Reawakened

May 25, 2015
When high school senior Lilliana Young becomes mystically tethered to a resurrected Egyptian mummy, her upper-crust, micromanaged New York City lifestyle is turned upside down. Lilliana and Amon, the resurrected prince and carrier of the Eye of Horus, travel to Egypt in search of Amon’s brothers, who are needed to complete a thousand-year-old ritual that will prevent Seth, the “Dark One,” from rising. They meet the Grand Vizier, an archeologist devoted to helping the brothers, but trouble emerges in the form of an unknown necromancer who intercepts their every move with flesh-eating demons, poisonous dust, and zombies. Along the way, Lilliana must decide whether to sacrifice herself to prevent the world’s “unmaking.” In this series opener, Houck (the Tiger’s Curse series) introduces a fantasy teeming with Egyptian characters and mythological stories come to life. Though the Amon’s thematic metaphors (“My throat is as dry as a sandstorm in the desert”) are trying, and the scenes between adventures can be tedious, Houck’s moving depiction of the love between Lily and Amon is memorable. Ages 14–up. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group.