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Geniuses #2
Warrior Genius
It has been years since Geniuses—creatures that channel their owners' creative energy—were banished from Zizzola. But a new generation of artists and their bird-Geniuses has been training in secret. Led by Giacomo, a young orphan with promising talent, they set out to track down the Sacred Tools that could hold the power to overthrow the ruthless emperor, Nerezza.
With paintbrushes flying and artistic force weaponized, the group secured the Compass, but they’ll need all three Tools to take down Nerezza. Traveling to distant Rachana in search of the Straightedge, the young artists are alarmed to find all the warriors’ horse-Geniuses afflicted with a mysterious illness.
The source of the plague is an ancient, dark force that no human can conquer, but Giacomo has learned a surprising truth: he isn’t human. He is a Tulpa, a manmade being created with sacred geometry. Using newfound abilities and the help of great friends, Giacomo will have to fight the battle of his life if he wants to save the Geniuses—and the empire.
With paintbrushes flying and artistic force weaponized, the group secured the Compass, but they’ll need all three Tools to take down Nerezza. Traveling to distant Rachana in search of the Straightedge, the young artists are alarmed to find all the warriors’ horse-Geniuses afflicted with a mysterious illness.
The source of the plague is an ancient, dark force that no human can conquer, but Giacomo has learned a surprising truth: he isn’t human. He is a Tulpa, a manmade being created with sacred geometry. Using newfound abilities and the help of great friends, Giacomo will have to fight the battle of his life if he wants to save the Geniuses—and the empire.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2018
26 people are currently reading
798 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dante DiMartino
104 books1,513 followersMichael Dante DiMartino is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His directing credits include the animated series King of the Hill, Family Guy, and Mission Hill. He is a co-creator of the award-winning animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel, The Legend of Korra. DiMartino lives in Los Angeles with his wife. The Rebel Geniuses series is his debut prose work.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 19, 2023
Spoiler alert! There may not be a 3rd book, titled "Sacred Geniuses", according to the author. The publisher rejected it. He stated he may rewrite the draft and self-publish "someday". It's been 5 years since the release of book #2, so I won't get my hopes up.
March 29, 2018
Talk about adventure. This author makes this happen in this book. The plot is excellent, the characters are fantastic, the detail, the plot twists, the story line, the events are all incredible and i loved reading it very much. We get more inside knowledge of the lands, more secrets are revealed, and a lot more action in this book. A great addition to this series in this second book. A must read for any and all book lovers everywhere.
August 24, 2018
Giacomo and his friends are on the run from Supreme Creator Nezzera. They have the Creator's Compass, but they still need to find the Straightedge and Pencil. But when they locate the Straightedge in a neighboring country, they have an additional problem---all of the horse-shaped Geniuses are dying from some mysterious ailment, and Giacomo may be the only one who can stop it.
I didn't like this book. I tried. On a technical level, it isn't bad. The plot has good pacing, the characters grow a bit, and we get to see more of the world.
But the various twists just torpedoed all my interest in finishing the story.
Giacomo's innocence is souring to arrogance, as when he tries to fix Zanobius by himself to disastrous results. Predictably, this leads Zanobius to abandon the party again, so rather than having the other kids work out their mixed emotions towards him, all that gets pushed off.
Zanobius aims for peace, then revenge. He's got enough vision to see Nezzara is a huge problem, and he should be able to turn those tables. And then he gets her scrawny neck between his powerful hands and HESITATES to off her. Look, I get he has a crisis of conscience, but do it AFTER you kill her, not before. She's already AMPLY demonstrated she's a tyrant willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone around her (and my one small joy was watching Pietro's attempts to reason with her fail resoundingly), and at some point someone should be asking if the number of innocent victims she's piling up are worth the minuscule chance of redeeming her. Aren't their lives worth anything?
Apparently not.
Enzio is the only real highlight of the book, and even he gets incredibly far only to utterly fail at the last. He's captured, tortured, and yet holds out enough rebellion to turn the tables---but he can't quite manage to push in the knife. And that has unfortunate consequences for everyone not named Nezzara.
So it took me a long time to finish this because I kept putting it down and dreading picking it back up because it felt like the stupidity kept piling up. If these kinds of plot twists bother you less, you may like the series more. For me, I'm done. I rate this book Not Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
I didn't like this book. I tried. On a technical level, it isn't bad. The plot has good pacing, the characters grow a bit, and we get to see more of the world.
But the various twists just torpedoed all my interest in finishing the story.
Giacomo's innocence is souring to arrogance, as when he tries to fix Zanobius by himself to disastrous results. Predictably, this leads Zanobius to abandon the party again, so rather than having the other kids work out their mixed emotions towards him, all that gets pushed off.
Zanobius aims for peace, then revenge. He's got enough vision to see Nezzara is a huge problem, and he should be able to turn those tables. And then he gets her scrawny neck between his powerful hands and HESITATES to off her. Look, I get he has a crisis of conscience, but do it AFTER you kill her, not before. She's already AMPLY demonstrated she's a tyrant willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone around her (and my one small joy was watching Pietro's attempts to reason with her fail resoundingly), and at some point someone should be asking if the number of innocent victims she's piling up are worth the minuscule chance of redeeming her. Aren't their lives worth anything?
Apparently not.
Enzio is the only real highlight of the book, and even he gets incredibly far only to utterly fail at the last. He's captured, tortured, and yet holds out enough rebellion to turn the tables---but he can't quite manage to push in the knife. And that has unfortunate consequences for everyone not named Nezzara.
So it took me a long time to finish this because I kept putting it down and dreading picking it back up because it felt like the stupidity kept piling up. If these kinds of plot twists bother you less, you may like the series more. For me, I'm done. I rate this book Not Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
August 29, 2019
I had read the first book during a road trip a couple of years ago, so after all this time I was excited to dive into the next book in the Rebel Genius series. While the story wasn’t quite what I expected, it was still an interesting second addition.
After escaping emperor Nerezza, Giacomo and his friends flee to a friend of their teacher Pietro to regroup and figure out their next plan of action. Shortly after avoiding danger again, Giacomo uses one of the three artifacts and sends them to the county of Rachana. There, the group discover that the horse geniuses are dying at a fast pace due to a mysterious illness. With time short, Giacomo and his friends must find the next sacred artifact and save the horse geniuses before it’s too late.
The story itself is good, but I feel it was lacking some of the magic of the first book. An example of this is the adventure. While the story continued to have interesting blending of geometry and science, thanks to the compass the group managed to get to part of their destination without the travel they had in the last book. This took away that Avatar the last airbender style of storytelling when the main characters are forced to travel to their destination and encountered things along the way. However, where I was less impressed with that part, the book drew me in with Giacomo and his friends having great character development as well as expanded back rounds for both new and old characters.
What was also nice was that the group got to visit another continent where they got a different perspective of how the world came to be. Kind of like different cultures having different creation stories as well as one worshiping one god compared to multiple. The book allows us again to view the adventure from different characters such as with Zanobius. This was nice since it allowed me to see what certain characters were thinking.
Overall, the second adventure was a decent read. While it didn’t feel like a strong middle addition, it still was interesting enough for me to want to see what happens in the next entry.
After escaping emperor Nerezza, Giacomo and his friends flee to a friend of their teacher Pietro to regroup and figure out their next plan of action. Shortly after avoiding danger again, Giacomo uses one of the three artifacts and sends them to the county of Rachana. There, the group discover that the horse geniuses are dying at a fast pace due to a mysterious illness. With time short, Giacomo and his friends must find the next sacred artifact and save the horse geniuses before it’s too late.
The story itself is good, but I feel it was lacking some of the magic of the first book. An example of this is the adventure. While the story continued to have interesting blending of geometry and science, thanks to the compass the group managed to get to part of their destination without the travel they had in the last book. This took away that Avatar the last airbender style of storytelling when the main characters are forced to travel to their destination and encountered things along the way. However, where I was less impressed with that part, the book drew me in with Giacomo and his friends having great character development as well as expanded back rounds for both new and old characters.
What was also nice was that the group got to visit another continent where they got a different perspective of how the world came to be. Kind of like different cultures having different creation stories as well as one worshiping one god compared to multiple. The book allows us again to view the adventure from different characters such as with Zanobius. This was nice since it allowed me to see what certain characters were thinking.
Overall, the second adventure was a decent read. While it didn’t feel like a strong middle addition, it still was interesting enough for me to want to see what happens in the next entry.
July 8, 2018
Since I did not read the first installment of the Geniuses series, I entered the story line midway through. However, I was able to follow along pretty well. In this ancient Italian fantastic world, certain people are bestowed with magical artistic gifts attached to a Genius, an animal that channels those powers through a gem in its forehead. If the Genius dies, the human becomes a Lost Soul. Evil Supreme Creator, Nerezza, and her Genius, Victoria, rule the kingdom with terror & violence. Nerezza's goal is to gather all the Genius gems in the kingdom and all the Sacred Tools, and therefore, rule over all. Giacomo, a Tulpa created by his parents as a force of goodness, along with his teacher, Pietro and a cast of close friends, are doing everything they can to stop her. The second installment leaves off at a clear cliffhanger with Giacomo's fate twisted and hanging in the balance, so there will most likely be a third. Warrior Genius has magical battles, fascinating creatures, travel to distant strange lands, riffs and challenges between friends, and a large cast of characters. The villain feels most definitely villainous. "Good guys" sometimes become "bad guys" and vice versa. The heroes have some flaws and so also a little more depth. DiMartino does a good job of world building and explaining some complex mathematical and magical concepts in a way younger readers will understand. Black and white illustrations sprinkled throughout. Middle grade readers who enjoy action-packed adventure fantasy with a hero's quest will enjoy the Genius series for sure! Grades 4-8
May 24, 2024
Language: G (0 swears, 0 "f"); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
With the Compass in hand, Giacomo (12yo) and his friends are on the run from Supreme Creator Nerezza, who wants to take the Compass from them and get the other Sacred Tools before they can. When they find a safe place to hide, they become optimistic about finding the Straightedge, until the friends are separated, forcing them to fight Nerezza separately—or continue to flee.
Keeping a fast pace, it feels like a lot of ground—literally and metaphorically—is covered in this second installment in the series. The various points of view keep readers engaged in the big picture while hanging in suspense waiting to get back to the smaller pieces involved. DiMartino uses a combination of text and illustration to tell Giacomo’s story clearly, showing the readers what words alone have difficulty describing. I hope the next book is on its way to address the problems as yet left unsolved.
Giacomo and Milena are depicted as fair skinned on the cover. Skin tone in the text and illustrations are unclear, though there does seem to be lighter and darker tones shown in the pictures. The mature content rating is for alcohol use. The violence rating is for assault, gun use, mentions of torture, battle scenes, and murder.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/
With the Compass in hand, Giacomo (12yo) and his friends are on the run from Supreme Creator Nerezza, who wants to take the Compass from them and get the other Sacred Tools before they can. When they find a safe place to hide, they become optimistic about finding the Straightedge, until the friends are separated, forcing them to fight Nerezza separately—or continue to flee.
Keeping a fast pace, it feels like a lot of ground—literally and metaphorically—is covered in this second installment in the series. The various points of view keep readers engaged in the big picture while hanging in suspense waiting to get back to the smaller pieces involved. DiMartino uses a combination of text and illustration to tell Giacomo’s story clearly, showing the readers what words alone have difficulty describing. I hope the next book is on its way to address the problems as yet left unsolved.
Giacomo and Milena are depicted as fair skinned on the cover. Skin tone in the text and illustrations are unclear, though there does seem to be lighter and darker tones shown in the pictures. The mature content rating is for alcohol use. The violence rating is for assault, gun use, mentions of torture, battle scenes, and murder.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/
June 11, 2020
Not sure how I feel about this new element of shifting tulpa control. With Zenobius I was like, 'Yeah, aight, makes kinda sense maybe.' But then with Giacomo, it seemed a little stretched, and suddenly I had this feeling that the whole concept was a plot device to keep up the anticipation and suspense. Which it was, of course, but I hate recognizing it before I've finished reading. It's like when there are two songs playing, and you try to focus on just one, but then the beat isn't strong enough and the other song starts leaking through.
Overall a good story. This book was a lot of tensions though, between Giacomo and Milena, Milena and Yaday, Zanobius and Milena (Milena had a lot of beef, huh?), Zanobius and himself, Pietro and Nerezza, Nerezza and everyone, and Giacomo and himself. Most of these seem to be resolved now, which is good because they've got to be united before the final boss--Giacomo vs everyone.
Speaking of finals, I am curious how they're going to get the pencil with Nerezza having the straightedge. I was under the impression that one object leads to the next. Though they do have the journals. Kinda excited. Hope it's a little stronger than book 2 in any case..
Overall a good story. This book was a lot of tensions though, between Giacomo and Milena, Milena and Yaday, Zanobius and Milena (Milena had a lot of beef, huh?), Zanobius and himself, Pietro and Nerezza, Nerezza and everyone, and Giacomo and himself. Most of these seem to be resolved now, which is good because they've got to be united before the final boss--Giacomo vs everyone.
Speaking of finals, I am curious how they're going to get the pencil with Nerezza having the straightedge. I was under the impression that one object leads to the next. Though they do have the journals. Kinda excited. Hope it's a little stronger than book 2 in any case..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2025
Overall this book was pretty good... I'm thinking a 3.7 or something.
I found the writing style to be kinda amateur. It was also pretty slow for most of the book but it did pick up during the epic battle of the book (of course). I was also disappointed at how Michael DiMartino did the romances in this story (one of them wasn't bad). I'm not a romance lover but some can be good. 2 of the 3 in here were just like, "You know what? This book needs more spice. Let's all of a sudden plop 2 completely unrealistic romances in here and one that was already dead" (I found the dead romance the best one, probably because you weren't given much to dislike).
Now, into the story.
Giacomo and his friends now have the Compass but there is still much to be done. For some reason the Tools are found in the order that they are mentioned (this slightly bothers me and I don't know why) so of course now we gotta find the Straightedge. I won't tell you where it is because the cover already tells you (though the scene on the cover is completely inaccurate). Please don't get me to talk about all of the flaws in the book because then I will end up rating it a flat 3 (probably, I've seen it happen to myself).
Would definitely recommend this to anyone who liked the 1st book.
I found the writing style to be kinda amateur. It was also pretty slow for most of the book but it did pick up during the epic battle of the book (of course). I was also disappointed at how Michael DiMartino did the romances in this story (one of them wasn't bad). I'm not a romance lover but some can be good. 2 of the 3 in here were just like, "You know what? This book needs more spice. Let's all of a sudden plop 2 completely unrealistic romances in here and one that was already dead" (I found the dead romance the best one, probably because you weren't given much to dislike).
Now, into the story.
Giacomo and his friends now have the Compass but there is still much to be done. For some reason the Tools are found in the order that they are mentioned (this slightly bothers me and I don't know why) so of course now we gotta find the Straightedge. I won't tell you where it is because the cover already tells you (though the scene on the cover is completely inaccurate). Please don't get me to talk about all of the flaws in the book because then I will end up rating it a flat 3 (probably, I've seen it happen to myself).
Would definitely recommend this to anyone who liked the 1st book.
August 10, 2018
I was nervous that I wouldn't like this book as much as the first one but I think I did! Still lots of surprises, lots of heartbreak, and lots of drama. I like the info we slowly learn about each characters background. Giacomo's character development as well as Zanobius's is really well done. Having recently gotten on a mindfulness/yoga kick I loved the meditation aspect of Giacomo's training. I love how useful all of Giacomo's friends are made out to be, especially Aaminah - who seems really special.
New sacred tool to go over, old one to protect, new "country"/region to search in, new friends to make. This book with its new skills to learn, plot twists to uncover, magic and quick decision making everyone needs to be making is really amazing! Definitely a must read! I can't believe I have to wait over a year for the last book in the trilogy!
New sacred tool to go over, old one to protect, new "country"/region to search in, new friends to make. This book with its new skills to learn, plot twists to uncover, magic and quick decision making everyone needs to be making is really amazing! Definitely a must read! I can't believe I have to wait over a year for the last book in the trilogy!
October 20, 2020
I won this book in giveaways and it was a total score. I'm a huge fan of DiMartino's work on TV, Avatar is probably one of the best cartoons ever and Dragon Prince is a close second. So with that said I'm already partial to the creator. I enjoyed the book and the characters but if I had one negative thing to say it would be that I wish I read the first book before the second, but that's totally unfair to put on the author so I gave it 5 stars because I felt the character and worldbuilder was top notch and I would expect nothing less from DiMartino. Highly recommend and I'll probably be going back to book one soon.
December 11, 2017
First I would like to state that I received this book through the Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the author for giving me this opportunity and honor in being able to read this book. When I received this book I began reading it at once. I really enjoy the authors writing style, the author pulls you into the book from the very beginning and makes it so you don't want to put the book down. It kept me on the edge of my seat reading from cover to cover. This book is incredible. I loved it cannot wait to read more from this author. A must read!
January 30, 2018
Warrior Genius is a fantasy book by Michael Dante DiMartino. It's full of unique characters and fantasy creatures and as Giacomo and his friends fight against a wicked ruler they must travel to new and unfriendly places. DiMartino didn't give me any strong feelings. When deaths occur or during a particularly dramatic scene I didn't sit at the edge of my seat. All around though DiMartino creates a creative and adventurous book full of magic and fun.
February 21, 2018
I enjoyed the second book book in the Rebel series by author Michael Dante DiMartino. I won this book via a giveaway.
I felt that the storytelling earlier on in this book was great and engaging. However, there were some places where the story lagged. I found some of the characters unnecessary, but enjoyed the book as a whole.
Looking forward to read another book in this series.
I felt that the storytelling earlier on in this book was great and engaging. However, there were some places where the story lagged. I found some of the characters unnecessary, but enjoyed the book as a whole.
Looking forward to read another book in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2019
This book starts off seconds after the first book's ending. The main protagonist, Giacomo, who has acquired the Compass (one of three sacred tools) is now planning on beginning his journey to find the Straightedge. With the newfound power of the Compass' ability to create portals to anywhere you've been, Giacomo and his team set out to finding the Straightedge in new lands. I thought this book was good, but a bit boring and rushed at times. It made some of the most interesting characters in the story become less important and not as interesting as they previously were. After finally reaching the main conflict of the story, the conflict was dealt with too quickly and in an insignificant way. Overall, the book did have some high points, but was too uneventful to be very good.
January 2, 2021
KID Review
With more action, zanobius, and ATLA-like moments, warrior genuis is definitely better then the previous book. Rachana was awesome, although ozo romance stunk. I liked how it had plenty of Milena, but i wanted more savino. WORTH READING
With more action, zanobius, and ATLA-like moments, warrior genuis is definitely better then the previous book. Rachana was awesome, although ozo romance stunk. I liked how it had plenty of Milena, but i wanted more savino. WORTH READING
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2018
I took a longer time reading this book, but it was really easy to jump back in. Although, I was near the beginning whenever I tried to jump back in. I'm not sure why, but when I think of this book, I think "easy-going" and "good-natured."
June 7, 2018
I enjoyed this book as much as the first! The series is intensely creative. The plot of the book was perfectly paced so that I couldn't put it down. Loved that this book explored more of the lore of the world!
October 19, 2020
Pros: Liked the addition of Milena as a narrator, Ozo forgiving Zanobius. Whole book in general pretty good.
Cons: not sure if I like the mixing up of different religons. It seems that someone else other than the God figure making life is OK, and I don't really like that.
Cons: not sure if I like the mixing up of different religons. It seems that someone else other than the God figure making life is OK, and I don't really like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2018
This book was good. It had a but note action in it then the first and.... quite the cliffhanger..... rude. can't wait for book 3. :)
May 16, 2018
I really have been enjoying this series.
March 18, 2019
A very good book, if you are an artist, a person who enjoys lots of action, then this is the book for you.
Read
October 14, 2020Amazing book, and I love that the author took inspiration from Italy for the first book, and then from Asia for the second one, I can't wait for the next book.
October 26, 2021
definitely way better than the first one
Milena deserved better tho
Milena deserved better tho
February 21, 2018
I’ve been fortunate enough to go through my adolescence, watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” When I heard that co-creator Mike DiMartino was writing a trilogy of novels, I got very excited, for I could not wait to see what other stories come about from his mind.
“Rebel Genius” made for a solid introduction into this world, where artists and sacred geometry are as effective in combat as a sword. But “Warrior Genius” took things to a whole new level. The dangers Giacomo and his friends are facing are heightened, the magic within this universe deepens, and the world becomes bigger and more intricately detailed with different philosophies, perspectives, skill sets, and characters introduced.
These are the kind of stories that I live for, and I’m already anticipating what’s going to happen next when the third and final novel comes out next year. While the series is targeted for the middle grade demographic, don’t let that turn you away from reading these books (particularly this one). Much like “ATLA,” readers of all ages can get engaged and take something away from the story.
“Rebel Genius” made for a solid introduction into this world, where artists and sacred geometry are as effective in combat as a sword. But “Warrior Genius” took things to a whole new level. The dangers Giacomo and his friends are facing are heightened, the magic within this universe deepens, and the world becomes bigger and more intricately detailed with different philosophies, perspectives, skill sets, and characters introduced.
These are the kind of stories that I live for, and I’m already anticipating what’s going to happen next when the third and final novel comes out next year. While the series is targeted for the middle grade demographic, don’t let that turn you away from reading these books (particularly this one). Much like “ATLA,” readers of all ages can get engaged and take something away from the story.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews