The Colossus Rises

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