I’d like to preface this with a blurb about the Power Rangers in case anybody is coming into this review with absolutely no prior knowledge. The Power Rangers are a group of five teenagers that were given special abilities from a entity known as Zordon. The team consists of Jason, the Red Ranger, he is the leader of the team and often stubborn in his ways, Billy, the Blue Ranger, the smart nerdy Ranger who lacks confidence on the battle field but always helps find the formula for a victory, Trini, the Yellow Ranger who bridges the gap between Billy and the rest of the team by not being as nerdy but still understanding him for the most part, Kimberly, the Pink Ranger who has a no BS kind of attitude and Zach, the Black Ranger who is calm, cool and collected. There is also a Green Ranger, Tommy who is originally a bad guy and given his powers from Rita Repulsa, the main villain of the series.
Wow, there was a lot of hype going into this book and all I can say is it definitely lived up and I cannot wait to jump into book two. Things start with Tommy, the Green Ranger having just recently joined the power rangers and overcome being mind-controlled by Rita Repulsa. Although she still seems to live on as a ghost or vision to him putting him down and constantly reminding him he is not a true ranger. Because of Ritas interference Tommy’s Dragonzord locks up while on a mission and nearly causes the team to fail. Scorpina, one of Rita’s minions, recovers the green power crystal and attacks Tommy in his home because it charges the crystal which they then put into a replica of the dagger Tommy uses to control the Dragonzord. Scorpina uses this dagger to successfully take control of the Dragonzord and attacks Angel Grove which puts the power rangers new allegiance with the Green Ranger into question for the public. After Tommy comes clean to the rest of the rangers about Rita being in his head, Jason, the Red Ranger commands him to sit out as the rest of the team use the Megazord to take down the Scorpina controlled Dragonzord.
This book/series uses flashback issues very well, we get a flashback to a month before Tommy moved to Angel Grove. Rita had actually approached Zach, the Black Ranger about using the Dragon coin to become the Green Ranger and help her lead her crusade for a better world however he refused. Jump back to present time Tommy realizes only he can take control back of the Dragonzord and disobeys Jasons order to join the fight, the power rangers are successful in taking control of the Dragonzord and they bring Scorpina back to the Command Centre as a prisoner. She informs Tommy the plan is already in motion and suddenly a black zord who refers to itself as the Black Dragon is summoned and destroys Zordons base and appears to have destroyed Zordon and Alpha along with it. The Power Rangers barely escape and unfortunately Billy, the Blue Ranger does not and is sent to the Dark Dimension as a prisoner where he finds Goldar, one of Ritas loyal servants also imprisoned.
The Power Rangers go after the Black Dragonzord while Goldar and Billy are able to ‘tune in’ from the Dark Dimension, Billy see’s that there is a hatch to enter the Black Dragon and he is likely a Zord just like the ones the Power Rangers control. We also learn Goldar is in control of this Dark Dimension and stays prisoner only because he chooses to be loyal to Rita. Billy convinces him that by letting him return to Earth and take down the Black Dragon, that Rita will return to Goldar for help. Billy returns and explains his plan to Tommy, the two enter the Black Dragon and manage to depower it. However in doing so it shrinks and ultimately disappears, taking Tommy and Billy along with it.
The two find themselves in an alternate timeline where they meet a sword named Saba who claims to be a steward of Zordon that could only be awakened by those whose hearts are filled with ‘pure good’. It was created to be the partner of the White Ranger, in this timeline they tried to make Jason the white ranger however Tommy never overcame Rita’s spell and it is implied he killed Jason to become the White Ranger and is now known as Lord Drakkon.
Thanks for reading my review, I can’t recommend this book enough to anybody so you can get a better idea of whats going on here than my quick summary!