Rowan of Rin (series)
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| Author | Emily Rodda |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Matt Wilson |
| Country | Australia |
| Genre |
Juvenile fiction Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Omnibus Books |
| Published | 1993-2004 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) and audio-CD |
The Rowan of Rin series is a series of 5 children fantasy novels by Australian author Emily Rodda. The series follow the adventures of a shy village boy, Rowan.
The Rowan stories take place in a fictional world, and each novel always begin in the small village of Rin, an isolated valley that rests at the foot of the forbidden Mountain. West of the Mountain is an unnavigable wasteland, and east of Rin lies a river that runs into the sea. On the coast is the larger, more populous city of Maris, home to the fish-like Maris people. It is stated in Rowan and the Zebak that Maris is the only point on the coast where ships can land safely, as north and south of Maris the coast is lined by hazardous rocks and steep cliffs. Across the sea, to the east, lies the land of the Zebak; the Zebak territory is a desert, its city reunited in steel walls and protected from land threats by the desolate, hazard-ridden Wastelands.
Long before the time of humans, the bukshah traveled up the Mountain every winter to feast on a grey fungus produced by the ice creepers. The bukshah were sustained for the winter, and the heat from the river of molten gold at Mountain Heart radiated into the ice creepers' cavern, maintaining a balance that controlled the population of the ice creepers and subdued the elemental rage in Mountain Heart. The valley behind the Mountain was eventually settled, and named the Valley of Gold. The people of this Valley learned the secrets of Mountain Heart, and deliberately prevented the bukshah from traveling up there; the fungus, uneaten, caused the river to flow with greater pressure, giving the people of the Valley more gold and riches. However, this also made the ice creepers more populous, causing the first Cold Time. The people eventually allowed the Bukshah to climb the mountain again, and the balance was restored - but they never told their Traveler friends the Mountain's secret. Many years later, the people of the Valley of Gold discovered the mountain berries, but that winter, before the berries completed their life-cycle, the Zebak took a foothold in Maris and messengers were sent to the Valley asking for reinforcements. The people of the Valley left for the coast, but the keeper of the bukshah remained with the keeper of the silks, and soon one warrior returned - the people of the Valley had been captured by the Zebak before they'd even reached the coast. When the Bukshah left the Valley for Mountain Heart, the three companions followed them, hiding in the cave after the beasts had left. As the snow receded, the Mountain berries in the Valley spread, and overnight the abandoned Valley was overrun by the devil trees, transformed into the abhorred Pit of Unrin. The Mountain wall, undermined by the roots of the trees, collapsed, and Mountain Heart was blocked, sealing the companions inside. The people of the Valley of Gold,enslaved by the Zebak, founded the first village of Rin behind the walls of the Zebak city. Above their abandoned home, the companions lay dying and the Bukshah were kept from Mountain Heart, leaving the creepers to breed and multiply.
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