Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

By Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams and Craig Phillips

After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series!

The terrible Titans—merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans—have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe....

Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up.

Zeus gets his wish—and a lot more than he bargained for—when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, Zeus grabs the first thing he sees—an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and sets off on a quest to rescue his fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus. Armed with his trusty thunderbolt (named Bolt, of course), Zeus is on an adventure of a lifetime—and a journey to fulfill his destiny as King of the Gods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aladdin
• Release date: Aug 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781442452640

Joan Holub

Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated over 140 children’s books, including the Goddess Girls series, the Heroes in Training series, the New York Times bestselling picture book Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean), and Little Red Writing (illustrated by Melissa Sweet). She lives in North Carolina and is online at JoanHolub.com.

Book preview

Prologue

OVER THE TEETH AND PAST THE GUMS, look out, belly, here Zeus comes!" King Cronus, the big bad king of the Titan giants, tossed up the object he held. It flew high above his head. As it arced downward, he caught it in his mouth. Then he swallowed. GULP!

Far below, five Olympian childgods were being held captive deep inside his dark, giant belly. They heard squishy sounds. Something came whooshing down the Titan king’s throat like a snowball rolling down Mount Olympus. They all pressed back to avoid being squished by whatever was coming.

Splat! The new arrival hit the bottom of Cronus’s stomach.

Hello? Poseidon whispered into the darkness. Are you one of us? Another Olympian?

No answer.

Maybe he’s dead, Hades said in a gloomy voice.

Just then Cronus burped big. As his mouth opened, light speared down his throat into his belly. The young childgods gasped.

That’s no Olympian. It’s a stone! Demeter exclaimed.

Hera ran her hand over the smooth cone-shaped stone. It was half as tall as she was. This thing could be our ticket out of here! she whispered in excitement. Feeling around, she found a sharp fish bone left over from Cronus’s supper last night. She began to blindly scratch a message on the stone: Help us! We are in Cronus.

Wait a sec, Hades said when she told them what she’d written. I’m not sure I want to leave. I mean, Cronus swallowed us as babies, and we haven’t been outside since. Who knows what dangers might be lurking out there? Besides, I like it in here. For whatever reason, gloomy, smelly places didn’t bother him.

Then stay if you want to, said Hestia. "But the rest of us want out!"

Poseidon nodded. Yeah. Do you want to be trapped in here forever? If we don’t get out, we’ll never age past ten. Cronus’s magic spell won’t let us.

Before Hades could answer, they heard Cronus bark out an order to his army. He was riding into battle in the town of Delphi. Soon they heard the clank of swords all around them. There were more shouts—and screams, too.

The Olympians quickly made a slingshot out of an old Minotaur wishbone and a strip of elastic sinew. (There was all kinds of gross stuff lying around in Cronus’s belly.) After they set the inscribed stone into the slingshot, they pulled it back tight.

On the count of three, they let it go. Boing! The cone-shaped stone shot up Cronus’s throat and burst out of his mouth. The fact that it knocked out one of his front teeth as it exited was just icing on the cake.

Although they had no way of knowing it, the stone hit the ground rolling. It skittered and bumped its way down a hillside. Then it came to rest at the bottom of a set of marble steps that led up to a temple.

Immediately a white-robed woman wearing eyeglasses hurried down the steps to pick it up. It was almost as if she’d been expecting the stone to arrive! Hugging it to her chest, she disappeared into the temple with it.

CHAPTER ONE

Ten Years Later

FLASH! LIGHTNING ZIGZAGGED DOWN from the sky.

Crack! It struck a hundred-year-old oak tree and split it in half. A tremendous clap of thunder boomed overhead.

Yikes! shouted ten-year-old Zeus. He dropped the wooden sword he’d been practicing with. Leaping

Reviews for Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

[Tyler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

it was a bit short for my liking.
but still good

[funstm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are amazing at fracturing myths and legends. This is no exception to that. The Heroes in Training series are lighthearted, fun retellings of Greek myths and legends. This is shorter than the Goddess Girl books coming in between 100-150 pages. Using the framework of the myths we know and love, Holub and Williams, twist these into tween friendly novels with their trademark humour.Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom was a lighthearted fun retelling of the Titans and Olympians. Shorter than I expected though. Eager to read the next one. I liked Zeus and the "Cronies" and the humour was good. Pretty much what I expected from Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams.

[zoes_human · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A simple retelling of the Chronos vs. the Olympians portion of Greek mythology. I wasn't terribly wowed by this as a grownup, but it seems like it has potential for reluctant readers who like adventure. Also I wasn't overly fond of a blue-eyed, blond Hera. She's Greek. It's certainly possible for Greek women to have blue eyes, but they're generally a dark-haired people.Middle Grade FantasyGrades: 3-5Ages: 8-10Lexile Measure: 570LDRA Level: 40Themes: challenges & overcoming obstacles, courage/bravery/heroism

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book for the younger age group, this is an exciting story that introduces kids to the world of Greek mythology. Set at the time when King Cronus, the Titan, has devoured the Olympians we start off with Zeus being an abandoned orphan now 10 years old. The book is pretty much all plot and action concentrating on Zeus and how he acquires his Thunderbolt. He meets up with half-giants, harpies and eventually the Titans themselves. Near the end of the book, fellow 10 year old Hera and Poseidon are introduced as the next quest is given to the threesome which leaves us ready for the next book. While taking many liberties with Greek mythology the basics are there and this book for the youngest readers could open up an interest in the topic for those not ready yet for such books as the Percy Jackson series. A fun story, very much action oriented.