Thirteen-year-old Zane Obispo was born with one leg significantly shorter than the other. He uses a cane to get around, but he doesn't let that stop him and his dog, Rosie, from exploring the hollowed out interior of a long-dead volcano near his house in New Mexico.
Rosie, a gargantuan half-boxer half-dalmation, is the one thing he truly loves. He has a part-time job working for their blind next-door neighbor, Ms. Caballero, a psychic who gives readings. And he's spent the last year at home, being homeschooled, after bullies pummeled him at the local public school.
His mom decides it's time for him to try middle school again, Catholic school this time, and of course, it's a total disaster. He gets picked on and fights back almost immediately, but while waiting to be reprimanded by the Father, he meets super-hot Brooks, "the most beautiful girl on the planet," dressed totally out of code -- all in black!
Then a plane, with a mysterious monster as the pilot crashes in the volcano. Brooks appears and warns him it's a demon runner from Xib'alb'a come to look for him. She explains how Zane's needed by the Mayan god Au-Puch (pronounced, aww-puke!) to set him free to fulfill a prophecy, that involves the end of the world as we know it, and then she impossibly vanishes, right before his eyes.
Although he knows its dangerous, Zane's drawn to the volcano, and Rosie and Brooks go with him to investigate. Rosie protects him from the demon runner and is killed by it. Zane promises her he'll find a way to bring her back.
It's an impossible promise, but it sets Zane, after he's forced to free Ah-Puch, on a roller coaster of a quest that takes him to Los Angeles. Along the way he discovers a helpful giant and his heritage, as a son of a Mayan god, making him a (drum roll please...) demi-god. (Remember that term from Rick Riordan's books?)
This is a great series starter and sets up the introduction of the pantheon of Mayan gods, with the demi-god rules already established by Riordan's Olympians series.
The Fire Keeper pulls a typical Rick Riordan role reversal for the main villain, Ah-Puch, who's now desperate to stop an Aztec god who makes him look like a sweet, fuzzy kitten. Or maybe a tiger cub.
In any case, he's back and this time needs Zane's help to stop a nefarious plot to overturn the Mayan god pantheon by beheading Zane's father, the Mayan god Hurakan, for his crime of fathering a half-human demi-god.
Zane, hellhound Rosie and their friends have been hiding, since the end of the last book, on gorgeous Holbox Island, hidden by the death goddess, Ixtab. But as much as the island protects them from the gaze of the gods, it's also a prison -- it keeps Zane and Brooks and all the others locked up and out of the way.
Until Renata Santiago, a teen girl who read Zane's story in a book from the library (libraries rock!), arrives on a boat. She brings with her strange and menacing shadows that attack Zane while she's in a stupor / asleep, but they leave as soon as she wakes and tells them to stop.
Zane's written a book (sound familiar? Carter Kane, maybe?) detailing his adventures, and because it was written on smuggled magic paper, it's calling all the godborns to him. A mud monster impersonates Ms. Cab, the seer and psychic, and tries to "map" Zane, but doesn't quite finish.
Zane figures out all the other godborns are in danger, and feels obligated to protect them. That means leaving the protected prison island for the land of the dead, where their flesh is just delicious.
With help from Brooks' sister, Quinn, they make it to Ixtab and come to an agreement with her. She takes Zane's life force and gives him three days to save the 10 godborns.
I won't reveal any spoilers, I won't even get you to the part where Ah-Puch shows up again, just know, it has plenty of twists and turns and somethings are not what they seem. The set up for the next book -- coming out in September, I believe -- is great.
This is awesome summer reading!
