The Four Legendary Kingdoms
| Author | Matthew Reilly |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia 
|
| Language | English |
| Series | Jack West Jr. |
| Genre | Thriller novel |
| Publisher | Pan MacMillan |
|
Publication date
|
20 October 2016 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Five Greatest Warriors |
The Four Legendary Kingdoms is the fourth thriller novel in the Jack West Jr. series, by the Australian writer Matthew Reilly.
The book is the fourth in an Indiana Jones-style action series, and is a continuation of the story established in The Five Greatest Warriors.
The series is published by Pan Macmillan and the book was first released on 20 October 2016 in Australia.
Eight years after successfully constructing the Great Machine and preventing the Dark Sun from destroying the earth, Jack West Jr. has retired to his farm in Western Australia. While his adopted daughter Lily—now a twenty-year-old college student—is visiting him, he is called to the Pine Gap military installation to consult on an unusual anomaly detected by its top secret telescopic array. West speculates that the anomaly is a rogue galaxy hurtling across the universe, and that a collision with the Milky Way Galaxy—an apocalyptic event—is imminent. However, before he can draw any further conclusions, the facility is attacked and West abducted.
West awakens in a locked cell and is attacked by a man in a bull-shaped mask resembling a minotaur. West kills the man and escapes the cell to find himself in an arena with fifteen other men, most of whom were prepared for the attack. The group is addressed by a man calling himself Hades, who announces that the sixteen men are the sixteen champions chosen to take part in the Hydra Games. By completing the games, the champions will acquire nine spheres of golden quartz which will unlock a temple within the arena and complete a ritual required to save the world. In order to ensure the champions' loyalty, each man has been implanted with an explosive device and their friends and families held hostage.
Each round of the Hydra Games is brutal, with the champions facing physical challenges of endurance and mortal combat, with the last-placed champion and their hostages killed. Furthermore, Hades is obliged to grant the winner of each round a request, which many champions use to have their rivals killed. Between each round, the champions are given the opportunity to recuperate, and West is approached by Ioanthe Compton-Jones, a member of the British royal family who reveals that the Hydra Games are being run by the four kingdoms that have secretly ruled the world for millennia. By completing the ritual at the conclusion of the Hydra Games, mankind will avert the incoming rogue galaxy. West arranged to have Lily use her position as the Oracle of Siwa to escape captivity and spy on the royals spectating on the Games.
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