Michael Vey: Hunt For Jade Dragon Book 4 Literary Elements

Science fiction, young adult, contemporary

Present-day Taiwan, Pasadena, and an unspecified location in the southwestern United States

First-person limited POV from the perspective of Michael Vey, one of the electric teenagers trying to save the world.

Occasionally anxious but usually concise and efficient prose; usually either serious or relaxed mood

Protagonist: Michael Vey, an electric teenager trying to save the world from the Elgen (more specifically, the schemes of Dr. Hatch). Antagonist: Dr. Hatch, a madman with electric students and megalomaniac qualities.

Dr. Hatch has kidnapped Jade Dragon, a child prodigy who figured out how to create more electric children, and plans to use her to do just that and take over the world with his new army. Michael, the Electroclan, and the Resistance must stop him.

Aboard the Volta, the Electroclan finds and rescues Jade Dragon despite the dangers of the Elgen. When they return, however, they discover that their ranch base has been utterly destroyed.

While at the ranch, Michael has a nightmare that he wakes up and can't find anyone. He rushes outside to find the Ranch House gone, replaced by "miles and miles of tumbleweeds and dusty, barren landscape" (Ch. 20). This dream foreshadows the Ranch House's actual destruction at the end of the novel.

"I imagine you must feel some apprehension as you prepare to go." - Simon, Ch. 18, to Michael, who is about to risk his life in a mission to rescue a captive genius

Gervaso gives Ostin a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu for him to read before confronting the Lung Li, the Elgen ninjas. On the next page, a woman references the famous paraphrase of a line from William Congreve's play The Mourning Bride: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

The imagery of the eagles and the chickens (see Imagery section): This metaphorical imagery was introduced by Dr. Hatch in the first book of the series, and it still persists in the dialogue of his students. They, the electric children, are the eagles soaring above the mere chickens of the world (the non-electric humans), free to use them in whatever way they please. This philosophical dichotomy of worth leads to these Glows abusing their power in a striking scene in the mall, where they destroy electronics, cause people pain, and shut down the power just for the fun of it.

All the "safe" places the Electroclan visits end up being invaded or destroyed by the Elgen, such as the hotel and the Ranch House.

The rescue of Jade Dragon in Book 4 parallels the rescue of Michael's mother in Book 2, as both are missions undertaken by the Electroclan to rescue a female captive of Dr. Hatch and the Elgen. The stakes, however, are much higher in Book 4, as the captive is capable of significantly augmenting Hatch's power.

"I heard about Wade." - Mrs. Vey, Ch. 2, referring to Wade's death

"Fire leaped from the gun barrel as it spit bullets toward the target." (Ch. 8)