Phoenix

July 1, 2012
Kung fu, bicycle racing and an ancient Chinese supersteroid provide the central elements for a spinoff series opener set in the modern era from the creator of the Five Ancestors heptalogy. Learning to his amazement that his "grandfather" is actually almost 400 years old, orphaned Indiana teenager and gifted trail-bike racer Phoenix finds himself on a fast flight to China after intruders steal the "dragon bone" dietary supplement that has been keeping the beloved old man alive. The quest takes him from Kaifeng--where he falls in with live-wire, if not (as it turns out) entirely trustworthy, beauty Hu Die, who is as good as he is on a bike and better in a fight--to Texas. There he engages in an extended and violent climactic dust-up with the baddies scheming to (mis)use the dragon bone as a performance enhancer. Stone stirs in characters and locales that connect new series with old. He also mixes plenty of well-informed racing-bike talk and action (on trail and cyclocross courses alike) with spectacular feats of kung fu, battles against well-armed heavies, comedic and sentimental moments, twists of fortune and other conventions of martial-arts tales. A thrill ride from start to finish for fans of high-speed plank hurdles and scorpion kicks alike. (Fantasy. 11-13)

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January 1, 2013

Gr 6-9-In this nonstop action ride, Phoenix Collins must depend on his love and talent for kung fu and mountain-bike racing to save his guardian grandfather's life. After thieves ransack their house and steal Grandfather's rare dragon bone powder, it's up to the teen to travel to China to try and procure more. The dragon bone is the only thing keeping the elderly man alive-as it has for hundreds of years. Fans of Stone's popular "Five Ancestors" series (Random) will welcome this volume, the first in his new series. The story is set in the modern day, so instead of battling armies and a corrupt emperor, Phoenix and his friends battle mad scientists and doping in the world of competitive cycling. Exciting descriptions of off-road biking and fight scenes balance out lengthy explanations of types of cycles and different gear. Fans will enjoy seeing favorite characters alive after many centuries, still teaching kung fu and handing off the good fight to a new generation.-Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
After Grandfather's dragon-bone powder is stolen, thirteen-year-old Phoenix, a top-notch mountain bike racer, learns that "Grandfather" (from Stone's previous Five Ancestors series) was actually born in 1638, and without his dragon bone, he'll die. So Phoenix jets to China to find more. Action-packed bike racing and kung fu sequences will likely distract readers from the wooden dialogue and frequent bouts of tell-rather-than-show mode.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)