''The Storm Runner'' is a novel written by J. C. Cervantes and published in September 2025. It is the second of many books in the "

Rick Riordan Presents Rick Riordan Presents is a book imprint of Disney-Hyperion (Disney Publishing Worldwide) that was launched in 2018 and is led by Stephanie Owens Lurie. The line publishes books that utilize the mythology of various cultures and countries in its ...

" imprint and is about fourteen-year-old Zane Obispo who uses a cane to get around due to a debilitating limp. The jacket art was designed by Maria Elias and drawn by Irving Rodriguez. A short story by Cervantes about the characters in the book were featured in the anthology book, ''

The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities Rick Riordan Presents is a book imprint of Disney-Hyperion (Disney Publishing Worldwide) that was launched in 2018 and is led by Stephanie Owens Lurie. The line publishes books that utilize the mythology of various cultures and countries in its s ...

''.

Synopsis

Zane Obispo's favorite activity to partake in when he's not at school is exploring the

dormant volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often ...

in his own backyard. One day, while discovering new cracks and creases in the mountain, a small airplane crashes into it, disturbing Zane and his three-legged

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

Rosie. Soon after the accident, a mysterious girl named Brooks appears at Zane's doorstep, demanding that she and Zane meet up at the volcano. Zane agrees, trying to impress Brooks, and she explains to him that "myths are real" and the volcano is actually a centuries-old prison for the

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

god of death, whose

destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

is linked to Zane's. Zane's neighbor Ms. Cab, who is a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

, explains to Zane that his father, who was left when Zane was an infant, is a

deity or supernatural creature.

Characters

* Zane Obispo: a thirteen-year-old with a limp. He uses a cane named Fuego to get around, and is the son of Hurakan, a

deity. * Brooks: a young nawal who comes to Zane after a small airplane mysteriously crashes. * Rosie: Zane's loyal three-legged

. Near the end of book one, she is turned into a

hellhound A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Nor ...

Ixtab At the time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (1527–1546), Ix Tab or Ixtab ( ʃˈtaɓ "Rope Woman", "Hangwoman") was the indigenous Maya goddess of suicide by hanging. Playing the role of a psychopomp, she would accompany such suicides to he ...

. * Hondo: a teammate of Zane and Brooks who accompanied them to defeat Ah-Puch. * Ah-Puch: the god of death, darkness and destruction. He is often referred to in the book as "The Stinking One" and "Ah-Puke." * Jazz: a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

and associate of Brooks who helps them in their quests. * Ixtab: the new ruler of Xib'alb'a. She forces Zane to write ''The Storm Runner'' about the recent events in his life. * Hurakan: a

god * Ms. Cab: a friend/neighbor of Zane and Nik'wachinel, Mayan seer * Mr. Ortiz: a friend/neighbor of Zane and pepper farmer

Reception

''The Laughing Place'' promotes the book and gives it a high review of "four exciting exploding volcanoes out of four."

Sequels

Prior to the release of the first novel, a second was announced, to be called ''The Fire Keeper'', detailing the events of Zane's island life and how he attempts to escape the island, surrounding which there is a massive force field created by

. ''The Fire Keeper'' was released on September 3, 2019. A third book, title, ''The Shadow Crosser'', released on September 1, 2020. It is the final installment in the ''Storm Runner'' series.

Spin-off

In December 2020, it was announced that a spin-off series entitled ''Shadow Bruja'' duology, written by J. C. Cervantes, would be published under the "

" publishing imprint. It will debut with its first novel on October 4, 2022, followed by the second installment in 2023. ''Shadow Bruja'' series will follow Ren, a character introduced in ''

The Fire Keeper ''The Storm Runner'' is a novel written by J. C. Cervantes and published in September 2025. It is the second of many books in the "Rick Riordan Presents" imprint and is about fourteen-year-old Zane Obispo who uses a cane to get around due to a d ...

''.

References