The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders Series #1)

by Peter Lerangis, Torstein Norstrand (Illustrator), Mike Reagan (Illustrator)

Overview

Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones in the New York Times bestselling epic adventure Seven Wonders! The Colossus Rises is the first book in a seven-book series. This first installment chronicles the story of Jack McKinley, an ordinary kid with an extraordinary problem. In a few months, he’s going to die—unless he finds seven magic Loculi that have been hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Rick Riordan calls Seven Wonders “a high-octane mix of modern adventure and ancient secrets. The Colossus Rises is Lerangis’s most gripping work yet. Young readers will love this story. I can’t wait to see what’s next in the Seven Wonders series!”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062070418
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Series:	Seven Wonders Series , #1
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	41,607
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.68(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Peter Lerangis is the author of more than one hundred and sixty books, which have sold more than five million copies and been translated into thirty-three different languages. His books include The Colossus Rises and Lost in Babylon in the New York Times bestselling Seven Wonders series, and two books in The 39 Clues series (The Sword Thief and The Viper's Nest). Peter is a Harvard graduate with a degree in biochemistry and has run a marathon and gone rock climbing during an earthquake—though not on the same day. He lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their two sons, Nick and Joe. In his spare time, he likes to eat chocolate.

Editorial Reviews

Indiana teenager Jack McKinley has just discovered that he is a ticking time-bomb. Unless he solves the ancient mysteries of Atlantis, a rare genetic disorder will kill him within a few months. With this ultimate imperative staring him down, he begins a quest that will challenge his imaginative powers. Peter Lerangis's new fantasy series launch is bound to please readers of his two 39 Clues books. Now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.

In this action-packed first novel in the Seven Wonders series, Jack McKinley, an imaginative kid with a penchant for Rube Goldberg–style devices, is kidnapped and brought to a mysterious island. There he learns that he and three other 13-year-olds carry a rare, often fatal gene; if they survive, the gene will confer superpowers on them and mark them as distantly descended from Atlantis. That ancient kingdom, they discover, was destroyed when its rulers misused the enormous power they wielded. Jack and his new friends have been recruited to rediscover the lost repositories of that power, which are connected to the wonders of the ancient world, such as the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Their survival, though, is far from guaranteed. Lerangis, contributor to the 39 Clues series, has created a real page-turner, and while the characters are somewhat one-dimensional (particularly the adults), there’s a genuine sense of mystery and even a touch of grandeur to this tale. Lerangis aims squarely at the legions of Percy Jackson fans and hits his target. Ages 8–12. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a very busy book. There are so many plotlines and characters that it is hard to keep them straight. Jack McKinley is awakened one morning from a nightmare of an attacking griffin by his Rube Goldberg-rigged alarm clock. On the way to school, he collapses and awakens on the island of Atlantis in a hospital room attended by a morally ambiguous Professor Bhegad and his Hagrid-like assistant, Torquin. Professor Bhegad has collected four young people, all carriers of a gene that creates super powers and assures their early death. Jack, Ally, Cass and Marco are a gifted quartet (although Jack doubts his own skills), bonded by one mission: to find the seven magic symbols (connected to the Seven Wonders of the World) that will unlock the cure to their genetic anomaly. Professor Bhegad's ambiguity is resolved and, yes, he is actually trying to cure his four protegees. Just as Rick Riordin draws on adventure and myth in his Percy Jackson books, Lerangis visits the same sources and tells his story at a very rapid pace in this first volume of a series. There is a lot of rapid fire dialogue with humor that may go right over young readers' heads. When Ally, a Hermione-like advocate for the rights of the underdog, is addressed as "Norma Rae," one can only say, "Really? For ten year olds?" This story culminates in the reanimation of the Colossus of Rhodes who seems more closely related to a Transformer than a world wonder. It is fairly obvious that the other books in the series will draw on the remaining six marvels. Over all, young readers looking for "read-alikes" may choose this from the shelves, but they will enjoy it more for its familiarity than its originality. The first book in the "Seven Wonders" series. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

Gr 6–9—A young teen who is descended from mythological beings and has extraordinary powers is trained in a secret facility with others like him. He finds himself on the run with a small group of his peers, battling other supernatural beings in a race to find a powerful artifact and avert disaster. Hmm, sounds familiar. This is not The Lightning Thief (Hyperion, 2005) and the mythology is the lost city of Atlantis rather than the Greek pantheon, but comparisons with the "Percy Jackson" series are inevitable. Unfortunately, this volume hardly measures up. Jack McKinley is just not as likable or believable as Rick Riordan's protagonist, and the supporting characters are flat. There are far too many deus ex machina moments needed to move the story along (e.g., Marco falling to his death but landing just close enough to a magic waterfall to not actually die). There is plenty of action throughout, and some of it is quite original (nearly dying under a mountain of flaming bat guano is certainly "fresh"), but it is not enough to make up for the uneven plot and weak characters.—Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School Library, CA

School Library Journal

The Seven Wonders series debuts with a bang: 13-year-old Jack McKinley will die unless he can locate the magic Loculi containing the ancient powers of Atlantis. No time for lush descriptions of setting and insightful characterizations here. A belching barefoot giant who looks like a Viking appears on the very first page, and the action begins--a fast-paced, page-turning adventure that quickly takes Jack from Belleville, Ind., to what's left of ancient Atlantis. It turns out that Jack is a descendant of the lost civilization and has a rare genetic condition that will kill him unless he can tap into the island's powers. The problem is that when Atlantis was destroyed, its source of power was stolen, divided into seven containers and hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Finding the powers will not only save Jack's life, but also give him superpowers. Jack and his new friends Cass, Marco and Aly climb volcanoes, confront a griffin, enter a maze, find a waterfall that gives life to the dead and seek the Colossus of Rhodes. Jack, like his kindred spirit, Percy Jackson, is a good-hearted narrator, unsure of his powers but up to the challenges of his fated journey. Fans of Riordan, Rowling, and ancient myths and legends will welcome this new, if derivative opportunity for adventure and enchantment. (Fiction. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews