Your Friends and Enemies
The wait is over. Almost.
"The Curse of the King", the fourth in the "Seven Wonder" series, will be out on March 3. Most will guess the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is where Jack McKinley, Ally Black, Cass Williams, and Marco Ramsay might head to find the next Loculus. Time is not on their side, as they must get all seven Loculi before their fourteenth birthday. Or they won't live another day.
Peter Lerangis was able to create a series from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the mythical continent of Atlantis. There were lots of bumps and bruises, as well as the quartet's encounter with assorted characters. Most of them were peculiar, whom readers weren't able to get to know well enough. Was the author withholding the most important details? Not really. He recently published two original novellas, side stories that would provide reference for the remaining books (in the series).
Before the Karai Institute was built
In "The Colossus Rises", Jack first met Ally, Cass, and Marco in Kirai Institute. It was located somewhere within the dense jungle in an island unmarked in most maps. Only the enemies of the institute knew where. These four teenagers possessed extraordinary abilities, but they showed symptoms that revealed they won't make it to adulthood. They explored the jungle until they stumbled into a cave where carvings told a long-lost story of how Atlantis rose to prominence and then went into decline. It was in the same isle that they felt normal, which made them wondered if they were more than mere mortals.
"The Select" recounted the story of Burton Friedrich Wenders, who was thirteen years of age during the turn of the twentieth century. He was experiencing the same symptoms (that Jack, Ally, Cass, and Marco did), and it was only his father who sensed that there was no cure. His old man may be the first to know about the mysterious island, so he borrowed money to purchase a ship and hire some men to join them. Enigma left Cardiff, only to see most of the crew perished during the storm. It was no coincidence that only father and son set foot in the isle. It wasn't even surprising that they encountered wizened men in silken robes, who wanted to sacrifice Burton.
The story became more puzzling as it progressed, but expect everything to come to place later in the series. The tale, forty pages long, was filled with quick action. No doubt that the stakes were higher, but the resolution was neither a clever one nor a slam dunk. Could there be a meeting between Burton and Jack? The quartet haven't explored the entire cave, and it would be safe to assume that they didn't find any remains of the men who wanted Burton's head. Only the young Mr. Wenders knew, who was able to learn foreign languagest fast. It would be a long night.
Do you still remember the slave girl?
Daria, who helped our four young heroes in "Lost in Babylon", had her own story to tell. She became a slave girl due to a series of unfortunate events. In the narrow streets of Babylon, she could outwit the king's guards. But not in the garden near Mother's Mountain (a.k.a. The Hanging Gardens of Bablyon), where she had trepidation of unfamiliar creatures lurking beneath the verdant surrounding.
Those who didn't get enough of the second book (in the series) would be delighted with "The Orphan", where Daria stole a pomegranate from the king's garden to save a dying friend. It was believed to heal anyone, even those with incurable illnesses. But the young woman got what more than she hoped to avoid. It was a twist of fate, which fans (of the series) knew there would be more to come.
