Typhon and the Winds of Destruction

Heroes in Training #5

by Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams, Craig Phillips (Illustrator)

Twice the quests means twice the adventure for Zeus and his fellow Olympians.

After battling fireball-throwing Titans, the young Olympians find themselves on a double quest: Not only must they find more Olympians that Cronus has swallowed, but they’re also in search of magic seeds that will help rejuvenate the earth after the terrible drought that plagued the lands, thanks to Hyperion. But a wind-throwing giant named Typhon has other ideas. Can the Heroes in Training withstand the storms that are coming their way?

Genres: Mythology, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

113 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2013

About the author

NY Times bestselling children's book author:
GODDESS GIRLS series + HEROES IN TRAINING series (w Suzanne Williams); THIS LITTLE TRAILBLAZER a Girl Power Primer; ZERO THE HERO; I AM THE SHARK. Lucky to be doing what I love!

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series but found this one not quite up to par with the rest of the series to date; though it was still a decent entry. The title names itself after the villain fought in this quest and Typhon is a giant with mighty strength keeping another Olympian prisoner. On the quest for the magic seeds, a very similar Jack-in-the-beanstalk type story is used to tell the tale of how they rescue the next Olympian to join their group and the magic seeds are given to a different member . The story starts with action and never lets up till the end; not much character development is added to the existing personalities as they are all too busy *doing* this time around. The character comes in right at the end so we won't get to know them until the next book, however a big reveal about the other Olympians is disclosed at this point. Full of action and excitement but lacking a bit in the humour department, "Typhon" is a good read; just not as much as the previous entries so far. The next book will focus on the new character and I'm looking forward to its release.

[Hannah Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caveat- my kids loved this and immediately demanded to read more in the series.

But seriously- this book was really silly. Sometimes it was silly in a fun way (the intro is hilarious, the beanstalk is a very silly touch). But sometimes just badly written. The characters have absolutely no discernible personalities. If you squint really hard, you can see them trying to line up against the archetypes of a bad 80s movie- Hades is the joker, Poseidon is the jock, Demeter as the sensitive one, Zeus as the leader. But they regularly forget what personality they were supposed to have and just deliver lines to keep the plot moving. The plot moves at an absolutely frenetic pace, whether or not it makes sense. Things need to happen just to keep the action moving. I think this is why my kids liked it so much- there was constant peril. But the peril gets monotonous after a while.

It's not actively terrible- it's not that it has a bad message, it just has no message. If you are a Greek mythology superfan, you might enjoy this. If you see your kid excited about this series, smile and suffer through it. But don't expect much.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, like the other 4 is full of adventure, and fun! The kids learn new and interesting things in each book. They are also learning to work well as a team, and to rely on each other, which I really like. These are clean, and fun books, and my 5 year old enjoyed it greatly when I read it to him!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm so excited I want to rip this book apart!"

[Amanda Racanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leo & I are enjoying reading together! He can't get enough of these stories!

[Jane Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demeter Poseidon and Zeus climb a beanstalk and find Apollo

[Natali]

I read these to my son. You can finish them in 3-4 bed times. He was about 4-5 at the time and liked them.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars from 6 year old Avi

[Zach Downey]

It was an amazing book

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of adventure, roughly 2nd grade, mostly boys. The story is based on Greek mythology combined with Jack and the Beanstalk. The hero of this book is 10-year old Zeus although the group of young Olympian heroes includes Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon. At the behest of the Oracle of Delphi, this series has these young gods and goddesses to locating a variety of magical objects to be used to combat the effects on the earth of an awful drought caused by the Titan Hyperion. There are definite logic gaps but none that will concern the average 7 year old reader and the book's/series' exotic setting will interest a lot of kids.

[Pam Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heroes in Training Book Five is a great middle school read. It helps hook the kids on mythology and is very entertaining. Joann Holub is doing a great job of bringing mythology and fairy tales into the modern world.

They read fast and my sixth graders are reading them as if they were peanuts.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with my 7-year-old son. Great series for young readers. He can read on his own; I just read to make sure it's age appropriate and to be able to ask questions to insure he is comprehending what he reads.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

its a short book.Typhon is creepy with his two black wings and his giant living snakes in his hair and he had a serpent's tail.i feel bad for Hera because she is the only one with out a weapon.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

apollo!!!!

[Cedric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just found out this was #5 in a series. Wish I had read the other 4 first. I plan to look for them now.

[Sagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that Apollo sings the rhyming songs! --Sagan (age 5)

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asher (7yo) read.

[Kaytee · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was a tiny bit scary when they were climbing the beanstalk when they found the other olympian i was surprised when the olympian was a music player.

[Payton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book. Apollo is pretty cool with his harp.

[Alexander Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are good for kids who like greek mythology and thiner books.