Rowan and the Travellers
Rowan and the Travellers is the sequel to Rowan of Rin, and the second book in the Rowan of Rin series written by Emily Rodda and published in 1994. It picks up where the first one ended, and tells the story of the Travellers, a tribe that may carry a dangerous sickness mysteriously comes and goes from Rin, where Rowan, a shy and weak, but strong minded boy lives, a dangerous sleeping sickness appears.
The sickness comes from a fruit brought down from the Mountain (by one Rowan's own companions, Allun the baker) next to Rin, the town's river and the Bukshahs's field. Whilst on the Mountain, a dangerous dragon is said to dwell, which Rowan met on his first big journey.
Plot
The book picks up where the first one, Rowan of Rin (novel), ended.
Rowan and the Travellers tells the story about how the tribe of the Travellers mysteriously showed up in the town of Rin.
After their even more mysterious departure, a sleeping sickness appears in Rin and the Travellers are suspected of causing it. Rowan and Allun go to find the Travellers and ask them to stop the sickness. They find the Travellers heading to the horrific Pit of Unrin.
Here they find out that the sickness originally descends from a dangerous kind of fruit called Mountain-berries brought down from the Mountain next to Rin. Its scent lulls people into a deep and heavy sleep. It turns out that the berries are the smaller and infantile form of big trees growing beneath the Mountain itself.
Rowan, Allun and the Travellers must save the town with the help of a potion Sheba made of slip-daisy roots.
Characters
Rowan of the Bukshah
Rowan is a shy and weak boy of the town of Rin, but nevertheless he is the main character and protagonist, as he appears to be very brave when it is needed.
Other than that, he is very strong-minded and intelligent, and can solve riddles easily. He is both clever and warm hearted, but easy to scare away. Strong Jonn is in love with Jiller, Rowan's mother, and Rowan easily spots that each time they meet.
Strong Jonn
Strong Jonn, as he's called, is one of the strongest but friendliest townspeople, and a man of honesty. But he can get seriously angry. He's a very brave soul, and he's in love with Jiller, Rowan's mother, which Rowan spots easily each time they're together. After the death of Rowan's father Strong John joins Rowan up the Mountain.
Allun
Allun is the baker of Rin.
Allun was the one who brought down the new and foreign fruit of the Mountain called Mountain-berries. The perfume from the plants puts everyone into a comatose state.
Jiller
Rowan's mother, and a kindly soul. She's in love with Strong Jonn, who's in love with her as well.
Response and reception
The book, and all the others in the series, received mixed reviews, where most of them gave them 10 out of 10, and the series became one of the most popular fantasy series of its time, though most fantasy were in the style of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, so it was referred to as an original, new and unique kind of fantasy and story.