What do you think?
Rate this book
Seven Wonders #4.5
The Promise
From the lost Journals of the New York Times bestselling Seven Wonders series comes the story of how Atlantis came to rest at the bottom of the sea.
Follow the threads of history back to ancient times. Two Atlantean princes, Karai and Massarym, obsessed with power and terrified of the mysterious Loculi, turned against it each other in a bitter rivalry. With the future of the world at stake and nowhere to turn for guidance, the fourteen-year-old brothers chose fear over trust, deception over truth, and violence over brotherhood, and they change the course of history forever.
In this final installment of the Seven Wonders Journals, dive into the heart of the mystery that started it all before the adventure concludes in Seven The Legend of the Rift, the fifth and final book in the New York Times bestselling adventure series by Peter Lerangis, author of hundreds of books, including three titles in the 39 Clues series.
Follow the threads of history back to ancient times. Two Atlantean princes, Karai and Massarym, obsessed with power and terrified of the mysterious Loculi, turned against it each other in a bitter rivalry. With the future of the world at stake and nowhere to turn for guidance, the fourteen-year-old brothers chose fear over trust, deception over truth, and violence over brotherhood, and they change the course of history forever.
In this final installment of the Seven Wonders Journals, dive into the heart of the mystery that started it all before the adventure concludes in Seven The Legend of the Rift, the fifth and final book in the New York Times bestselling adventure series by Peter Lerangis, author of hundreds of books, including three titles in the 39 Clues series.
104 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2016
29 people are currently reading
1018 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lerangis
151 books794 followersLerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf, the Drama Club series, the Spy X series, the Watchers series, the Abracadabra series, and the Antarctica two-book adventure, as well ghostwriting for series such as the Three Investigators, the Hardy Boys Casefiles, Sweet Valley Twins, and more than forty books in the series The Baby-sitters Club and its various spin-offs.[1] He has also written novels based on film screenplays, including The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow, and Beauty and the Beast, and five video game novelizations in the Worlds of Power series created by Seth Godin.[2] As a ghostwriter he has been published under the name A. L. Singer.[3]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 29, 2016
I really like these journals that get published right before the next book does. They help me remember what happened in the last book and they set up the scene for the next book. This one goes into detail about how the orbs where made and how Atlantis was destroyed. You get to know the twins better and really get a feel for the turbulence between them.
November 24, 2016
Qalani you b*tch -_-
June 17, 2021
This is certainly better than the last journal-style book in the series, but still really rough to get through. It has the benefit of being in the perspective of Karai, and adds so much history to the story - the origin of the lambda symbol, where the loculi came from, how Atlantis fell, and possibly why decedents of the royal family of Atlantis only live to the age of 14.
It was extremely difficult to get into the story, however, because even though it was set in the past, the vocabulary and style of speech was too modern. I understand that Atlantis is supposed to be leagues ahead of the world in understanding science, but the modern vocabulary made it extremely difficult to suspend my disbelief.
The pronunciation of the Atlantean names and objects also differed from the rest of the books, which made me cringe. Not really a huge deal, but still enough to be a disappointment.
The biggest downside was the way Karai and Massarym spoke. It was very jarring. Up until about half way through the book, I had assumed the boys were somewhere around 1o years old (14 at the most), especially with the schoolyard-bully vs weakling-with-a-speech-impediment dynamic they had. However, I find out they're 17 in one of the journal entries, and I'm completely hung up on how emotionally stunted they both are, ESPECIALLY since they're royalty.
I'm thankful that this is the last of the journal stories because they were not well written. Although having lots of great background information and interesting tie-ins to the main story line, it's almost as if a different author had written them because they were hard to get through, and didn't capture my attention nor suspend my disbelief like the main books.
It was extremely difficult to get into the story, however, because even though it was set in the past, the vocabulary and style of speech was too modern. I understand that Atlantis is supposed to be leagues ahead of the world in understanding science, but the modern vocabulary made it extremely difficult to suspend my disbelief.
The pronunciation of the Atlantean names and objects also differed from the rest of the books, which made me cringe. Not really a huge deal, but still enough to be a disappointment.
The biggest downside was the way Karai and Massarym spoke. It was very jarring. Up until about half way through the book, I had assumed the boys were somewhere around 1o years old (14 at the most), especially with the schoolyard-bully vs weakling-with-a-speech-impediment dynamic they had. However, I find out they're 17 in one of the journal entries, and I'm completely hung up on how emotionally stunted they both are, ESPECIALLY since they're royalty.
I'm thankful that this is the last of the journal stories because they were not well written. Although having lots of great background information and interesting tie-ins to the main story line, it's almost as if a different author had written them because they were hard to get through, and didn't capture my attention nor suspend my disbelief like the main books.
December 23, 2020
After this I am totally on the KI's side! Massayrm is ridiculous! How could anyone take him seriously?! He and his stupid mother destroyed their home and for what? They really ended up with no glory and no home or anything. Just a forgotten nation of legend. Their island and people destroyed just to show off....smh. I can't believe Massayrm was her favorite son. I felt back for the stuttering Karai. But he was definitely the smarter one even if immature at times. It's too bad he could never rule.
Oh, we also get to see the origin of the Lambda and the select....interesting. Cant wait to read how it all ends.
Oh, we also get to see the origin of the Lambda and the select....interesting. Cant wait to read how it all ends.
July 24, 2018
The best novella out of the four because we get to see Atlantis and its inhabitants in action - especially Karai and Massarym!
We get to see how the Loculi started, especially its rise and fall (because of certain circumstances) and how the Selects started.
I really loved Karai's voice, it seemed so bubbly and light. Now we learn that Karai is somehow the good brother and Massarym is the prideful and somehow a little bit evil brother.
It provides a nice backstory to everything in the series and gives answers to some questions. The must-read novella out of the four.
We get to see how the Loculi started, especially its rise and fall (because of certain circumstances) and how the Selects started.
I really loved Karai's voice, it seemed so bubbly and light. Now we learn that Karai is somehow the good brother and Massarym is the prideful and somehow a little bit evil brother.
It provides a nice backstory to everything in the series and gives answers to some questions. The must-read novella out of the four.
May 17, 2021
This is such an awful book! Very difficult to read because it is so boring and the characters are not like able it’s a good thing I got this book for a birthday less than .20 cents if not it’s a complete waste of money.
October 27, 2017
I probably could've gotten through the series without this book. It was kinda like "fluff".
September 5, 2019
Probably not the right book to start with
August 12, 2021
DNF around the 40 page mark.
February 28, 2022
The was just a ho hum companion to the series.
Read
January 3, 2024The Promise
September 16, 2024
I’m surprised, the short stories in between are actually so much better than the actual story. While I cannot stand the main series they are fun and this one too.
October 29, 2016
Enjoyed this little novela about the true heirs of Atlantis.
March 17, 2018
Yeah.... The plan was to continue on to read the final book of this series after this Novella but now that I'm done with it, I feel that I need a change of pace or I'm going back to where I started with this reading slump so I'm picking up something else, still undecided on what exactly.
───────────────────
Finding out more about the Loculi was something I was really really interested in, but that didn't do anything to fix or erase how utterly horrendous these characters are. Oh my god, none of them actually felt like royalty in charge of the world's most sought after and beloved mythical city. Was Peter Lerangis even trying to write about royalty and not preschoolers? Because if that's the aim, then he failed miserably. Yes, this is for a young audience but do you honestly want me to believe that future kings of Atlantis who are also 17-18 years of age, behave like they've just been plucked out of the slums? This is not funny, I'm assuming the aim was to make Karai and Massarym humorous enough for a younger audience, but all that did was make it look like a stupid decision.
I won't even be pissed if these childish things happened behind closed doors since brothers can be annoying and jealous of each other but not like this. I'm surprised the Akkadians didn't bolt when they saw that the future of Atlantis will be resting in the twins' hands, especially Massarym's. Unfortunately that's not where the stupidity of the characters end, one is blinded by power, pure ambition and basically thinking that the sky's the limit with her research but do the lives of the people matter? Of course not. Do the strange phenomenon occurring after your endeavor matter? Of course not. Is playing God really worth it? Of course it is, because what ever went wrong when humans tried to fill those shoes? A small hint; every single thing. Don't even get me started on her awful parenting methods.
She's not even the worst one, that's all preserved for his majesty the King or in this case her coat hanger, at least in that position he might actually be useful for something. Qalani and Massarym are literally playing with things they can't even begin to understand, granted Massa is basically sheep here but does the King actually stand up and show us why he's filling that throne in the first place? No. Even though he doesn't come from a royal background, he's more fitting to be her door mat than her husband. Is it really that difficult to take reins? You're the freaking King for God's sake, who also supposedly "earned his position", really? Then start being one! Of course that never happens and we're stuck with his majesty the garden gnome, I say this because they could've been exchanged and nothing would've changed.
The characters literally ruin every single interesting thing this book has, we finally learn how the lambda came into existence, we finally understand how the Loculi came into existence, we get to actually learn some more background information about Atlantis as a whole and finally we actually get to learn about a Loculus we've never seen before but do any of those amazing stuff get that big of a value when we hold it as a whole? Nope, the characters are atrocious.
Final rating: 1.5/5
───────────────────
Finding out more about the Loculi was something I was really really interested in, but that didn't do anything to fix or erase how utterly horrendous these characters are. Oh my god, none of them actually felt like royalty in charge of the world's most sought after and beloved mythical city. Was Peter Lerangis even trying to write about royalty and not preschoolers? Because if that's the aim, then he failed miserably. Yes, this is for a young audience but do you honestly want me to believe that future kings of Atlantis who are also 17-18 years of age, behave like they've just been plucked out of the slums? This is not funny, I'm assuming the aim was to make Karai and Massarym humorous enough for a younger audience, but all that did was make it look like a stupid decision.
I won't even be pissed if these childish things happened behind closed doors since brothers can be annoying and jealous of each other but not like this. I'm surprised the Akkadians didn't bolt when they saw that the future of Atlantis will be resting in the twins' hands, especially Massarym's. Unfortunately that's not where the stupidity of the characters end, one is blinded by power, pure ambition and basically thinking that the sky's the limit with her research but do the lives of the people matter? Of course not. Do the strange phenomenon occurring after your endeavor matter? Of course not. Is playing God really worth it? Of course it is, because what ever went wrong when humans tried to fill those shoes? A small hint; every single thing. Don't even get me started on her awful parenting methods.
She's not even the worst one, that's all preserved for his majesty the King or in this case her coat hanger, at least in that position he might actually be useful for something. Qalani and Massarym are literally playing with things they can't even begin to understand, granted Massa is basically sheep here but does the King actually stand up and show us why he's filling that throne in the first place? No. Even though he doesn't come from a royal background, he's more fitting to be her door mat than her husband. Is it really that difficult to take reins? You're the freaking King for God's sake, who also supposedly "earned his position", really? Then start being one! Of course that never happens and we're stuck with his majesty the garden gnome, I say this because they could've been exchanged and nothing would've changed.
The characters literally ruin every single interesting thing this book has, we finally learn how the lambda came into existence, we finally understand how the Loculi came into existence, we get to actually learn some more background information about Atlantis as a whole and finally we actually get to learn about a Loculus we've never seen before but do any of those amazing stuff get that big of a value when we hold it as a whole? Nope, the characters are atrocious.
Final rating: 1.5/5
October 7, 2019
Of the four prequel books in the Seven Wonders series, this one is packed with the most background information. The best of the lot.
April 2, 2016
Science Fiction: Lerangis, Peter (2016) The Promise Seven Wonders Journals
Book 4
Target Audience: Grade level 3-7
Setting: Takes place in Atlantis.
Characters/plot/summary: That is from the Seven Wonders Book 5. The characters are two brothers that are the princes of Atlantis. This book is the diary that is written by Prince Karai of Atlantis. You also have his twin brother Massarym, the Queen and the King. Akkadian royal family, and Arishti-Aya the princess. The book related to this series is Book 5 The Legend of the Rift. This diary written by Prince Karai depicts his relationship with his twin brother. Twins have a way of communicating with one another. Their personalities are different. Karai thinks in depth what he is going to say before he says it. Massarym is confident and does and says what he wants at the moment he feels he wants to. The title has a lot to do with the purpose of the series. The Queen analyzes the structure of energy and hides the seven elements of powers that are then divided into what would be called the Loculus. Each Loculi contains its own specific power on contact. However, only those with Royal blood can activate the Loculi. It will be interesting to continue reading what is that happens to these Loculi. Who uses them and are they used in a positive way to help the world or destroy the world? You will just need to keep reading to see what happens to the Loculi in Atlantis.
Illustrations: There are no illustrations inside of the book beside the sign that Karai had on his hair. That symbol is in the first page of the book. Inside the book you can also see other books that go along with this series.
Personal critique/strengths/weaknesses: This book is a great book for anyone that enjoys reading about what special powers people might have. How they obtain these powers. The twin brothers provide us with examples of how they use these powers. Throughout the book you read about how the Loculus are created and what their purpose are in the Atlantis civilization. Only the royal family can activate the Loculi. It is also interesting to read about the relationship that the twin brothers have. They are competitive but at times it shows they support each other as a family. Siblings can relate to some of the examples the author provides about their relationship.
Book 4
Target Audience: Grade level 3-7
Setting: Takes place in Atlantis.
Characters/plot/summary: That is from the Seven Wonders Book 5. The characters are two brothers that are the princes of Atlantis. This book is the diary that is written by Prince Karai of Atlantis. You also have his twin brother Massarym, the Queen and the King. Akkadian royal family, and Arishti-Aya the princess. The book related to this series is Book 5 The Legend of the Rift. This diary written by Prince Karai depicts his relationship with his twin brother. Twins have a way of communicating with one another. Their personalities are different. Karai thinks in depth what he is going to say before he says it. Massarym is confident and does and says what he wants at the moment he feels he wants to. The title has a lot to do with the purpose of the series. The Queen analyzes the structure of energy and hides the seven elements of powers that are then divided into what would be called the Loculus. Each Loculi contains its own specific power on contact. However, only those with Royal blood can activate the Loculi. It will be interesting to continue reading what is that happens to these Loculi. Who uses them and are they used in a positive way to help the world or destroy the world? You will just need to keep reading to see what happens to the Loculi in Atlantis.
Illustrations: There are no illustrations inside of the book beside the sign that Karai had on his hair. That symbol is in the first page of the book. Inside the book you can also see other books that go along with this series.
Personal critique/strengths/weaknesses: This book is a great book for anyone that enjoys reading about what special powers people might have. How they obtain these powers. The twin brothers provide us with examples of how they use these powers. Throughout the book you read about how the Loculus are created and what their purpose are in the Atlantis civilization. Only the royal family can activate the Loculi. It is also interesting to read about the relationship that the twin brothers have. They are competitive but at times it shows they support each other as a family. Siblings can relate to some of the examples the author provides about their relationship.
April 25, 2016
This brings the reader back to when the loculi were first created through the point of view of Karai back on Ancient Atlantis.
The story was interesting yes, but pretty much none of the characters were likeable. When Jack looks through the eyes of Massarym in his dreams at least you can sort of understand his point of view. Here we meet a boy who's mean, rude and impulsive, jealous and vindictive toward his older brother because that brother will be the next king. A boy who is made all that much worse by contact with the loculi to the point that it's pretty clear he played a large role in the destruction of his own people.
We meet the Queen who makes me pity her son and her people. She's condescending, chooses obvious favorites among her children, think she's smarter than everyone around her and entitled to play with powers that she doesn't understand even at the risk of her own people. She doesn't bother to listen to anyone even when they put proof of the havoc she's caused before her very eyes. She even thinks she's better than her own spouse which is made very clear in the way she speaks to him.
We meet the King who is almost worse because for the most part he stands by and does nothing while his oldest son is mistreated by both his mother and brother. Who stands by and does nothing when his wife endangers all of their people by playing with the powers that sustain the island. The thing is it's clear in his actions that he has a lot of the same concerns as Karai but he doesn't say anything. He keeps quiet and lets atrocities happen all around him. In a way that makes him so much worse than the people committing those atrocities.
And while Karai seems to be the best of the bunch, probably because this is his journal told though his eyes, he seems to think genetic experimentation is okay. Obviously he lived long before Mary Shelley and her book Frankenstein because this kid could certainly have benefited from reading that book. Of course you can't completely blame him considering his parental role models, but it doesn't exactly make him likeable either.
I guess this book is nice backstory for the main series, but it's not really necessary and definitely isn't Lerangis's best work.
The story was interesting yes, but pretty much none of the characters were likeable. When Jack looks through the eyes of Massarym in his dreams at least you can sort of understand his point of view. Here we meet a boy who's mean, rude and impulsive, jealous and vindictive toward his older brother because that brother will be the next king. A boy who is made all that much worse by contact with the loculi to the point that it's pretty clear he played a large role in the destruction of his own people.
We meet the Queen who makes me pity her son and her people. She's condescending, chooses obvious favorites among her children, think she's smarter than everyone around her and entitled to play with powers that she doesn't understand even at the risk of her own people. She doesn't bother to listen to anyone even when they put proof of the havoc she's caused before her very eyes. She even thinks she's better than her own spouse which is made very clear in the way she speaks to him.
We meet the King who is almost worse because for the most part he stands by and does nothing while his oldest son is mistreated by both his mother and brother. Who stands by and does nothing when his wife endangers all of their people by playing with the powers that sustain the island. The thing is it's clear in his actions that he has a lot of the same concerns as Karai but he doesn't say anything. He keeps quiet and lets atrocities happen all around him. In a way that makes him so much worse than the people committing those atrocities.
And while Karai seems to be the best of the bunch, probably because this is his journal told though his eyes, he seems to think genetic experimentation is okay. Obviously he lived long before Mary Shelley and her book Frankenstein because this kid could certainly have benefited from reading that book. Of course you can't completely blame him considering his parental role models, but it doesn't exactly make him likeable either.
I guess this book is nice backstory for the main series, but it's not really necessary and definitely isn't Lerangis's best work.
November 23, 2016
Woah! this was so refreshing to read. I'm so glad that I read this after I read 'The Legend of the Rift' (it's suppose to be the other way around). I rated the the last book int he series a 4 star. going back to the novella it was fun reading from Karai's POV he was funny and all the qualities (both good and bad) of a 16 year old. This was my fave Novella after the 'The Key', I would totally RECOMMEND this. And lastly, I just wanna that if you thing Massarym was bad you hadn't read about Karai's doing with G7W gene, in short there both jerks!
July 13, 2016
A story from ancient Atlantis about how the Loculi came to be created. And also the developing sibling rivalry between Karai and Massaryn. This is from Karai’s POV.
Massaryn is a jealous spoiled jerk. But then it’s a little understandable being as his ‘older’ twin in the heir to the throne.
Fave scene: The rain of fish.
Massaryn is a jealous spoiled jerk. But then it’s a little understandable being as his ‘older’ twin in the heir to the throne.
Fave scene: The rain of fish.
August 14, 2016
I found it very simple, it's written like a journal but falls in and out of that format in manner of speech. My son (9yrs) didn't seem to mind this but as a reader I found it annoying. All in all a good companion if you like the Seven Wonders series.
May 20, 2016
"By the Great Queen Qualani" must be a curse word.
also a little over 3.5 stars but not reachable to 4 stars, yet.
also a little over 3.5 stars but not reachable to 4 stars, yet.
June 13, 2016
Short story added to the Seven Wonders series.
February 6, 2017
A great book about the history of Atlantis and the story behind the two Brothers Karai and Massarym.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews