The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence was written by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong in 2015 and it follows a Chinese-American boy called Steven. When he is exploring a museum, he stumbles upon a strange ritual that calls upon the power of each of the animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac. Steven absorbs the power of the Tiger which grants him quick reflexes and astonishing strength. However, this power does not come without a cost. Steven soon learns that Maxwell, an evil man, is trying to steal all twelve powers for himself and unfortunately, Maxwell has managed to grab part of the Dragon power. Teaming up with other people who have absorbed other powers, Steven must stop Maxwell or consequence is death.
This book got straight down to business in the first two chapters and completely blew me away. Convergence is a fast-paced book that includes lots of detail and develops the plot well. The authors manage to grasp the emotion of each different scene and express it in the best way possible. However, I would not recommend this story who enjoys slower or peaceful books because Convergence certainly contains a lot of punching and kicking.
One thing that I particularly liked about this book were the characters. In most books, the main character is "the special one". They possess a certain degree of power that no one else has and the fate of the world rests on their shoulders. However, in Convergence, that is not the case. The Dragon is the most powerful of all twelve zodiac signs but Steven is granted with the Tiger power and his teammate, Jasmine, has the Dragon power. I like that the story doesn't follow the cliche set-up and allows the main character to face their own challenges, apart from not being the strongest on the team.
However, there is much about the characters that the readers do not know about. For example, Jasmine, one of Steven's teammates has many interactions with Maxwell. During these confrontations, readers can tell there is a strong tension between the two of them. Unfortunately, readers are able to find out what happened between the two in this book and a lot is left unsaid. This was a bit frustrating and confusing at times as I wasn't sure what was going on.
Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and this book is perfect for readers who enjoy science-fiction and action, especially if they like Marvel movies!
This book got straight down to business in the first two chapters and completely blew me away. Convergence is a fast-paced book that includes lots of detail and develops the plot well. The authors manage to grasp the emotion of each different scene and express it in the best way possible. However, I would not recommend this story who enjoys slower or peaceful books because Convergence certainly contains a lot of punching and kicking.
One thing that I particularly liked about this book were the characters. In most books, the main character is "the special one". They possess a certain degree of power that no one else has and the fate of the world rests on their shoulders. However, in Convergence, that is not the case. The Dragon is the most powerful of all twelve zodiac signs but Steven is granted with the Tiger power and his teammate, Jasmine, has the Dragon power. I like that the story doesn't follow the cliche set-up and allows the main character to face their own challenges, apart from not being the strongest on the team.
However, there is much about the characters that the readers do not know about. For example, Jasmine, one of Steven's teammates has many interactions with Maxwell. During these confrontations, readers can tell there is a strong tension between the two of them. Unfortunately, readers are able to find out what happened between the two in this book and a lot is left unsaid. This was a bit frustrating and confusing at times as I wasn't sure what was going on.
Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and this book is perfect for readers who enjoy science-fiction and action, especially if they like Marvel movies!
- Sarah Guo
Nice review! I remember reading The Zodiac Legacy a few years ago, but I'd forgotten most of the plot. However, your short introduction to it was so good that it sparked my memory. I like how you organized the review to show everything that you liked about the book, but also talking about what could have been done better at the end. I think I will re-read The Zodiac Legacy after now since you reminded me of how good it is.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this book, but after reading this review, I might have to pick it up sometime. I read and enjoy a lot of sci-fi and action books so this sounds like a pretty good book for me. I like the point you made about avoiding cliches as when I read these kinds of books, they often have a lot of unique action sequences, but always follow basic, boring patterns. The fact that this book doesn't seem to follow the same cliches as other titles makes me more inclined to read this.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this book does not follow the cliche chosen one setup caught my attention immediately, and you also seem to think that it was refreshing to see this type of story. Before reading this review, I thought that this would just be another action adventure book that had little originality. However, after reading your review, I might just give it a look. You made a compelling case for Convergence.
ReplyDeleteI for one certainly enjoy when a book avoids or side steppes cliche. This book seems to stand out in a world of cliche and originality an made by your review. I'm interested in how you thought about the fast pacing of the book. To me, if a book tries to go too fast one of two things happen. Either I an overwhelmed with new ideas the book tries to present and end up lost the rest of the way or I can end up not caring about the characters and plot and as such become bored and eventually drop the book. Overall, I thought your review was insightful and informative. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGood job! I really enjoyed this review. You did a great job at making it clear as I was not confused at any point. Also, I like how you said that it would not be a good book for people who enjoy slower books, it is always nice to get a heads up if a book may not be for you. I think it is really interesting that the main character is not super special. I might look into this book!
ReplyDeleteFantastic review! I really liked that you were concise with your summary and review while being very informative and keeping the reader engaged. I find it very interesting that you included the fact that the main character/protagonist in the book does not even have the most power. I think that really made me enjoy the review more. You also mentioned that it is a fast-paced book which I really like. I will have to keep a look out for this book!
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