Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire

By Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams and Craig Phillips

The action heats up for Zeus and his fellow Olympians in this blazing Heroes in Training tale.

Phew, it’s hot! Under the titan Hyperion’s rule, the sun is burning even brighter than normal and scorching everything in northern Greece—including the villagers! The Olympians are forced to play a sizzling “game” of Dodge the Sunbursts as Hyperion hurls giant fireballs that could fry them to pieces!

Armed with some clues, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades set out to figure out why in the world Hyperion has been making things so hot. They also need to rescue Hera, who is still missing. Battling the extreme heat—and some fantastical and scary creatures, courtesy of their old foe Cronus—the boys are off on another epic adventure…and Zeus is one step closer to discovering his destiny.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aladdin
• Release date: Aug 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781442452701

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

CHAPTER ONE

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ka-BOOM! Sssst!

A fireball as big as a watermelon struck the ground and exploded in flames. It had landed only a few feet from Zeus! He and four other ten-year-old Olympians had all been sleeping in a small forest at the edge of an abandoned village.

Yeee-ikes! yelled Zeus. Instantly wide awake, he leaped to his feet.

My sandal’s on fire! shouted Hades, hopping around.

I’m on it! Poseidon called. He lifted his golden trident, which looked sort of like a pitchfork—only cooler.

Whoosh! Three streams of water suddenly spurted from the three pointy tips of the trident, hitting Hades’ foot. It was just enough to put out the sandal fire.

Hades looked from Poseidon to the trident in surprise. Did you gain a new magical power when I wasn’t looking?

Poseidon nodded. My trident can magically draw water from any source nearby. A lake, a pond, even from deep underground. I figured it out last night when I was wishing for a drink of water.

Handy trick, said Hera. She and Demeter—the two girl Olympians—had woken as well.

Especially since those fireballs are back again, added Demeter.

All five Olympians had been dodging the mysterious fireballs since the day before. However, for some reason the attacks had stopped at sundown last night.

Now that it was dawn, the sun was here again. And so were the fireballs.

I think the Titans are playing some evil game with us, said Poseidon.

Screee!

Like Dodge the Fireball? Let’s get out of here! yelled Hera as another flaming ball came screaming in.

BOOM! Sssst!

The Olympians took off just in time. They hurdled over rocks and raced across parched ground. If only there were a finish line somewhere, thought Zeus. A place where they’d finally be safe from harm. Was that only wishful thinking?

The future is what you make of it, Pythia the Oracle had told them. If and when all of the Olympians are united again, you will have the power to defeat Cronus and his evil ways.

It was because of her that they’d begun yet another quest. This time they’d been sent to find the Olympic Torch. But as usual with the oracle’s quests, she hadn’t given them any details. Such as what the torch looked like. Or who had it. Or why it was important to find it.

Screee! BOOM! Sssst! Another fiery ball struck the dirt right behind Zeus. A huge plume of fire and smoke shot up from the ground.

Thunderation! he yelled. Flames licked at his heels as he put on a burst of speed.

Someone’s trying to blast us to smithereens! shouted Hades.

Yeah, Zeus said, panting. And I think I might know who that someone is.

Who? Hera called out. She and Demeter were right behind them.

Poseidon came last. Pausing, he aimed the tips of his trident at the spot where the last fireball had fallen. A spurt of water put out the fire.

Screee! Boom! Sssst! Another fireball landed to the right of the Olympians.

They veered down a road that went left. Look. A temple! shouted Zeus. He pointed to a white marble building surrounded by columns. It stood at the bottom of a hill. Let’s take shelter there.

Soon the Olympians were all safely inside the temple. Hera shoved back a lock of long, golden hair that had fallen over her face. Okay, Thunderboy, she said to Zeus. So who’s after us?

The irritation in her voice was impossible to miss. At least she hadn’t called him Thunderpants. Another of her many nicknames for him.

Zeus shrugged. It’s only a guess. But I think it could be the work of one of the Titans I saw with Cronus. That day I made him barf.

Until recently the other four Olympians had all been imprisoned in the belly of the evil King Cronus. But after Zeus had sent a thunderbolt down the giant Titan king’s throat, the king had barfed them all up.

Unfortunately, most of them had been recaptured by the Titans. They’d had to be rescued all over again, one by one. Zeus had seen

Reviews for Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great entry in this wonderful series for young chapterbook readers. I'm really enjoying these books and look forward to each new volume. This one is not my favourite compared to the previous three but it holds it own and progresses the story well. As we can tell by the title of this one, the villain takes more of a major role this time around as the heroes search out their quest for another magical item and the last of their missing Olympians. A fun story with lots, and I do mean a lot, of action. Introduction to more Greek mythology and one I particularly like about this series is the emphasis on the Titans, which are often harder to understand. Many children's books start with the Olympians, glossing over the earlier Greek mythology of their origins. This book has a definite feel of being the end of the first story arc. By book's end we have accomplished one of the missions set out in the first book, gather together the six Olympians (3 boys, 3 girls). New information is imparted to the group and while some open threads continue, new goals are also added. This leads me to believe we are in for a long running series, like Holub's other series for girls "Goddess Girls", but one which will group books together in story arcs similar to the Magic Tree House series. If so, I'm game and in for the long run. Highly recommend this series for libraries!