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A review by stephanie_yuzuki
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence by Stuart Moore, Stan Lee
3.0
People from around the world gain superpowers based on the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac and split into two opposing camps. This premise and the fact Stan Lee was involved lead me to giving this book a try. It's clearly for younger readers but there's some good stuff here. The prose is a bit bland but clear and readable, something essential in good children's literature, and filled with exciting action scenes. The excellent illustrations by Andie Tong are a real highlight.
Convergence suffers from the sheer number of characters present though. There are seven protagonists and they get only slight development as the book struggles to find something for them all to do. Roxanne and Duane in particular are sidelined, and being the two Black heroes this is doubly bad. Diversity only counts when marginalized characters get to affect the plot. The villain, Maxwell, is the most interesting with his reluctance to fully utilize his powers since some of them, like removing aspects of someone's personality, disturb him. I emphasized with Kim and her need to run away the most, and I liked the brief mention of how her town has stagnated from corporate neglect and irresponsibility.
What bothers me most about Convergence is having a story about the Chinese Zodiac but only two characters, Steven and Jasmine, have any connection to cultures that use the Chinese Zodiac. In a cast of fourteen major characters only two are Asian; the rest are Black or White from what I could tell. There really should be more Asian characters in a story like this.
Diversitywise, Steven is Chinese American, Jasmine appears to be Chinese and Roxanne, Duane and Malik are Black. No LGBT content at all, which looks weird with such a big cast and would have added some much-needed character development.
Convergence suffers from the sheer number of characters present though. There are seven protagonists and they get only slight development as the book struggles to find something for them all to do. Roxanne and Duane in particular are sidelined, and being the two Black heroes this is doubly bad. Diversity only counts when marginalized characters get to affect the plot. The villain, Maxwell, is the most interesting with his reluctance to fully utilize his powers since some of them, like removing aspects of someone's personality, disturb him. I emphasized with Kim and her need to run away the most, and I liked the brief mention of how her town has stagnated from corporate neglect and irresponsibility.
What bothers me most about Convergence is having a story about the Chinese Zodiac but only two characters, Steven and Jasmine, have any connection to cultures that use the Chinese Zodiac. In a cast of fourteen major characters only two are Asian; the rest are Black or White from what I could tell. There really should be more Asian characters in a story like this.
Diversitywise, Steven is Chinese American, Jasmine appears to be Chinese and Roxanne, Duane and Malik are Black. No LGBT content at all, which looks weird with such a big cast and would have added some much-needed character development.