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Karazan Quartet #4
Quest for the Sun
Adam Equinox has at last discovered his true identity. But then he uncovers a secret in the final page of Queen Zaronel's diary: there was not one baby prince, but two. Zephyr, Prince of the Wind...and Zenith, Prince of the Sun, a twin four times Zephyr's own age. Adam's search for Zenith in Karazan takes him over the Plains of the Dead to the savage nomadic gladiators, who train him to battle the creatures of computer-generated darkness. The chance discovery of the missing half of the Signet of Sovereignty at last reveals Zenith's secret. Can the brothers be reunited and crowned together as the gong strikes noon on the day of the Equinox? Or is it too late?
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 29, 2023
Finished this series for the 4th time.
As usual, among my favourites! This time I give it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
As usual, among my favourites! This time I give it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
September 13, 2023
4.5 stars
October 17, 2013
Quest for the Sun is the fourth book in the Karazan Quartet series by V.M. Jones, who wrote this series from her home in Christchurch, New Zealand.
I read this series at the recommendation of my mother and sister. The final book is my favourite in the series because the author covered and dealt with all the issues encountered in the previous books very thoroughly and it was a well written book to wrap up the series.
The series takes place in our world and an alternate reality that a group of children travel to; however this book takes place mostly in the other realm. What I enjoyed was how the main character, Adam Equinox, developed as he matured and became who he was destined to be.
My favourite character in this book was Zenith. He grew up in the border lands of Karazan and had to live with what seemed to be near eternal youth – he thought it was a curse that he didn’t age at the same rate as everyone else and was rejected from society. However in reality, his life was tied to Adam, who grew up in our world.
Two of the values taught in the series are to respect other people’s opinions and to work as a group. A good example is when the children need to determine which bird is telling the truth when they are seeking a particular path. They know that one bird always lies and the other tells the truth:
"It took a good full five minutes of full-on discussion before everyone was one hundred and ten percent certain that Jamie had it right. Then I gave him the feather to hold, and he turned to the black bird, ‘At least we know for sure that we can understand him,’ he whispered, with a quick glance round for agreement.
"‘If you were the other bird, which path would you tell us led to the Realms of the Undead?” he asked, very slowly and carefully.
"‘The path on your right – the gateway of roots,’ squawked the bird sulkily.
"'Thank you,’ Jamie handed back the feather, his hand trembling slightly, and I tucked I safely away.
"‘I’m still not sure I get it,’ Rich confessed. ‘Does that mean he’s the bird that tells the truth, or…’
"‘We’ll never know, Richard,’ said Gen patiently. ‘it doesn’t matter. The point is, we go down the other path. Come on everyone…’"
I would recommend this book to people over the age of 12 as it is a fairly complex story to follow and has tricky puzzles to solve, but it is still an easy read.
I read this series at the recommendation of my mother and sister. The final book is my favourite in the series because the author covered and dealt with all the issues encountered in the previous books very thoroughly and it was a well written book to wrap up the series.
The series takes place in our world and an alternate reality that a group of children travel to; however this book takes place mostly in the other realm. What I enjoyed was how the main character, Adam Equinox, developed as he matured and became who he was destined to be.
My favourite character in this book was Zenith. He grew up in the border lands of Karazan and had to live with what seemed to be near eternal youth – he thought it was a curse that he didn’t age at the same rate as everyone else and was rejected from society. However in reality, his life was tied to Adam, who grew up in our world.
Two of the values taught in the series are to respect other people’s opinions and to work as a group. A good example is when the children need to determine which bird is telling the truth when they are seeking a particular path. They know that one bird always lies and the other tells the truth:
"It took a good full five minutes of full-on discussion before everyone was one hundred and ten percent certain that Jamie had it right. Then I gave him the feather to hold, and he turned to the black bird, ‘At least we know for sure that we can understand him,’ he whispered, with a quick glance round for agreement.
"‘If you were the other bird, which path would you tell us led to the Realms of the Undead?” he asked, very slowly and carefully.
"‘The path on your right – the gateway of roots,’ squawked the bird sulkily.
"'Thank you,’ Jamie handed back the feather, his hand trembling slightly, and I tucked I safely away.
"‘I’m still not sure I get it,’ Rich confessed. ‘Does that mean he’s the bird that tells the truth, or…’
"‘We’ll never know, Richard,’ said Gen patiently. ‘it doesn’t matter. The point is, we go down the other path. Come on everyone…’"
I would recommend this book to people over the age of 12 as it is a fairly complex story to follow and has tricky puzzles to solve, but it is still an easy read.
April 3, 2010
i like Adam Equinox!
December 18, 2018
I was gifted this book in 2005, and even though I had no idea what was going on I really enjoyed. Now that I have read the entire series multiple times I can still say it is one of my favorites. Though for some reason the ending has slightly confused me, why are Q and Hannah now in Karazan? Have their friends gone home and is there no door between the worlds now? I may never know, but still very enjoyable.
December 18, 2019
I haven't read this series since high school (a good 10+ years ago!) and thought about it again for some reason not long ago. After spending a few hours tracking the title down, I am so glad that I went on the hunt and got to read them again. Fun, easy read that bought back a little bit of childhood.
July 5, 2025
I started reading the Karazan Quartet when I was I think 8, and only recently, almost 20 years later managed to find the last two books and finish the series. Even as an adult the world created in this series was still magical. This series will forever be in my top 3, and I look forward not only to rereading it, but to being able to share it with my children some day.
March 28, 2023
Not having read the earlier books in the series it took me awhile to get into this story but once I figured out who the characters were it moved along at a good pace, the climax of the story is worth waiting for but I do recommend you read the earlier books in the series first.
November 17, 2015
"Can I have that when you're finished with it, miss...?"
I was carrying around Quest for the Sun one day while I was doing playground duty in the schoolyard. Four different kids tried to steal the novel from me in the space of ten minutes. There are two copies of the entire series in the school library but they're never on the shelves long.
Ok, it's a book in which the hero is an orphan. I'd had a few too many at the time, so I was a bit dubious. However, Victoria Jones had some surprises in store for me.
Adam Equinox is an orphan who lives in a home where the matron is cooking the books and skimming off funds. He fills out a coupon and wins a trip to Quested Court where the inventor of a best-selling computer game explains that the world inside the game has become real. He then begs for help. His daughter, who is dying, needs a life-giving elixir from the world of Karazan.
There's just one or two quirky problems with the reality of Karazan: it only lets children through to it, not adults. Oh, and it's evolving. Just because the kids entering the world from 'outside' know the game inside out, doesn't mean they know the real world of Karazan.
This very likeable series seems utterly predictable at times - but fortunately, it isn't.
The slimy computer hacker who makes Adam's life miserable and turns into Bluebum, the monkey-like chatterbot, is by far the most interesting character. I was never in the least convinced that Adam or any of his friends were in danger. The chatterbot however did seem to be in genuine peril when captured by the vicious king and his advisor.
A couple of plot twists save the series from sinking into unrelieved warm fuzziness. However the ending of the series seems a bit too cutely contrived altogether. I haven't got back to any of the boys who tried to rob me of this book to find out what they think of the ending, but I felt it was a little too over-the-top happy-families nice to be satisfying. (Ok, maybe guilty on this one myself!) The bad guys got 'done for', but there didn't seem to be any cost to the heroes. They didn't seem to mature at all through the novels.
But perhaps I'm being too picky. I enjoyed the series immensely and found some aspects of the plot quite impressively convoluted. I was completely fooled as to the identity of the Prince of the Sun (I thought it had to be the chatterbot, but it wasn't) and everything was wrapped up very very nicely.
I was carrying around Quest for the Sun one day while I was doing playground duty in the schoolyard. Four different kids tried to steal the novel from me in the space of ten minutes. There are two copies of the entire series in the school library but they're never on the shelves long.
Ok, it's a book in which the hero is an orphan. I'd had a few too many at the time, so I was a bit dubious. However, Victoria Jones had some surprises in store for me.
Adam Equinox is an orphan who lives in a home where the matron is cooking the books and skimming off funds. He fills out a coupon and wins a trip to Quested Court where the inventor of a best-selling computer game explains that the world inside the game has become real. He then begs for help. His daughter, who is dying, needs a life-giving elixir from the world of Karazan.
There's just one or two quirky problems with the reality of Karazan: it only lets children through to it, not adults. Oh, and it's evolving. Just because the kids entering the world from 'outside' know the game inside out, doesn't mean they know the real world of Karazan.
This very likeable series seems utterly predictable at times - but fortunately, it isn't.
The slimy computer hacker who makes Adam's life miserable and turns into Bluebum, the monkey-like chatterbot, is by far the most interesting character. I was never in the least convinced that Adam or any of his friends were in danger. The chatterbot however did seem to be in genuine peril when captured by the vicious king and his advisor.
A couple of plot twists save the series from sinking into unrelieved warm fuzziness. However the ending of the series seems a bit too cutely contrived altogether. I haven't got back to any of the boys who tried to rob me of this book to find out what they think of the ending, but I felt it was a little too over-the-top happy-families nice to be satisfying. (Ok, maybe guilty on this one myself!) The bad guys got 'done for', but there didn't seem to be any cost to the heroes. They didn't seem to mature at all through the novels.
But perhaps I'm being too picky. I enjoyed the series immensely and found some aspects of the plot quite impressively convoluted. I was completely fooled as to the identity of the Prince of the Sun (I thought it had to be the chatterbot, but it wasn't) and everything was wrapped up very very nicely.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews