Steven never suspected he’d be drawn into an epic conflict between super-powered mercenaries when he agreed to go on a field trip to China with his high school. He never thought that he’d become empowered by an ancient force that bestows abilities on individuals in line with the Chinese Zodiac. And certainly, it never crossed his mind that he’d be leading a squad of other super-powered teens to take down a team of trained killers serving a madman who will wipe out an entire city just to cover up his own wrongdoing.
No, Steven didn’t think any of those things would happen, but that’s precisely what occurs in Stan Lee and Stuart Moore’s “The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence”.
I enjoyed this YA title because it manages to take an interesting spin on superpowers through the Chinese zodiac. Some of the powers manifest themselves in ways you wouldn’t quite expect, but that makes perfect sense once you stop to think about them. The character with the powers of the Pig being a good example, though I won’t spoil it for you how they manifest.
Steven is a very enjoyable character for the most part, although if I have a criticism of him it’s that he tends to flip back and forth between confidence and self-doubt a bit too easily. Figuring out which mindset Steven is in at the moment gets a little confusing in a couple places. Still, his character does make sense and is easy to root for, so this is a minor concern.
I have to say I didn’t care for the main bad guy, Maxwell. He follows the tropes of the superhero genre just a bit too closely for my taste, to the point that he feels generic and not someone I can really get behind defeating. Thankfully, the team of mercenaries that works for Maxwell is much more interesting and kept me invested in the story (particularly when the rivalry between the Ram and the Ox cropped up).
Though it has a few flaws, with a ton of action, a very cool take on superpowers via the Chinese zodiac, and some protagonists that are interesting to follow, this book earns a solid four out of five stars for me.
