroic quest to find and defeat the enemy of Weld, discovering new things about themselves and their world at every turn. My favourite part of these books was the little bag of magical tricks that Rye was given in the first book - each gift has a hidden power and each is so fresh and inventive, it reminds me why Emily Rodda is Australia's queen of children's fantasy.

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. This has been such a fun trilogy to read, and book three is just as good as the previous books. And this was also so surprising. Just when you think you know what's going on, the author turns everything on its head with a revelation. And not just once.

To learn the truth about the three doors = amazement! And that's just one answer that's given in the book. That it all made sense to the rest of the series is even better.

A thrilling, gripping, and exciting adventure. I really enjoyed this. It's the first exploration for me into Emily Rodda's writing, and I've read there are many references to earlier works in this book, that it is set in the same world. Now, I need to go back and read those earlier works. Something I'm looking forward to, I have to say.

I may never have read these books if I didn't come across the entire series at a recent charity book sale. Just you love when that happens? Those chance encounters with some great books. I am so happy I read this series. The entire series deserves more attention on Goodreads that it has received so far.

[Kara Meleuca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically unexpected ending. I love how everything tied together.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant conclusion to an exciting trilogy, with enough plot twists to keep your eyes glued to the page as your brain works hard to keep pace. The series is best read from beginning to end without pause in order to get the most from the rich overlap of significant details.

Rye and Sonia continue their heroic quest to find and defeat the enemy of Weld, learning to unlock the mysterious powers given to Rye as they face each new challenge. As heroes they are perfect: smart and yet humble, daring and yet thoughtful, demanding and yet charitable, discerning and yet forgiving.

Around them an intricate puzzle made up of people, times and places comes together masterfully as the plot develops. And the ending brings the biggest surprise of all.

Readers will be delighted to find that the whole series annexes perfectly to Rodda's Deltora Quest. www.GoodReadingGuide.com

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 / 5 (rounded up)

The third book in The Three Doors trilogy, this book was a fantastic conclusion to a really well thought out and immersive storyline.

Recap/review (spoiler heavy):
In the third book, Rye, Sonia, Dirk and Sholto make their way back to Weld, only to find that in their absence, the worst of all skimmer attacks has taken place - destroying parts of the keep, collapsing the towers, and potentially crushing all the keep orphans. Whilst there, they're determined to do what they can to help, and are able to meet up with Tallus (Sholto's master, as a healer's apprentice himself), who is at the keep to help heal the wounded... and also to - once again - petition the Warden to allow him to use an experimental defence against the skimmers: lots and lots of light.

After some confrontations with the Warden at the keep, Rye, Sonia, Dirk and Sholto all escape through the third-and-final door to try once more to defeat the skimmer enemy once and for all, and find themselves in the Fell Zone forest once again. They make there way to a town known as Fell End, and become separated after Rye protects a young boy called Zak from a strange beast, and is injured in the process - temporarily losing his memory.

Rye eventually recovers his memory after a cave-in at a museum that he survives (barely) and meets up with Sonia once again, finding a mysterious charm in a hidden golden casket within the catacombs under the museum, and realising that it has a massive importance to play in the grand scheme of things. The two of them then manage to meet up with Dirk and Sholto again, and learn that Farr (the chieftain of the people of Fell End) has had an attempt on his life by none-other than another person from Weld! Jett (the assassin) we learn left Weld about 7 years ago, the same(ish) time that Dirk left (and boy was I surprised that so long had passed since the beginning, though I suppose I really shouldn't have been...).

Jett thinks for some reason that Rye is a traitor to Weld, and is determined to kill him, but through him (...and his ramblings) we learn that Farr is apparently the enemy of Weld, and is the one behind the skimmers! There's a giant pipeline, which is apparently pointed right at Weld, that Farr is going to use to send skimmers in their thousands at Weld... that very night.

Determined to stop this plan, Rye and Sonia (and Dirk and Sholto) race back to Fell End to stop Farr from carrying out this terrible plot only to learn that it's not Farr that's the villain... but the Fellan (from the Fell Zone, who initially helped Rye with a bag of magic back in the first book)... which... is odd to ay the least. After a confrontation with the Fellan we learn that NOPE. Fellan are not the enemy, and neither is Farr, but they are kinda enemies of one another, as Farr is determined to destroy all the Fellan to reclaim Fell End for the other races, as apparently the Fellan have been attacking the "barbarians".

Only NOPE. WRONG AGAIN.

The Enemy was the Shadowlord ALL ALONG. He's had one of his minions in the disguise of Barron (one of Farr's advisors), who has been attempting to use Farr to destroy the Fellan and thus allow him to take over the land of Dorne (where they all are) to use as a staging ground for his continued attacks on Deltora. And remember books one and two? And the gold and silver doors? Well APPARENTLY the gold door takes you to the past, and the silver door takes you to the future. Had Farr's attack against the Fellan succeeded, the metal and salt water he was planning on using (both of which are powerful weapons against the Fellan) would have caused the wasteland from the second book, killed all the Fellan (...I'm fairly certain), and allowed the Shadowlord to take over the entire country.

MIND. BLOWN.

I didn't realise at ALL that the gold and silver doors were for time travel, and that this entire time Rye and co. has essentially been travelling over the same land in different periods of time @_@ The barren wasteland from The Silver Door? The very land that they were standing on during the battle against the Fellan. Had Farr's attack succeeded basically all of Dorne would have been wiped out - with all the Fellan gone, the Shadowlord would have been free to completely take over!

So the battle against the enemy is done now, right? Well... almost... those skimmers that the people have been fighting against all this time? They were in THE DAMN WALLS that surrounded Weld. All this time, the walls that supposedly protected the city of Weld were the very things that trapped them, and made them essentially nothing more than a "fish bowl" of tasty food for the skimmers. Oops.

But, of course all's well that ends well! Rye and co. manage to work with their "barbarian" friends to destroy the walls of Weld (...during the day so that they're destroyed by the sunlight and don't kill a bunch of people within the walled city), free the people of Weld to finally move beyond their walls, and integrate with the other people of Dorne, and - of course - get offered the opportunity to be the Warden's heir.

So many things happened in this short book that I was completely blown away by the beautiful storycrafting. My questions from earlier were answered and then some! There had been so many hints in those previous books that suddenly all made sense. The way in which the skimmers were finally dealt with was so very very clever too, and was so fitting for the overall narrative.

Overall, a fantastic trilogy, one that I enjoyed every moment of!

[Debbie Johansson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the suspense in this one and there were plenty of plot twists. This last book in the series is one that you can't put down until the very end. Great characters, bad guys and monsters. I also thought the tie-in to Deltora was an added bonus. It might well be a series for younger readers (my daughter suggested it to me), but I'd also recommended it for adults - it's well worth the read.

[Onionboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The trilogy lost steam as it progressed. This book had to wrap up the story, but it was unnecessarily complicated. If I would have read it through faster instead of a little each day, I might have followed it better. I just didn't enjoy this one as much as the others.

[Calvin Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book because it was the last book of the three door trilogy. It have good descriptions about the characters and hair color. Brothers take care of one another when time is needed. "'Hold on to him,' Rye roared back. 'just a few more seconds...'"(Rodda 173).

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

We so enjoyed this trilogy! this last book was an excellent conclusion to the story, wrapping it up so neatly. Well done

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, I love how she puts so many twists in it. I don't know how she does it for it would be so hard

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calling a middle-grade fantasy The Wooden Door wasn't gonna fly, huh?

Rodda pulls out all the stops and hammers the poor young reader with red herring after twist after misdirection after twist. Once she pulls all the facts together, it's a satisfying resolution that rewards observation on the part of the reader, even if it relies on amnesia to prevent Rye from connecting the dots too quickly. That's the problem with having a plot premised on the heroes having to figuring out what they need to do, rather than how to do it. It's easier to dole out and remove power than knowledge, so I suppose it's to Rodda's credit that she only used this device once, and fairly sparingly.

The time travel twist probably would've been mind-blowing as a kid. There are a lot of hints, but as with all mutable-timeline stories, there are unanswered paradoxes. Was Jett unaware of whatever historical change happened between Golden and Silver Door? We know from Sholto's experience that the future can change right under you, which must've also been the case here given there's roughly 1000 years between the golden and wooden door. Unless Olt would in fact have been killed later by his subjects anyway? And the distance the doors take you must fixed, right? Dirk was doing things for years before Rye came through the golden door. So was Dann popping in for a visit to a past before he was born? Or were there two Danns in Dorne? Faene came through the golden door, so could they have brought Bones through the silver? What would've happened to him after they prevented the invasion? (I was really hoping Bones would've had some bigger role given the way they described his past in Silver Door.) Thankfully the story never even tries to address these edge cases.

For some reason Rodda reuses the fake heir twist from Deltora. There it was salient because that was the whole point of the quest, here it was just like...okay? That was kinda funny I guess? All the servants were just playing along? I could have sworn some of them saw Annocki in Golden Door. Why even have a body double in that case? So too the perfunctory romance. Rodda is explicitly writing these for young boys, so she knows that she can't go too heavy without losing their interest. The Jasmine jealousy subplot and Rye thinking Sonia is attracted to Sholto is as far as she can take it in the main text, but also she feels that no happy ending is complete without everyone getting married, so you get peripheral characters like Lindal/Faene just there to round out the pairs. Consequential things were happening in Weld entirely offscreen, but she ends up contributing nothing to the narrative that I could see. At least Lindal helped out with one of the sisters, Faene gets dropped off at the beginning of Silver, then exists to motivate Dirk to resettle outside Weld.

The final twist that the skimmers were an almost entirely natural phenomenon was great. Weld's problems aren't the result of an external enemy, but the product of their own inadvertent poor choices and lack of curiosity about their situation, while still serving as an effective motivation to explore the outside world, despite the solution being right under their noses.

It's funny that the Shadow Lord's whole motivation to come back to Dorne was spite, but he ended up finding there the very thing that would've allowed him to destroy Deltora. This book doesn't really expand any further on him than Silver, thankfully. He's offscreen working through intermediaries, as always. The explanation that it was the magic of the Fellan, and not Olt, protecting Dorne, does raise a question. Why didn't he attack Rin/Zebak first instead of Deltora? Apparently it takes magic more ancient than he is to repel him (pipe/belt/Fellan), so what exactly was protecting Rin? Nothing? Does Pirra not have a harbour?

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

just like always! it ends in a way that you couldn't have ever guessed! and it leaves you wondering about all those little foreshadowings that you have easily missed! Just like Deltora, books and culture played an important role in this book. however, I was kind of disappointed that Sonia was actually a princess. can't we have a book that by the end we won't figure out that one of the characters are somehow related to a special bloodline?
Having Sholto was cool since Rodda's other characters weren't at all like him. these books were a good one as if written for Deltora fans especially, those who had read Deltora when it first came out and now they have grown up and need something a little bit more complex and unpredictable to once again enjoy Deltora. I would have enjoyed this last book a lot more if it wasn't for some questions remaining in my head related to the true nature of 3 doors.
1. who had written "Three magic Doors you here behold.
Time to choose: Wood? Silver? Gold?
Listen to your inner voice
And you will make the wisest choice"
the Donn himself? why would he do such a thing? I mean no one else had access to these doors, right? so why write down such a thing for himself? did his friend write this? but again, why would he? even if he wanted to how could he know that people should listen to their inner voice?
2. How does Golden door really function? do people keep going back to a week before Midsummer Eve? or whenever people from present time go to that time the time start to moves and when people leave it the time stops until someone else came in again?
the ending could have been better too. I mean you have an unlimited access to past and future, even if Rye and Sonia weren't able to stop Farr they could still go back through the golden door and tell people about fallen or make a kind of prophecy about skimmers and fallen and lord of shadows. it really had the potential to be more complicated but Rodda chose the easiest path.
and most importantly, how could they just change everything without even think about it? Maybe, I have this feeling because I read lots of time machine kind of books and had thought about the morals behind all of it a lot. changing the process of what happened can have serious side effects! can we really say saving their people was enough reason to cause some people to never be born? to never meet with each other? I don't know my answer but it would have been nice if Rye and Sonia at least thought about it for a second.

[WormBook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to my eleven year old. Good points: it's a decent story for kids, interesting enough plot, and my daughter really enjoyed it. So in that respect, top marks when aimed at kids.

As an adult reading this however, nearly every page or two had me wanting to throw the book against in the wall in frustration. The writing is terrible. Rodda uses the same phrases over and over. And over and over again to the point where if you made a drinking game, you'd be drunk by the end of a chapter. Rye's mouth was dry. Rye licked his lips. Rye's skin prickled. Sonia's face was pale. Rye's stomach turned over. Sonia tossed her head. Rye's lips were dry... I'm not kidding when I say these appear over and over. If an eleven year old can ask why the language is repeated so often, then the author has done a bad job.

Not only that but Rye's brothers don't seem to talk normally. Because 'Dirk growled' and 'Sholto drawled'. ALL.THE.TIME. Oh, and they like to all speak 'in a low voice'. Or someone speaks huskily.

The ending was a bit of a let down, given the build up. Unbelievably, there's no resolution regarding the main villain/big enemy frequently referred to.

And Rye is quite a vapid, useless sort of hero in that he does pretty much nothing. Things either happen to him, or someone/something does something for him. And on the odd occasion where he does solve a problem, it all comes to him in some kind of flash of understanding, or a dream or whatever-- something that does not involve any thinking or problem solving on his part. A rather poorly written hero, but probably not going to bother a target audience of kids.

I won't be reading any more of this author's books because I don't want to repeat the experience of wanting to scream at every page. She even managed to throw in a Sholto drawled on the last page, just when I thought I was safe.

You can consider this review as being written in the style of Dirk: because Dirk always growls (when he's not hissing, speaking huskily, or in a low voice).

[Alex Gardiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I thought the last book was intense, it was a weak contender against the final of the trilogy.

Yes, the first section was a little slower, but it was needed to make way for the heart-pounding second half, where many twists, turns and revelations are unearthed (some I saw coming, others took me completely by surprise).
Rodda had done a wonderful job crafting this series. Usually, it's relatively easy to predict where a series aimed at a younger demographic is going to go - you can see what course the story is going to take.
Not The Doors trilogy.

This series has been very surprising with how easily it has kept me guessing and second guessing both the plot and character motivations. Though what was most surprising was that final revelation about the Doors themselves. I did NOT see that coming.

I've really enjoyed Rye as a character and watching his development from the meek, unsure little boy to the wise and steadfast young man he became. Sonia, on the other hand, I was a little less satisfied with, but maybe that's because I don't like bossy personalities.

Overall, these have been really enjoyable... and I feel incredibly tempted to re-read Deltora Quest in order to pick up on any Easter Eggs that may have been dropped, because I KNOW there's been at least one or two.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you finish an Emily Rodda series, there are always two conflicting emotions--sadness that it's over, and satisfaction that everything was wrapped up in a truly amazing collection of books. And that, of course, is how this one leaves us, although I can't help but be extra sad, since this is the last series set in the same world as Deltora (at least, right now).

I absolutely devoured these books. I loved the characters, the setting, and the shocking twists and turns. And while of the three books, I think The Silver Door was my favorite, I still was completely hooked on this one.

If you want to sample some of the author's work but don't want to commit to a lengthy series, then you have to read The Three Doors. Great writing, excellent storytelling, and fascinating characters. This book shocked me, broke me, and left my head spinning from repeated plot twists. 10/10, would most definitely read again!

[Pádraic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew Rodda would pull it all together in the final book, she always does; it's one of her finest skills as a writer, I think, this clearly meticulous planning she's done, but only revealing it in small snippets as we go, then providing the missing piece at the end, making us wonder how we didn't see it ourselves. I'm not going to say what the deal is with this one, but it's great, clever and also very cool.

The book itself is the usual high quality adventure I expect from Rodda at this point (this is apparently the 25th book I have read by her, bloody hell). Apart from the minor amnesia plot that seems pretty unnecessary to me, I can't find any real criticisms to offer here. It also didn't thrill me entirely, something of the relentless imaginativeness of the older books feeling absent. Presumably I'm just getting old; 10 year-old me would have loved this. If you know any 10 year-olds, drown them in Emily Rodda books.

[James Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even before the end, which was supremely satisfying, this just felt excellent. At first, I wasn't sure where it was going, because it didn't seem to have a big horrible baddy in the middle of it all the same way that the other books did, and yet the conflict was even more important. But, then tying this into Deltora was just the icing on the cake. While we still haven't seen the final defeat of the Shadow Lord it's still incredible how Emily Rodda make such an interesting story for children and adults.

[Bruno Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man, I cannot believe this is my 25th book aimed at children set in the same universe by the same author and still be thrilled by it. You can get a close feel in Return to Del, but I would argue that this installment is even more intense with the buildups, plot twists and changes of pace within the book. Highly recommend reading the three books in a row like I did, so you can pierce together all the neatly tied rich plot.

[Nolany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une fin satisfaisante avec beaucoup de révélations et de réponses.
Je déplore cependant deux choses:
- la première est que le personnage de Rye soit devenu moins intéressant et un peu plus mou que dans les deux tomes précédents, ce qui gâche un peu le rythme de l'histoire.
- la seconde, et sûrement la plus contraignante, est la lecture de ce dernier tome en version originale car la maison d'édition PKJ ne le sortira probablement jamais en VF.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelous!

Wonderful end to a great series! I enjoyed it greatly. I especially enjoyed the tie-in with Deltora. Which remains the best books series she's ever written. In my opinion. Still though this was a wonderful book. I found the characters to be entertaining and the story to be just about perfect. Highly recommended.

Content Advisory: fantasy violence, death, mild scary images, magic