Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, too focused on sequels to be enjoyable

I taught ESL to Chinese students for two years. This is important because it introduced me to more Chinese myths than the average middle-grade reader. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao has the goal of building a book series that’s aimed at middle school readers.  

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor has lots of potential, but puts too many cooks in the kitchen and fails to keep its eyes on the prize.
One great book, is better than trying to build a world
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