The Shadow Crosser

Zane's crew of godborns grows--just in time for all their parents to go missing...in 1987. In this third series entry, readers are reintroduced to Mexican American, half-human/half-god Zane Obispo, son of the Maya god Hurakan. Zane's in search of the last godborn so he can bring all 64 of them together for training at the Shaman Institute of Higher-Order Magic. But this number actually turns out to be 65 when he meets twins Adrik and Alana. They are rightly suspicious of Zane's wild tale until they are faced with Ixtab, queen of the underworld, and sentient calendar K'iin and find out most of the gods have been kidnapped and sent away to the past. Now it's up to the godborns to save them. Time travel isn't easy, though: It requires a shadow crosser, or magician, to hold the time thread and ensure that the travelers have a link back to the present--and that person faces suffering permanent brain damage. Maya gods are nothing if not dramatic. As in the previous two volumes, the plot is busy and frantic, though the engaging prose and humanlike, melodramatic gods are fun to meet again, and the glossary may help readers keep track of which god is which. The plot may give readers whiplash, but if all three volumes are read in quick succession, they will likely have an easier time keeping track of the twists and turns. Action-packed and entertaining. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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