Force of Chaos (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Book 1): A Novel

by Diana Ma

Overview

From the world of Hasbro’s Power Rangers entertainment franchise comes an action-packed, original YA novel from the point of view of Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger

Trini Kwan is trying to get through high school unnoticed. Nobody knows that she has trained for years in martial arts, and she prefers to let her classmates think she’s just the shy Asian girl.

But Trini’s world turns upside down when the homecoming game is attacked by an otherworldly winged beast with an army of clay soldiers. Unable to sit by while innocent people get hurt, Trini springs into action—alongside science genius Billy, her childhood best friend Zack, popular jock Jason, and new girl Kimberly.

In the aftermath, the five teenagers are recruited by an alien warrior named Zordon to become the new Power Rangers, charged with protecting the planet from an evil sorceress who recently escaped imprisonment. Suddenly thrust in the middle of a millenniums-long intergalactic war is hard enough, but getting her new teammates to work together proves to be a difficult task.

Can Trini help the others move past their rocky first impressions—and her own complicated history with Zack—to protect their home from destruction? And will she be able to finally accept her full self—and this new role?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647004521
Publisher:	Amulet Books
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Series:	A Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Novel
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Diana Ma is a Chinese American author of middle grade and young adult books. Her debut novel Heiress Apparently was a 2021 Washington State Book Award finalist in Young Adult Literature. She was also a 2019 We Need Diverse Books mentee and a Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellow. Diana teaches at a community college in Seattle and believes that it’s important for all kids to recognize themselves as the heroes of the books they read. Her belief that diverse books help us create a better world is what drives her writing and teaching. More information can be found about Diana on her website: Dianamaauthor.com
Diana Ma is a Chinese American author who holds a BA in creative writing from the University of Washington and an MA in English with a creative writing focus from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She lives in a suburb of Seattle.

Editorial Reviews

***STARRED REVIEW***
"Ma brings complexity and depth to all of the Power Rangers...this dynamic series starter translates the iconic action of the long-running television series into an engrossing novel."—School Library Journal

"Ma adds new dimensions to the original story through the inclusion of Chinese mythology and explorations of racial stereotyping and Trini’s struggle with an inner voice that tells her to hide her true self...A lightly developed read that may appeal to avid fans of the long-running franchise."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"Ma adds new dimensions to the original story through the inclusion of Chinese mythology and explorations of racial stereotyping and Trini’s struggle with an inner voice that tells her to hide her true self...A lightly developed read that may appeal to avid fans of the long-running franchise."

Kirkus Reviews

***STARRED REVIEW***
"Ma brings complexity and depth to all of the Power Rangers...this dynamic series starter translates the iconic action of the long-running television series into an engrossing novel."

School Library Journal

2025-03-22
Five teens are chosen to protect their town from an alien vendetta in this story set in the world of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Trini Kwan has carefully cultivated her studious, “quiet Asian girl” persona at school, hiding her frustration when students take advantage of her hard work, underestimate her, or bully her friend Billy. Despite years of martial arts training with Nai Nai, her grandmother, she hides her true strength. Then her school’s Homecoming game is attacked by Goldar, a furry blue monster with gold armor, and the Putties, his clay minions. Even as most kids flee, Billy, football captain Jason, popular new cheerleader Kimberly, and Trini’s former best friend, Zack, rush to help two trapped students—and Trini joins them. The five teens are chosen by “galactic warrior scholar” Zordon to become the Power Rangers; Trini is named the Yellow Ranger. Ma adds new dimensions to the original story through the inclusion of Chinese mythology and explorations of racial stereotyping and Trini’s struggle with an inner voice that tells her to hide her true self. While the tone of the writing and the treatment of intriguing themes—strong women, power and responsibility, friendship, and self-control—skew young and lack complexity, the slow-burn romance is believable and grounded in a rebuilt friendship. Trini is of Chinese Taiwanese and Korean Chinese descent, Zack is Black, and other main characters read white.

A lightly developed read that may appeal to avid fans of the long-running franchise.(Adventure. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews