The Quest Series by S.W. Lothian

I have always loved the idea of time travel.  Maybe that is why books like this one intrigues me so much.  This whole series is one that I will not only have on my shelves at school, but one I will promote to all of my students.  Our sixth grade Humanities teaches ancient Egypt.  I've always tried to have something that went along with their unit. There just were not that many books, especially good ones to go along with their unit, until now.

The Golden Scarab is book one in the Quest Series.  J.J. is 12 years old.  My students will identify with him because they are also middle graders.  J.J.'s father is the head curator at a museum.  His family visits the museum one day and J.J. wanders into an Egyptian exhibit.   The statue of Anubis begins to talk with J.J.  He is the protector of the mummy at the museum. He challenges  J.J. to find a friend and travel through time to find the Golden Scarab.  This scarab will save Egypt from Seth, an evil god. J.J. recruits his best friend Linc and they travel through time where they meet Rani, a young girl who also travels through time to help find the scarab.  The three of them must battle Uberdiles, find their way through mazes, and avoid booby-traps, and deliver the golden scarab to stop Seth.

That alone is enough to entice any child, young adult, or adult.  For me as a parent, grandparent, and teacher, I love the fact that this book, of interest to young and old will teach the reader about friendship, trust, courage, being a risk-taker, caring, and a balanced person.  This book embodies the IB learner profiles we teach at school.  In the mix they will find a wonderful way to learn about ancient Egyptian cultures, gods, etc.  Do I recommend this book?  You bet I do.

The Cursed Nile is book two in the Quest Series. In this great adventure the trio J.J., Linc and Rani are back to discover why the Nile has dried up in the past and present, and what has happened to Hapi the god who controls the Nile. Once again they have obstacles thrown in their path.  They will go against the uberdiles and giant crocodiles.  After all we all know the Nile is known for its crocodiles.

Instead of the evil god Seth we meet the evil god Sobek.  He has kidnapped Hapi.  Want to know why Sobek kidnapped Hapi?  You'll have to read the book.   There are great lessons about jealousy and the effects of what happens when you bully others.  Little Sphinx is another character we meet in this story.  Want to know how the sphinx lost his nose?   This is an awesome book.    The third book in the series "The Fallen Pharaoh" comes out June 1st. However, check tomorrow for my review of "The Fallen Pharaoh".

I am so glad that I have found a series that I can use in my classroom to re-inforce what they are learning in Humanities.

Student Saturday - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Roald Dahl

Student Saturday is a day I post reviews written by other students.  The review that follows is written by Connor

This book is about a selfish billionaire that cares only for himself and does nothing but gambles. When he stays at one of his friend’s estates he finds a little folder and read it. The folder is a report about a man who can see with his eyes closed and sees without seeing. When he finds this out he takes the folder and immediately starts to practice. After three long years of training he can see with his eyes closed and he can do this so quickly he can read a person’s hand in less than four seconds. When he shares this new information with a friend he wants to go along with him. Henry agrees and they go off at once. They fly to casino to casino with whatever money they are not using for their project. When they have enough, the locations were set up and the construction began soon after the plans and money has been received. The years passed on and more and more places were built, and soon Henry died. The story came to be when his friends thought it was time to share the secret and what they did.

The story was amazing because it reminds me of “The Ghost Before Christmas”, because when Henry wins his first round of money he doesn’t want it so he throws it out and then he decides why not do something good for the community, and that’s how his mission became true. I recommend this book for people with warm open hearts and who want a good book to read with the family.

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: The Fallen Pharaoh by S.W. Lothian

BLURB – THE FALLEN PHARAOH

It's time to reunite without the burden of a perilous quest.  Let's just sit back, relax and enjoy the moment.  The idea is simple enough.  What could possibly go wrong?

Tragedy sends a shockwave across the land, and rumours begin to surface and spread.  Has the very thing that protects the Pharaoh gone missing?  An ancient Egyptian legend foretells that without it, the safety of the Pharaoh is doomed.  Khafre calls upon his trusted friends from the future to seek out the fabled Ankh of Life.

It's a quest to discover if the legend is true.  If it is, our heroes need to find the ankh and return it to its rightful place.  The awesome foursome from the future are in the race of their life - against the passage of time and mysterious forces that want them stopped.  

This edge-of-your-seat adventure weaves its thrills and mystery through the very crossroads of time itself.  From ancient Egypt, to the centre of time, to modern Paris.  The gang of four must face their most amazing encounters so far.

The pressure is on.  Who is trying to stop them?  Will our heroes overcome the danger and challenges of their newest quest?  Only time will tell.

The time has come for the legend to rise and protect.

ABOUT THE QUEST SERIES

The Quest series is an exciting time-travel adventure like no other, which has won over fans from all ages.  Kids love it because it takes them on an action-packed ride, and adults love it because it reminds them of their childhood dreams of adventure.  It has been described as Harry Potter meets Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones meets The Mummy.

The underlying essence that I have tried to inject into this series is maximum adventure, maximum action, amazing settings, awesome humour and relatable characters.  I wanted my heroes to be just everyday kids, who find themselves in the most awesome adventure of their lives.  These books are so vividly burnt into my mind, that I can see the settings, smell the air, and feel the emotions of the characters.  It has taken me years to get the story to where it is now, and there are still a couple more books to come.  My dream would be for the series to become loved enough to spawn a CG movie or two or more (A very wild dream, I know - but one that I'll hold onto - ya gotta have dreams.).

JJ, Linc and Rani are just three normal kids who have found themselves in adventures that none of them could ever have imagined.  The series is an edge-of-your-seat tale of time-travel that spans from modern times to ancient Egypt.  The past and present collide as our heroes are tasked with saving history (and the future) from turmoil.  It's not an easy job, especially when their arch enemies have an army of living statues, known as Uberdiles at their side.  Over the course of the quests, our heroes meet many wonderful characters and learn about their own strengths, the importance of teamwork and loyalty, and how trust each other.

Last year I was fortunate enough to travel to Singapore and I visited Universal Studios (I'm a theme park fan).  One of the key things that attracted me to visit the newest Universal theme park was that I knew there was an ancient Egypt zone, which housed one of my favourite rides, The Mummy.  Well, as soon as I arrived in the zone I felt just like I had stepped through time and into my books.  The ancient Egypt theming was awesome and the detail and scale were stunning.  There were even some giant statues of one of my characters, Anubis.  To read more about my visit, click here to jump to my blog post.

I'd be honoured if you would give the Quest series a go and read each of the exciting quests.  I'm confident that you'll find that it will take you on an adventure that will knock your socks off.

View the book trailer here: The Golden Scarab:  http://youtu.be/g701xi11x9

Goodreads  – 1 x paperback edition of The Fallen Pharaoh.  Click Here

Open for US, CA, UK, AU, NZ.

RAFFLECOPTER – 2 x sets of The Quest Series ebooks.

Each set contains 1 copy of each book: The Golden Scarab, The Cursed Nile, The Fallen Pharaoh.

Open internationally.  Click Here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.W. Lothian is a funny and cool guy from Australia. His kids call him ‘Phil Dunphy’, because he reminds them of the dad from Modern Family.  He isn’t sure whether this is a compliment or not, but he takes it as a compliment.

As an imaginative kid he dreamed of creating exciting worlds and funky characters, and thought he’d be the most famous person to ever do this.  He loved to draw and was dux of Art in High School.  Top of his dream list was to be an animator.  Along with his friend (who went on to be a semi-regular in an Aussie TV Soapie) they would make their own comic books – it kept them entertained and out of trouble (most of the time).

He loved watching all those classic cartoons on TV - Scooby Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Road Runner (surely, Coyote would win one day), Wacky Races, the list goes on and on.  All he wanted to do was to create cool characters and stories by hand.  He was sure his animation dream would happen - It was to be the perfect career.

BOOM!  Then reality hit.  As weird as it may seem, there were not a lot of opportunities for world famous animators in his home city.  The dreams were parked as reality and the corporate world beckoned.  Then, 25 years later, the long-held dream to create erupted like a jam donut in a microwave and S.W. started writing children's fiction for kids.  Perhaps his awesome stories will become so popular that they will be animated one day.

When he writes, it’s for his kids.  He writes stories to excite them, inspire them and teach.  Stories with awesome edge-of-your-seat action and adventure scattered with fun.  Stories that let adults remember their own childhood dreams.

His dream has evolved over the years, from superstar cartoonist – to corporate soldier – to proud parent – to children’s writer.  In his wildest dreams, his books will be extremely successful.  However, it’s one step at a time.  A waterfall starts with a trickle; he hopes his books are his waterfall.  He’s building that waterfall – one book at a time.

S.W. Lothian can be contacted by…

Subscribe to his NewsFlash to get the scoop on his latest news

Blog : www.swlothian.wordpress.com

Twitter : www.twitter.com/swlothian

Facebook : www.facebook.com/swlothian

Student Saturday - Life As We Knew It - Susan B. Pfeffer

Student Saturday is a day I post reviews written by other students.  The review that follows is written by Ashley F.

You’re lucky to have electricity, food, warmth and water.  When Miranda finds out a meteor is going to hit the moon, she figures it’s just going to rain. Then, the day comes and she could see it with a naked eye, and when she least expects it BOOM!!!  The meteor hits, and Miranda and her family has the worst to come. Now they are struggling for shelter, food, water and warmth. But, what Miranda doesn’t know is that everyone that she knows and loves are dying or moving out of state. She and other families are struggling for health and strength. Could she make it out alive? Is she going to be all alone? Will she dies first? Will her brother’s make it?  This meteor is like no other meteorite.  It ruins her life and those around her.  These questions will occur to you and many more in this HEART POUNDING, DEATH INDICATING book.  Read it,  find out, or don’t…

Student Saturday - Discordia - Dena K. Salmon

Student Saturday is a day I post reviews written by other students.  The review that follows is written by  Zack M.

Discordia is a book about a new dimension where three characters Adam, Lance and Reyve are gamers who were sucked into the game (literally). They were stuck in Discordia and lived the life of their characters. My favorite character in this book is Lance, because he is the tallest and likes the video game the most, though he does have a bit of a problem where he turns into a zombie. Still my favorite character is lance because I can relate to him and our personality is similar. I like this story’s plot because it is exciting and actin packed. It was one of the best books I have read in a long time. Eventually they find their way out but end up losing their new friend Reyva when their supposed ally yanks her back through the portal that leads to reality. The end of the story leaves you wondering what happens next, do they find Reyva, and is there another book? Is Reyva okay? So, I suggest that you read this book because I deeply enjoyed it and hope you do because of its relatable characters, plot and action packed adventure. All in all it’s a great book. I hope you’ll enjoy.