Not Korman’s best but good for a summer read.
A new identity can’t keep Jackson Opus and his parents out of harm’s way.
After refusing to help Elias Mako and his Sentia Institute mesmerists rig an election in The Hypnotists (2013), Jax and his parents move from New York City to Haywood, Connecticut, and change their name from Opus to Magnus. They are in hiding from Mako and his young thugs with the help of Axel Braintree, head of the Sandman’s Guild (a kind of 12-step group for hypnotists to keep them on the straight and narrow). But it’s hard for Jax to keep his head down when his color-changing gaze and an offhand comment can send anyone into a mind-controlled trance. When dying media tycoon Avery Quackenbush, who’s on to Jax’s identity, approaches the middle schooler with an offer he can’t refuse, Jax takes on the task of hypnotizing Quackenbush to extend his life—against Braintree’s advice. But if Quackenbush has figured out who Jax is, can Mako and the FBI be far behind? Though it’s less hypnotism and more telepathic mind control that acts as a catalyst to the tale, Korman’s second light and action-oriented tale about Jax Opus will please fans of the first or his other short suspense trilogies. Though there’s not much character depth, and it’s a bit slow at times, there are still a couple of surprises.
Not Korman’s best but good for a summer read. (Suspense fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50329-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
An action-packed fantasy containing a surprising twist.
An old curse and untapped magic lead a boy on a worldwide quest to save his aunt.
Ever since 13-year-old Shinji Takahashi’s parents died, he and his Aunt Yui have lived a life that includes months of travels, hunting for unique items for her shop in Miami. While floating down the Zambezi River, Shinji comes upon a mysterious shop with a small figurine of a Coatl, or mythical feathered serpent, that seems to be calling to him. But after he buys it, Shinji is kidnapped and held captive by the Hightower Corporation in New York City. Aunt Yui is nowhere to be seen—and the Coatl figurine has transformed itself into a tattoo on Shinji’s arm. A Hightower villain informs him that it brings with it a deadly curse. Meanwhile, young prodigy Lucy, who has been working for the corporation, appears in Shinji’s room in the middle of the night: After overhearing Hightower’s evil plans for him, she decides to help him break out. Lucy suggests reaching out to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, Hightower’s archrivals, for help returning the Coatl to its original temple and finding Shinji’s aunt. This intriguing venture builds to a compelling climax. One question that remains unanswered is why Japanese American Shinji, who has no Mesoamerican heritage, is chosen by the Coatl to be its rescuer; perhaps this will be resolved in the next entry in this new series.
An action-packed fantasy containing a surprising twist. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-06819-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
Epic—in plot, not length—and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris’ Arthurian exploits.
Who needs dragons when there are Terrible Lizards to be fought?
Having recklessly boasted to King Arthur and the court that he’d slain 40 dragons, Sir Erec can hardly refuse when Merlin offers him more challenging foes…and so it is that in no time (so to speak), Erec, with bookish Sir Hector, the silent and enigmatic Black Knight, and blustering Sir Bors with his thin but doughty squire, Mel, in tow, are hewing away at fearsome creatures sporting natural armor and weapons every bit as effective as knightly ones. Happily, while all the glorious mashing and bashing leads to awesome feats aplenty—who would suspect that a ravening T. Rex could be decked by a well-placed punch to the jaw?—when the dust settles neither bloodshed nor permanent injury has been dealt to either side. Better yet, not even the stunning revelation that two of the Three Stooges–style bumblers aren’t what they seem (“Anyone else here a girl?”) keeps the questers from developing into a well-knit team capable of repeatedly saving one another’s bacon. Phelan endows the all-white human cast with finely drawn, eloquently expressive faces but otherwise works in a loose, movement-filled style, pitting his clanking crew against an almost nonstop onslaught of toothy monsters in a monochrome mix of single scenes and occasional wordless sequential panels.
Epic—in plot, not length—and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris’ Arthurian exploits. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-268623-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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