This is one of my favorite series in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint from Disney/Hyperion. THE STORM RUNNER (Book 1) came out last year (click here for my review of that one). I've been eagerly awaiting the second ever since, and THE FIRE KEEPER did not disappoint!
Cervantes does a fantastic job not just with the world-building which is epic, but with crafting a character-driven story where you can't help but cheer for main character Zane Obispo and the whole supporting cast. I was even cheering for the bad guys! How does that work?!
We left Zane at the end of Book 1 hiding out on a tropical island that's been cloaked in a protective spell so the gods can't find him and you know, murder him (they think he’s already dead so it’s kinda important he stay out of sight, ya know). And that's where we pick up at the beginning of Book 2 with all the same great characters we know and love — Uncle Hondo, Brooks, Rosie the Hellhound, Ms. Cab and Mr. Ortiz — hanging out and living their best lives on a hidden island with an invisible volcano-slash-entrance to hell. You know, pretty boring.
But, just as Zane is adjusting to island life, helping his mom and Uncle Hondo run tours around the island, another godborn named Ren Santiago shows up. How did she just happen to appear on an island shrouded in powerful protective magic? How can she create shadow people while she sleeps who are dead-set on killing Zane and anyone else in their path?
But Zane doesn't really have time to solve the mystery that is Ren because he has bigger problems at hand including finding out that he accidentally put all of the other godborns — including Ren — in terrible danger. If he doesn't find them all before the gods do, they're all gonna die. But the gods are also about to execute Zane's newfound god-dad, Hurakan. Can Zane save all the godborns AND his dad before it's too late, and without the gods killing him in the process? Probably not, but it's worth a shot!
This is such a fun, action-packed adventure as Zane, Brooks, Ren, and Uncle Hondo set out to save the day, with a little help along the way from new enemies and old frenemies. Poor Zane just can't catch a break, but it sure does make for an unputdownable ride!
This review originally appeared on NetGalley. I received a free Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review of this title.
Alisa Williams is the managing editor of SpectrumMagazine.org. She blogs at alisawilliamswrites.com, tweets at @AWWritesStories, and bookstagrams at @AllyWritesStories.
Photo by Alisa Williams.
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