The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence (Zodiac Legacy, #1)

This novel is like watching a movie--action scene after action scene with little plot or character development but fun.

On page 8, the action begins. Stephen is touring a museum in Hong Kong when he hears a scream. No one else seems to hear it. He follows his tour guide, who doesn’t know anything

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and has answered every question with incorrect information, down stairs to an underground cavernous room. He’s on a dangerous catwalk looking down on people soaking up powers from a zodiac thing. Maxwell is the leader of Vanguard, an evil man who wants all 12 Zodiac powers for himself to control the world. The tour guide, Jasmine, and her friend, Carlos, are trying to stop him, which Stephen witnesses. He, however, absorbs one of the powers and must leave with Jasmine and Carlos so that he can learn to use the powers for good and not evil.

The novel progresses with Carlos, Jasmine, and Stephen collecting the other people who received powers from the Zodiac when the transfer was interrupted and the power of light escaped. The novel adds Liam, Kim, Duane, and Roxanne. With each addition, there is a fight scene. There are many fight scenes and much action.

I think many of you will like this action-packed novel, especially boys. I didn’t love the book, but it may have been because I had to read it so quickly and it’s 463 pages. The print is large, there are a lot of pictures, and some pages only have writing on half of a page, so it’s not as long as it seems. I’ll be ordering this book:)

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This book opens with a bang and pretty much keeps running from there. The action is a mile a minute and the premise is interesting. This volume is basically the teams origins and the building the beginning o There is the beginnings of character development but most of the story is focused on the

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action. There is set up for more character development and background to come out in future volumes and for now that promise will keep me reading.

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This book opens with a bang and pretty much keeps running from there. The action is a mile a minute and the premise is interesting. This volume is basically the teams origins and the building the beginning o There is the beginnings of character development but most of the story is focused on the

Show More

action. There is set up for more character development and background to come out in future volumes and for now that promise will keep me reading.

Show Less

This book opens with a bang and pretty much keeps running from there. The action is a mile a minute and the premise is interesting. This volume is basically the teams origins and the building the beginning o There is the beginnings of character development but most of the story is focused on the

Show More

action. There is set up for more character development and background to come out in future volumes and for now that promise will keep me reading.

Show Less

This book opens with a bang and pretty much keeps running from there. The action is a mile a minute and the premise is interesting. This volume is basically the teams origins and the building the beginning o There is the beginnings of character development but most of the story is focused on the

Show More

action. There is set up for more character development and background to come out in future volumes and for now that promise will keep me reading.

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Tried this out for summer reading promotion because of its promise: comic-book style adventure and illustrations (although it's a novel) and Stan Lee's name on it. Not sure I'll finish it; about 70% through and the narrative is a bit tepid and lethargic, even during the action parts. The premise is

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interesting: the powers of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac get out into the world and two opposing factions are trying to collar the powers for their own. But, ehhh....

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Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: An action-packed tale of Zodiac-powered superheroes. And villains.

Opening Sentence: There was something odd about the tour guide.

The Review:

Steven’s dream is to become a hero, just like the characters from the comics he reads. Little does he know

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that his wish will be granted when magical powers are forced upon him so that he has no choice but to use them. Power comes at a price but there is little question on whether he’ll choose to use the powers for good or evil because Steven is the kind of boy that doesn’t have a bad side to him! He’s determined, loyal, afraid of failure and is searching for a greater purpose; all the qualities required in a hero.

“And,” Steven added, “we can keep her safe from this dude called Maxwell. He wants to lock us all up and train us to be super soldiers, or something.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Ms. LaFleur stared at them. “I may not approve of Roxanne’s clothes, or her style of music, or the fact that she left university after one semester. Or the makeup she slathers onto her face, or the causes she launches onto seemingly on a daily basis, or the career path she seems intent on pursuing despite all rationality and sanity-“
“Maman,” Roxanne said. “The point?”
“But,” Ms. LaFleur continued. “I support her right to do these things. To find her own path in life, to follow her dreams. And no fairy tales about magic Zodiac powers are going to stop her from doing that.”

After reading this book I feel a little guilty for being born in the year of the snake! The story itself is straight forward; a megalomaniac desperately trying to absorb all the powers of the Zodiac so that he can ‘save’ the world. As you are aware, there are twelve zodiac signs, so if each sign represents one, sometimes two people that makes an awful lot of characters to remember! Despite each person having a distinguishing character trait, for example one was a tech-genius and another was a singer with a sonic voice, I struggled to remember who was who.

The illustrations in each chapter greatly helped me visualize the events taking place, in particular the many fighting scenes. The illustrations are in a graphic novel/comic format and I think that will definitely appeal to the younger generation. The action scenes were super-hero-like, full of drama and a splash of comedy, but they soon became repetitive and I was hoping for something more…

This wasn’t a bad story; I just think that because of the way it’s written and the accompanying illustrations, it’s probably aimed at a younger target audience who will find it hard to keep up with the many characters.

Notable Scene:

“What’s going on here?” Steven continued. “Who are you guys? What is the Zodiac, who is that guy buried under the king-size sundial, and why do I have a freaking Tiger inside me now?”

FTC Advisory: Disney Press provided me with a copy of The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

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This was a good story about a group of young people who find themselves with great power they never imagined, but use those powers to form a team fighting for survival. The book was action-packed and fast moving. The only problem with the story was getting a handle on all of the characters, but

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otherwise, a very good read. I look forward to the next book in the series.

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Summary – Chinese-American teenager Steven stumbles onto a bad guy trying to take over the world by infusing himself with the 12 Zodiac powers. Steven helps stop the plan, receives a power himself, and the other 11 powers go out into the atmosphere to enter into other people’s bodies. Steven

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then teams up with others who have these powers to defeat the bad guy. This book is the first in a series and reminds me a little of X-Men.

Personal Response – This book was way out of my normal reading choices, which is why I picked it. It was easy to read and full of great comic book style illustrations to accompany the text. I wanted more details as I read this book, where the power came from, why they got out, etc., but I think for the readers it is marketed for (middle school) it would be fine. It did not leave me wanting to go out and read the next book in the series, but my 7th grade nephew loved it.

Curricular Connections – Middle school students could use this book as an introduction into the Chinese culture, specifically the Chinese birth years and zodiac. After reading, they could do a short research based project on what the Chinese birth years are and what that means to the culture. They could also compare/contrast information they read in the book to the facts they researched. Students would be able to research the Zodiac signs, what they mean and use this research to figure out why the characters got the powers they did based on their signs in the book.

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Steven is on a trip to Hong Kong when he follows a mysterious tour guid through a private door. He stumbles onto a mythological science experiement where Maxwell is trying to harness the powers of the Zodiac. In the ensuing battle, some of the powers escape and go to people around the globe,

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including Steven. Soon Steven and his new allies are on a world-wide chase to find those with the Zodiac powers, learn to use them, and put a team together to stop Maxwell from collecting them all. Drawings pepper the book as well. Might appeal to fans of Michael Vey.

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I really liked the art throughout this book, and the story is fast paced and action packed. Super diverse cast, really likeable characters; I feel like Disney could easily make this into an enjoyable film. And it's not hi-lo, but I think it could work really well for reluctant readers.

definitely written for a younger audience. plot was generally predictable, but details were well thought out.

Honestly, as a book, it was hard to get through. Yes, there was action at every turn, however, the writing was just so hard to deal with that the 500 pages became a bit of a drag.

This was a good story about a group of young people who find themselves with great power they never imagined, but use those powers to form a team fighting for survival. The book was action-packed and fast moving. The only problem with the story was getting a handle on all of the characters, but

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otherwise, a very good read. I look forward to the next book in the series.

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