MIDDLEWORLD (Jaguar Stones Trilogy Book One) [Hardcover]

J&P Voelkel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2007

Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones meets Clash of the Titans! Fasten your seat belts for a heart-stopping ride of suspense and terror, set against a background of haunted temples, family secrets, ritual sacrifice, and adolescent angst, as a pampered, pizza-eating Boston teenager fights to survive in the teeming jungle and save the modern world from the Ancient Maya Lords of Death. It transports the reader to a world in which the Maya deities still have power and influence, where time and space are in flux, but where even a fourteen-year-old from the outside can become aware, and find wisdom and love, if he can but open his eyes to the magic around him.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

More Praise for MIDDLEWORLD:

"A simply awesome read. Different to any book I've read because of all the Maya information. I definitely look forward to the next two books in the series!"
--Flamingnet Book Reviews - Top Choice Award

"Kids will love the twists and turns of the story, and cheer along with Max as he rescues his parents, gets the girl (well, gets the girl as his best friend)and saves the K'in (the Mayan word for day). Parents will love what the book provides to their teens: a glimpse into the world of archeology, an educational look at another culture and several valuable life lessons."
--Upper Valley Life Magazine

"I predict this trilogy will be popular with fans of Anthony Horowitz, Roland Smith, and even Harry Potter fans... Plenty of action and humour will keep readers on the edge of their seats."
--Teens Read Too - Five Star Review

From the Author

DEAR READER,

Like some of the teenagers who reviewed this manuscript for us, you may object to one of the names in this story. You can't have a hero called Lord Six-Rabbit, you may say. It's not regal enough. Why, to modern ears, he sounds more like a cuddly toy than a fearsome warrior king. You're right, of course. But if this book leads you to read more about Maya civilization, you'll meet other strangely named kings such as Stormy Sky, Smoke Monkey, Green Macaw and Smoking Frog. Then you may be glad that our hero was inspired by a great eighth century ruler called Eighteen-Rabbit, and not by Stormy Sky's father, the ingloriously named Curl Snout.

Here are some more things you should know before you read on . . .

The Ancient Maya called our world Middleworld, because it was sandwiched between the upper world of the heavens and the underworld, which they called Xibalba.

The Jaguar Stones are fictional, as are all the main characters except for Friar Diego DeLanda. He was the true-life Spanish priest who, in 1562, reduced the sum of Ancient Maya knowledge to ashes by making one huge bonfire of all their hundreds of folding bark books. (As far as we know, only three books and a fragment of a fourth survived.)

San Xavier is a fictional country based on present-day Belize. Maya or Mayan? We have followed the scholarly precedent of using Maya as both noun and adjective to describe the people and their culture, reserving the word Mayan for the family of thirty languages still spoken by the six million Maya living in Central America today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Sons, Imprint of Smith and Kraus Pub. Inc. (October 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575255618
• ISBN-13: 978-1575255613
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling, exciting book!, November 6, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: MIDDLEWORLD (Jaguar Stones Trilogy Book One) (Hardcover)

The thrilling scenes of this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. It's like the book is pulling you into the ancient Maya world. When the book was over, I was pining for a sequel.J&P Voelkel are two extremely talented writers. I recommend this book for all ages! It is Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter rolled into one book that will have your eyes popping out. It includes action, mystery, romance and fantasy: the recipe for a good book. This is one of the best books I've ever read.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, October 1, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MIDDLEWORLD (Jaguar Stones Trilogy Book One) (Hardcover)

Husband and wife team Jon and Pamela Voelkel have created a tale set in the Central American rain forest. The story focuses on the Maya culture and traditions as the characters battle to prevent the evil forces of an ancient empire from destroying today's world.

In MIDDLEWORLD readers meet Max Murphy. His parents are archaeologists. He is sick of the old pottery and ancient artifacts that are forever causing his parents to head off to foreign countries. Max is always left in Boston to fend for himself with the help of Zia, their housekeeper. Max would like a little adventure -- as long as it involves pizza and video games. Adventure begins for Max when Zia informs him that plans have changed this time. Instead of heading off to a wilderness camp in Maine, Max is being sent to San Xavier to join his parents.

Max arrives in San Xavier only to find that Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have disappeared. Uncle Ted becomes Max's instant guardian, and the search for his parents begins. At the time of their disappearance, they were exploring an ancient Maya pyramid deep in the rain forest. All that's left is Mr. Murphy's jacket and Mrs. Murphy's earring. Max soon finds himself lost in the rain forest that may be responsible for his parents' death.

As the story unfolds, readers will learn quite a bit of Maya history. Hidden pyramids and ruins are scattered throughout the rain forest, and each holds mysterious treasures and secrets of the ancients and how they may still have powers in the modern world. The adventure is filled with crazy characters, secret passageways and hidden chambers, Maya traditions and superstitions, talking monkeys, and blood-thirsty warriors. The mysterious Jaguar Stones hold the power to change the world. The danger comes if all five are brought together. The good guys have some and the bad guys have some, and both are out to get their hands on them all.

Recommended for ages 12 and up, this is not for the faint-hearted reader. At nearly 400 pages, with additional pages devoted to information about Maya symbols and terminology, readers will be challenged as well as entertained. I predict this trilogy will be popular with fans of Anthony Horowitz, Roland Smith, and even Harry Potter fans, once they have finished book seven. Plenty of action and humor will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy the paperback, March 31, 2010

By 

S. (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MIDDLEWORLD (Jaguar Stones Trilogy Book One) (Hardcover)

Middleworld is a great book, but be sure to purchase the paperback edition. The hardcover version is out of print and incomplete.

The paperback also includes tie-ins to The Jaguar Stones Book Two, which will be published in hardcover by Egmont USA in Spring 2011.