While the folklore and history might not be as smoothly incorporated as other mythological fantasies, it’s done well enough that middle grade readers won’t mind. The plot will draw readers in, but what will keep them is Zach’s struggle to belong, his journey to find himself and discover real friendship, as well as the highlighting of underrepresented mythologies. This is a creative, engaging story that will appeal to fans of ancient mythology and world history. Oh, and the First Emperor didn’t properly possess Zach, instead attaching to his AR headset, which means Zach might have to find his own warrior spirit, something he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have. But a lot is riding on this: not only is his mom’s spirit hanging in the balance, but if Zach can’t seal the portal to the Chinese underworld in the next 14 days, the world will be overtaken by malevolent spirits.
So when he learns that he’s meant to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China, he’s more than a little surprised. Zach Ying has always had a hard time fitting in: he and his mom keep moving they never have any money and to top it all off, he’s the only Muslim Chinese kid at school. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.Īnd if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.
The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. Percy Jackson meets Tristan Strong in this hilarious middle grade “edge-of-your-seat adventure” (James Ponti, New York Times bestselling author of City Spies) that follows a young boy as he journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm.
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