Dread Mountain

Deltora Quest, Book 5

By: Emily Rodda

Narrated by: Ron Haddrick

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine are on a perilous quest to find the seven lost gems of the magic belt of Deltora. Only when all the gems have been restored to the belt can Deltora be freed from the tyranny of the evil Shadow Lord. Four gems have been found. Now, though grave news reaches Lief from home, and he longs to return, the quest must continue. To find the fifth stone the heroes must venture almost to the border of the Shadowlands, and plunge into the darkness and terror of the realm of the monstrous toad Gellick - Dread Mountain.

©2000 Emily Rodda (P)2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

One of the greatest stories ever 💙

Copying and pasting my review for each book:

This was the series as a child that really kickstarted my love of the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, I picked up The Dragons of Deltora first unknowingly, then came back to this original series so was robbed of what I thought was the most amazing plot twist of all time. But now I'm listening to this with my husband, who was never much of a reader and never heard of this series and it still holds up SOOO well. Emily Rodda tells such a compelling story, so rich and varied without prententiousness or desperate need to overly describe; I appreciate it even more now over 20 years later, how well it was written and what an amazing story it was. This is the first book series, and without prior media like movies or shows to fall back on, that my husband has truly taken an interest in. This is still one of my favorite series of all time, and the narration by Ron Haddrick is phenomenol; perfect pacing and a storytelling tone. I am so happy to revisit this series and share it with my husband, and now I'll get to vicariously experience the plot twist 😁😁😁