The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon's Return

Zodiac Legacy #2

by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, Andie Tong (Illustrator)

In this second illustrated novel of The Zodiac Legacy series, the dangerous dragon power only grows stronger within Jasmine, and Steven struggles to hold their ragtag team together. But as alliances become strained, the line between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" becomes blurrier and blurrier. And it all culminates in a major cliffhanger that readers won't see coming!

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 26, 2016

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Tony le]

I am reviewing this book for my reading class at school
The Zodiac Legacy, The Dragon’s Return
(Advance Uncorrected Copy)
Author: Stan Lee and Stuart Moore, Genre: Fantasy, By: Tony Le

Steven Lee again is put against all odds with his team of super powered zodiac people against a madman that thinks that he can save the world by having all the power in the world.(Why do all madman think they can save the world by destroying, taking over, or having all the power in the world?) Steven will face challenges like loneliness, other super powered people, the one and only madman Maxwell.

I thought this book was great. It stuck to it’s plot, has great action and everything. It doesn’t even have many mistakes (or I was just reading too fast or not looking hard enough.) for an advance copy. I would make more sense if you were reading the first book though.

The characters were believable and stuck to their personality from the first book. The new character that will show in the book have certain spice. My favorite character was the Rat. Even though he doesn’t appear much in both books, he his this mysteries lifestyle and even disappear in the first book. I recommend this book to everyone that read the first book (if you liked it) or need a new series to read. If you’re one of those readers that don’t have an active imagination? Don’t worry this book also have pictures too!

[Brandy Painter]

I did not read book one of the Zodiac Legacy but read this volume because it was nominated for a Cybils. (I am a round one MG Spec Fic panelist.) I did not find it at all difficult to pick up on what was going on even though I had not read the first. Like a Marvel movie, it seemed designed for that. This is pretty much a Marvel movie in novel form in every way imaginable. The characters can all be matched to a movie counterpart. The plot is fast moving and follows a similar formula: major team action sequence, team tired and angsting, various team members cause minor to major disasters with more action scenes, major team action sequence with threads dangling for next installment, team tired but renewing their bond minus some who are MIA. It even has two epilogues. There is a diverse cast and several female characters of importance. All in all a good read for any kid addicted to super hero stories and tropes. The sentence level writing is mediocre and I do feel this would work better as a graphic novel series. I really did love the illustrations that are included though.

[Keila]

First read (2018): 3 🌟

Reread (2023): 4 🌟

After finally reading the 1st book, everything makes more sense XD

[Seoyoung]

Steven now has to take the "leader" position because Jasmine is distracted by Carlos' disappearance. He's unsure in his abilities to lead the group and Maxwell's new plan to get back the Dragon power is going to test the team's loyalty to each other.
This is the second book of The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence, and I highly recommend reading the first book.
If you like this series I feel like Percy Jackson and the Olympians would be a great series to read next. The main character, Percy, is like Steven who is thrown into a new foreign world and is struggling to adapt, but they might have more connections to their respective strange world than they think.

[⚘ Itz Lia the Bibliophile ⚘]

Wow This is sooo much better than the first one!

[Tamara]

I was not expecting the team to lose their powers. The only Zodiac powers Maxwell doesn’t have now is Rat and Kim’s power..

[Megan Griffin]

This book was really good. I liked all of the mystery following Ox and Carlos. That twist about Steven's parents was crazy!! I can't wait to find out what Steven and the team do next!

[Gage Kent]

A good book I recommend it.

[Lily Bumann]

So Steven ,the tiger zodiac, now has the burden of team leader because Jasmine is going days without eating or sleeping and is worried that the dragon is taking over her.. Jasmine starts to get suspicious of how and why Steven was at the convergents the time he was. Then maxwell comes up with aplan to trap Steven so he could give the power to one of his soldiers whileJasmine is planning to attack maxwell because she wants to find Carlos and save him while he's taking Steven's tiger power.I'll take stuff like this any day. Enough said : )

[5StegerLeah]

I absolutely love this series. For my update for this book, I am just going to say that it left on a cliffhanger. It didn't have a happy ending like the first book, so I definitely am super excited to read the finale. Book 3. I am wondering what Steven will do with the qi amplifier because he still has it but it doesn't work anymore. I'm wondering if maybe Carlos can fix it when he wakes up. IF he wakes up.

[Em theglitterybookworm_]

3.2/5.0 Slightly better than the first

[Sasha]

The drawings in this book are amazing; however, the writing is not good enough to inspire me to read the third book in the series.

[kristelle]

3.5

[Aaron]

Steven Lee and the other Zodiacs are back for their second adventure. They seem to be faced with a number of forces pulling them apart no matter that his special skills as Tiger include an ability to help them work as a team. Kim (Rabbit) has to head home because her father's ill. Roxanne (Rooster) is reconnecting with her mom. Jasmine (Dragon) is being overwhelmed by her powers and by the fact that her boyfriend has disappeared. That doesn't take into account the fact that Duane (Pig) is doubting his contributions to the team because his talents are all brains and no muscle.

It is unfortunate that the team is so split since they will need to work together more than ever. Maxwell is back and he is looking to pull together the zodiac power to try and rule the world. He is once again hoping that by collecting the powers of all twelve signs, he will have everything he needs to crush the Zodiacs and have nothing in his way.

This was a pretty good sequel to Convergence, which was the first book in the series. The more prominent characters are definitely becoming better developed and more interesting. The use of the Chinese zodiac to create teams of superheroes and supervillains is an interesting concept, and it seems to work out quite well. Stan Lee, of Marvel fame, is listed as the primary author, though he has a great deal of support in the form of Stuart Moore and Andie Tong to create a well written novel supported with wonderfully drawn artwork that captures everything that is great in comic book art even though this is not a graphic novel format.

I am looking forward to more books if Disney does decide to have them completed.

[Erica Robyn Metcalf]

Another very fun read! While a bit slower than the first book, this one was still action packed and exciting! I really enjoyed seeing more about their zodiac powers and how they could warn the individual when something was wrong.

I absolutely love that this series has illustrations included.

Can't wait for book 3!

Favorite passages:
“Being defeated is a valuable experience,” Maxwell said. “It’s humbling. It forces a person to take stock, to examine what’s really important. To focus more directly on his goals and take careful steps to reach them. Would you like to know the steps I took?”
“Please, teach me, Yoda,” Steven muttered, his eyes still closed.

Then he held out his arms. "Group hug," he said. "Grug."
Steven frowned. "Is that a thing?"
"It is now." Duane gestured at his computer. "I just added it to Wikipedia."

[★ Reign]

3.5 stars at best.

I am not actually a fan of the writing style. It bothers me because the fight scenes are too detailed and the rest of the factors that seem to affect the whole plot feels just like an info dump. Thankfully, it's not very long because there are pictures and the font is in readable size for a middle grade book.

However, I really find the concept of the Zodiac interesting, as well as the character dynamics, and the plot is something I would watch as a movie (even though I have not seen the adaptation of this series because I don't usually watch movies). Even though I'd have to endure the comic-like writing style, I understand that Mr. Stan Lee's masterpieces are mostly comic books.

I am a little invested in the story and I'll be reading the third book before the year ends.

[Koen Schmidt]

The second installment of the Zodiac series continues with Steven and his tiger power getting stronger. It turns out that Maxwell, the villain, is still alive after the explosion. While they are trying to track down Maxwell to get Jazmine's dragon power back, there are a lot of obstacles that Steven and his team have to face. This is a definite must read if you read the first book of the Zodiac series, Convergence. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes action packed books. I give this book two thumbs up!

[Zachary Barker]

The Dragon's return is a great follow up to the first book.
It is about a team of superpowered teenagers who are fighting against the leader of Vangaurd(Maxwell), a horrible corporation. Who wants every single Zodiac power to himself. It is the Zodiav team led by Steven Lee to stop him.

[Matthew]

I am writing this for my school project.

This book is about a boy named Steven Lee, and his team of heroes who are trying to control the zodiac power. They have just won a very dangerous battle against their adversary, Maxwell in attempt to hold the zodiac powers. One of Stevens allies, Carlos, who is their smartest scientist has recently gone missing. Steven and his team have suspicion that Maxwell has kidnapped Steven in an attempt to regain the zodiac power. The team leader, Jasmine has completely separated herself from the team in an attempt to eventually find Carlos. She believes that the Dragon power that she holds is unstoppable, so she leads a head on attack to Maxwell's headquarters to retrieve Carlos. Will she succeed? will Steven and his team have to save her? Find out if you read this book.
I gave this book a 5 star rating for many reasons. For starters, I enjoyed the plot development immensely, as it had parts of travel from all over the world, from Greenland to China to Australia. I also love the suspense with the kidnapping of Carlos, and how we didn't fully know where he was, but we were able to infer based off of Maxwell's actions. I loved how well the character development was in this book, as all of the characters in it had their own parts to play, and we knew about them a lot. I overall enjoyed this book a lot more than the original because of all of the parts that played into the development of the book.
I would have enjoyed this book more if it had some more things that it didn't. First off, I wish that all of the zodiac powers would have been incorporated into the book more, maybe have Maxwell take control over all of the powers, only to become overpowered and explode or something because I believe if all of the powers were implemented more into something like that, or another big battle with all of the powers, I believe that the book would have more depth to it. I also believe that the book would have been better if Stevens parents were incorporated into it more, for they were only in a very small part of the book, and I believe that it would have affected the plot in a good way if Stevens parents were in the book for longer.
" 'I don't--- Carlos, you're the smartest, most logical man I've ever met.' 'That's why I'm doing this,' he said. 'It's logical.' " I really love this quote because it connects to the world with a much greater meaning. People are always making decisions, and doing things because they believe it is right even if it isn't right. Peoples points of view affects their actions and decisions, in which they might believe that doing something is right, when it really isn't. In this book Carlos has been brainwashed by Maxwell to do his bidding. Now Carlos believes that doing the wrong thing is actually doing the right thing. I really enjoy this quote because of the connection to human tendency.
The theme of this book is the same from the first book, and that is "with great power, comes great responsibility." I believe this to be true a lot in this book. This is because Maxwell, and Jasmine both believe that they can handle the power of the almighty dragon, which turns out to not be true. Jasmine eventually loses the power to Maxwell, who in turn became overwhelmed by the power, and lost control of himself. This is like real life, people with authority must know how to manage that power so that things stay positive for them, and the people they are around. Great power must be wielded responsibly.

[Aurum]

I jumped into this one without reading book one and surprisingly had no trouble following the plot. The worldbuilding and zodiac powers are straightforward enough that I never felt completely lost.

That said… this series is way stranger than I expected from something with Stan Lee’s name on it.

The concept is fun. Zodiac-powered superheroes? Cool. The execution? Not always.

The story spends a lot of time going in circles, and by the time we got to what should have been the big final battle, it somehow turned into people diving into each other’s minds, discussing feelings, and trying to redeem everyone. Every character seems destined to become a better person eventually, including people who probably should have stayed villains.

And that’s where the book lost me a bit.

I kept waiting for a straightforward superhero showdown, but instead the climax became increasingly complicated, philosophical, and honestly a little messy. The whole “villain, but actually not really a villain” angle didn’t quite work for me either.

I ended up skimming quite a few pages near the end, which is never a great sign when you’re supposedly reading the most exciting part of the book.

To be fair, I can see the target audience here. If I had read this as a middle grader, I probably would have loved the powers, the teamwork, and the redemption themes. As an adult reader, though, I found myself wishing for tighter pacing, clearer stakes, and at least a few characters who were allowed to stay bad.

Fun premise. Confusing finale. And somehow I’m still curious enough to find out what happens next.

[Abel]

Rating: A
Writing Plot: A+
Characters: A
Theme: A
Setting: A
Ending: A-
Described: Second Novel of the 12 Most powerful Zodiac with a good story by Marvel Legend Stan Lee as well as Illustration was still Astonish!

This is slightly better than a first Novel, this even more than a superhero. It mainly about the struggle with their Zodiac power, Team fell apart, and become inevitable situation to stop the madness powerman Maxwell’s anticipation plan to bring and taken all 12 Zodiac Power. Some moments were unforgettable and hard it watch when I’m reading, especially Carlos been brainwash by Maxwell to be on his side to help for all of Zodiac Power to him, or Steven’s Mother set her son up at the Museum (Beginning of First Novel) during Convergences. All fictional characters were kind of cliches and kind of real which remind of The Legend of Korra. There’s few new character like Malosi. The most interesting part is the history of the Zodiac Origin (Chapter 13).

The Name of Characters with Zodiac
Zodiac- Jasmine (Dragon), Steven (Tiger), Kim (Rabbit), Duane (Pig), Liam (Goat), Roxanne (Rooster), and Malik (Ox)
Vanguard- Maxwell (Dragon), Malosi (Tiger), Celine (Snake), Vincent (Monkey), and Carlos
Others- Josie (Horse), Nicky (Dog), And Thiago (Rat)

[Bob Sponge Square pants]

You ever wonder what its like to have a zodiac sign powers? Well in this book you can see how they work Steven Lee is at home and randomly one night a beam of light just comes and hit him in the chest. He has no clue what has happens to him but little did he know that he was struck with the tiger power of the zodiac symbols. He finds a knock on his door the next day and meets a girl named Jasmine, she is telling Steven how much danger he is in. He decides to go with her and as they are on their journey Steven figures out that hes is being chased by an army called the Vanguard they are out to collect and take all the zodiac powers and use them for bad. After Steven and Jasmine escape the vanguard they go to a safe house where all of the other kids have these zodiac powers, Steven learns that Jasmine is the leader of the group and has the strongest power of the dragon, all the others teach Steven how to use his power, but on one night Steven goes out to get something and get captured by the vanguard. This book relates to First they killed my father because Steven was forced away from his home and family Just like Loung.

[Lee]

After defeating Maxwell, the team is fighting to keep it together. As danger comes back, the team is going to need to stay together now more than ever.

With the issues I had from the first one (lack of character development), I do think that this one fixed that some. Steven is one that I really feel like his personality revolves around one or two key points and that's it. He still isn't really fleshed out. His background became more fleshed out, but that didn't come through as any sort of personality.

This one did overall seem to focus on the characters more which really led to it feeling like a middle book. It was slower than the first and really set it up for the last book.

The Dragon's Return had a number of questioning points where the reader can debate who is good and evil. I enjoyed the blurred lines of good and evil on display in this book as it added more flavor than the first one had which simply was good vs evil.

Once again, I think this is great for the age group it's written for, but for an older audience it's missing a lot.

[mandyfujita]

It has been one year since the Dragon's Gate Fight with Maxwell versus Steven Lee and friends. Steven, Roxanne, Duane, Kim and Liam has been training to get used to their Zodiac powers. Jasmine is obsesses with finding Carlos so Steven is left with leading the team. He feels that things are slipping away from him.
Parents of his teammates have a need for their children to leave the group, with Steven being jealous since his parents have never been their for him. Steven has to get past that and try to defeat Maxwell once and for all from obtaining all the Zodiac powers from his team.
I loved the challenge that Stan Lee puts each and every character through. The reader does not know who is the good guys and who are the bad guys since it seems like people are switching sides. Great series. I can't wait to read the third one. Recommend highly for action and adventure.

[Rubén Lorenzo]

Esta segunda parte de "El legado del Zodiaco" es aún mejor que la primera. En ella aprendemos un poco más del origen del poder del zodiaco. Además, hay acción e intriga, tenemos los típicos problemas del grupo de superhéroes que se desintegra, elaboradas trampas del villano Mawell y un nuevo aspirante al poder del Tigre del protagonista, así como la desaparición de Carlos, el científico que tanto había ayudado a nuestros héroes.

Se hace muy amena y divertida, tanto que en seguida me pondré con la tercera parte, ya que su lectura seguida no cansa para nada. Decir que este segundo volumen, así como el tercero, no están disponibles en castellano, por lo que he comprado su versión inglesa.

En resumen, sin ser muy original ni una obra maestra, el libro es adictivo como un buen cómic clásico de superhéroes, y eso es decir mucho. Me conformo con que la parte final sea igual de buena. De momento, recomiendo encarecidamente su lectura.

[Wynn]

It’s been three years since I read Convergence, so it took me a bit to recall everything. I will say The Dragon’s Return does brush over the past events and it helped but still took me some time which lead to me struggling to get into the second book.

Now, while I still enjoyed the idea and plot of The Zodiac Legacy I cannot say the same for the book itself. I'm not sure exactly what it was about it. Part of it might be the pace and the interactions between the characters. Sure, it pushes the story along yet not in a way that kept me wanting to turn pages. I kept having to pause and do something else to get back into the mood to read. I'm hoping it's a fluke and the final book isn't the same.

Might also have to do with as things progress it became far too easy to see where it was going. I may be disappointed with the ending too. Sure, lessons were learned and I'm sure there's another lesson I won't say as I feel it'll spoil things, but I didn't care for it.

Here's to hoping the Balance of Power is better and ends the trilogy on a good note.

[Michael Franco]

The ZODIAC LEGACY: The Dragons Return

Steven, sky diving down from twenty meters down with Kim his teammate. They were going down to Dubai. Dubai is going to catch a sand storm any minute now and needed to help a city with 2 million people. They help people evacuate into the factory’s basement were they would be safe from the storm. They were thinking about Carlos and what happens to him( back to book 1 the creator).
Later in the story Steven gets captured later in the story and the rest of the team teams up to save them but the bad guys. Now it is between good guys and bad guys and the dragon becomes stronger and stronger. The dragon becomes stronger by Stevens and jasmine struggle. They recover Steven and leave off with a cliffhanger that will never be seen by Steven and the team will never see.

[Keya Bakrania]

I think that this book was great, I like how the graphics were done and loved the turn of events went the new character came in. I think that marking Carlos lost like that was a good Idea. Though I was mad that this had happened I understand that it made me feel and that’s what a good book does to you. The other characters don’t exactly play a big role in this but that’s fine. I liked again how the booked brought the Chinese culture into view. I was surprised about the last scene, and I was sad. But that is what a good ending is. The team falling apart was so sad. I think that making Jasmine and Steve. like the way they are in this book was a good Idea because it shows that even the best of leaders can break sometimes. I would give this book a four. Is was really good, but I still have to say that the first book was by far the best.

[Tayd Bills]

Stan Lee's follow up book in his Zodiac Legacy series is just as amazing as the first. Stan is able to stay true to the characters, as he tells more about their past, and their personal life. The backstories he adds to the story makes characters even easier to relate to. Doing this also helps to make character's actions more reasonable, and shows the motives for them. Stan Lee twists the plot in a great way. He adds many new complications to the plot, and changes it a lot, yet he keeps it easy to follow. This book is just stunning, and easy to enjoy. It's a good choice for anyone who loves action packed books that evolve quickly and leave you craving more.

[S B]

Yay for reading the second book instead of the first. Which was all fine because this book included enough information where you aren't confused and be like you should have read the first book. I was really thinking this was going to be a kids book. Nope. It is more adult themed. There are pictures, but I prefer to call them graphics.

I felt super bad in the end. Yes, the book ended on a bad note. SPOILER. They lose their powers and the bad guy wins. Apparently they won in the first book though....
I connected with the character of Jasmine for a lot of reasons. Wonder what will happen to Kim since she was gone for the whole adventure.