The secrets of the Seven Wonders, uncovered
"Hades and Tartarus, always Hades and Tartarus! This obsession with mainland Greece! They are...related. But Bo'gloo has its own dreadful merits, as you will see."
- Shilaki ("The Tomb of Shadows", Peter Lerangis)
Greek mythology is having its heyday, thanks to Fantasy literature.
"To a degree, the Greek and Roman mythological heroes are just the first superheroes. They appeal to children for much the same reason. These gods and heroes may have powers, but they get angry and they do the wrong thing. They are human too. Children relate to gods because they are really parental figures, who make mistakes and who seem very capricious," said Rick Riordan.
Riordan is the the author of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians", about modern-day demigods who must protect Olympus from Cronus. The series became popular, which prompted the Texan to pen a sequel, "The Heroes of Olympus". Then there's Peter Lerangis, another renowned writer in Fantasy literature and Young-adult fiction. His claim to fame is the "Seven Wonders", about the lost continent of Atlantis and the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
"Some of these (Seven Wonders) do not trip off the modern tongue. They were determined by a group of Ancient Romans and Greeks, perhaps after a hard day of bull-jumping, and not surprisingly all existed around the Mediterranean. But the ancient world was full of architectural marvels. Like the city of Knossos in Crete, which had running water, flush toilets, and a Minotaur running around in the basement. Or Stonehenge, or the statues at Easter Island, or the Terra Cotta warriors in China, or Macchu Picchu in Peru - or closer to our time, the Taj Mahal or the Alhambra. All had that combination of grandeur, genius, and service to a higher cause - or as Pericles would not have said, that 'wow factor'," Lerangis said.
Fans of fantasy literature find Lerangis's premise unique, about Queen Qalani, ruler of Atlantis, who discovered a magical energy laying beneath the kingdom. Being a scientist, Qalani wanted to analyze the energy, isolating it into seven components called Loculi. When natural calamities hit Atlantis, many blamed on what the queen did. There were fears that the energy might be stolen and used for the wrong reasons, so it was decided to hide them in these Seven Wonders, all of which were considered aesthetic triumph.
Four descendants of Qalani, namely Jack McKinley, Ally Black, Cass Williams, and Marco Ramsay, were tasked to find the Loculi. Like their forefathers, they have powers that would start manifesting upon reaching their fourteenth year, but it would kill them unless they find all seven Loculi before their fourteenth birthday. The first book, "The Colossus Rises", alluded to the Collosus of Rhodes, one of the tallest statues during ancient times. The quartet find out that the earthquake (of 226 B.C.) didn't destroy the marble figure, as it was buried, protecting the Loculus containing the power to fly. The next book, "Lost in Babylon", brought the four teenagers to Euphrates, where a time portal sent them back to a period when modern-day Iraq wasn't arid. The Babylonian civilization was at the pinnacle of its grandeur, with rectangular stepped towers (ziggurat) luring merchants and sovereigns from faraway lands. The Hanging Garden, the most splendid of them all, wasn't far from the river, protected by fierce creatures brought from Atlantis. It concealed another Loculus, which held within the power of invisibility.
The third book, "The Tomb of Shadows", recently released, was even better. It was about the tomb of Mausolus, located in Bodrum, Turkey. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was one of only three (of the Seven Wonders) that could be seen, but all that remained were ruins. But Jack and company find something else, another portal that brought them to Bo'gloo, which Aly described as anti-Narnia. It had semblance to the Underworld, and Artemesia II, who built the Halicarnassus, the ancient city where the mausoleum was the center of attraction, was the ruler, whom Lerangis molded after Hades. Jack thought she carried a Loculum, which could heal anyone. But what he discovered was a prophecy on him and what would become of Atlantis.
Anyone familiar with Olympian deities and heroes may be a little excited about the series, but young fans of fantasy literature won't. Old stories need to be retold in able to give it a fresh perspective. In this regard, Lerangis delivered. (For those who love traveling, the novel won't disappoint, as the quartet traveled four continents.) It remains to be seen if Hollywood will take notice, but Lerangis, a native of Brooklyn, New York, has so much success. There are four more books to come.
