Author:Rick Riordan
Rating:5/5
Apollo and Meg enlist Camp Jupiter’s help to take down two of the Roman Emperors.
Spoilers ahead.
Detailed Summary
Apollo and Meg arrive in San Francisco (they got a ride from Piper) and are driving to Camp Jupiter with Jason Grace’s body when they get attacked by a eurynomos.Apollo swerves off-course and they land in a tree, thanks to Meg. They, then, get found by Lavinia, a girl from Camp Jupiter, and Don the faun. The eurynomos attacks again and Apollo gets a scratch. The creatures can turn humans into zombies so, yeah, Apollo is kind of screwed. Hazel Levesque turns up and they make it to camp. There’s a gathering and Apollo sings a song for Jason Grace, detailing all that happened. When Apollo first sees Reyna, he flips out because Venus had told him he had to stay away from her. He falls in love with Reyna.
Apollo and Meg meet Tyson (the cyclops) and Ella (the harpy). The two are trying to organise the prophecies in order. Ella tattoos Tyson with the words. Apollo asks for information on their prophecy but Ella talks about Frank’s firestick so they leave. The funeral for Jason is held that night with Apollo performing the rites. Lupa and her wolves come. Lupa tells Apollo that he has to call on a god’s help to get his godhood back. Apollo dreams about the Oracle of Cumae meeting Tarquin (an Emperor) and giving him three books of the Sibylline Books (these books with prophecies). She burnt the other six. Hazel, Lavinia, Meg and Apollo are chosen to go on a quest to Tilden Park. They make their way into the tomb. Tarquin calls them out. Meg attacks without warning and the four just barely escape. The scratch Apollo got makes him feel worse. They reach camp but Apollo collapses. He wakes to find Pranjal, son of Asclepius, and Meg with a unicorn healing him.
The praetors, Frank and Reyna, tell Apollo that he has to sacrifice a god of silence and then summon a god. Frank sends Reyna, Apollo and Meg on the quest but first, they have the war games. Apollo teaches some campers archery. When Meg and Apollo get back to their room, she cries and apologises for attacking Tarquin. The next day, Lavinia leads Apollo away and shows him that Peaches is rallying the fauns and dryads to attack the emperors. Reyna, Meg and Apollo leave for their quest. They have to hiking for a bit. Apollo asks Reyna to be his girlfriend and she laughs in his face. They climb Sutro Tower, ravens attack, they defeat the ravens and get to the container with the god of silence. Apollo figures out the god is Harpocrates, a hybrid of Greek and Egyptian mythology. Apollo had made fun of Harpocrates when he had been a god. Reyna uses her powers to give Apollo strength to rip the chains. Harpocrates wants to attack but Meg and Reyna show him their memories of Apollo singing about Jason and he stops. The Oracle of Cumae’s remains are with Harpocrates–they had fallen in love with each other. Harpocrates releases his last breath into the jar which Apollo takes.
Apollo, Meg and Reyna hurry back to camp but get stuck in traffic. Also, they get attacked by aeurynomos. Apollo swerved off-road in the car while Reyna was attacking it and they fall to the ground. Apollo remembers only pushing Meg in a shopping cart while Reyna’s dogs, Aurum and Argentum, are guarding her. Lavinia and the fauns and dryads come to the rescue. Lavinia has a plan but won’t tell them what it is. Apollo and Meg rush to Camp Jupiter. They do the summoning ritual with Ella and Tyson, Apollo calling Diana. Nothing happens. Apollo helps fight. Frank asks for two-on-one combat with the emperors. Apollo helps. Frank is annoyed because he had a plan. He tells Apollo to run on his signal. They get the emperors into a tunnel then Frank burns it down, sacrificing himself to take down the Caligula and Commodus. Meg and Apollo rush to the library with Hazel and her horse, Arion. Tarquin is there. Apollo is forced to reveal where the prophecies are because of the scar. Diana arrives on time, heals Apollo and defeats Tarquin. Thalia Grace and the other hunters are also there. Turns out, Lavinia had taken down the fleet just to get her mother’s dancing shoes. Hazel sends Arion to the tunnel and he returns with Frank’s burnt body. He’s alive and survives! Plus, his life doesn’t depend on a piece of wood anymore.
A mass funeral is held for all the dead campers. Thalia talks to Apollo about Jason’s death. Reyna gives up her title as praetor and joins Thalia and the hunters. Hazel is selected to be the praetor and Lavinia becomes the fifth cohort’s centurion. Apollo is given a bow and Meg, a bag of seeds. They go to the bookstore for a prophecy from Ella and then are off on the next bit of their quest.
Plot and Pacing:I was going to give this a 4/5 but after writing that ginormous summary, I really had to give a 5/5. The character development was even more phenomenal than in the last book’s. I had a lot of scares with this book as well. Frank Zhang dying in the tunnel was one of them. I was totally not ready for that. I mean, I know he doesn’t die, he lives (thank the gods!) but we’re left in the dark for, like, ten chapters until Arion brings him back. Rick Riordan’s books are still popular because he keeps with the times. Today, killing off beloved characters is a trend (thanks George R. R. Martin), and I was quite annoyed that Riordan was following this ONE trend that I absolutely HATE. First Jason and now this??? Who’s next? Percy? (I swear, if Percy dies, my whole life is going to turn upside down.)
And then Frank came back and I had never felt so relieved. So that was nice.
I’m not too bothered with the whole Roman emperors coming back, taking over the world blah blah blah thing because I know how it’s going to end: Apollo will defeat all the emperors and become a god again. He’ll remember all the stuff he learnt as a human and become a better god etc. The stuff that I love reading about is all the character development that happens. I love the little bits that are thrown in about random characters. So, for the plot, I’ll say that it was alright–much more interesting than the stuff I’m revising for exams 🙂 –and the pacing is pretty damn fast too. All of this happens in the span of two or three days which is quite insane.
Characters:I absolutely LOVE Reyna. I never realised how much I connected to her until this book. I guess it’s also becauseThe Heroes of Olympus was written a while ago and I barely remember what happened in those books. I always thought Reyna was such an intriguing character. She purposefully ensures that there’s a barrier between the other campers and herself. That barrier is there because of her being praetor and all. I could understand that. When you’re leading something as large as Camp Jupiter, it’s difficult to have friends and, hmmm, romantic relationships. There’s always the issue of not being taken seriously or worse. What sucks is Reyna thought so many boys were the ones for her like Jason and Percy and she got rejected every single time. When Apollo came into the picture, I was PRAYING that they wouldn’t start dating. Uncle Rick has this habit of putting characters together and it’s adorable but it also hurts because you know stuff like that would never happen in real life. I was so glad when Reyna laughed in Apollo’s face.
Honestly, I was so delirious from all the exam revision I had been doing that day that I laughed for five minutes straight when I read Apollo’s proposal. It was romantic but absolutely ridiculous. I also loved that Reyna and Thalia sent each other letters. Uncle Rick immediately puts a stop to the shipping though when he says Thalia is just a friend. I actually quite liked Reyna pointing that out to Apollo when he asked if they were more than friends. It’s annoying that you can’t be good friends with someone, regardless of which gender you identify as, without it being seen as weird or raising questions about whether the relationship is something MORE. For example, there was this time in the twelfth grade where a friend and I were kind of leaning on each other and the next day, I was immediately bombarded with questions by ANOTHER friend about whether the two of us were something more or not.
I’m a bit disappointed that Reyna gave up being the praetor but I guess that’s me being selfish. She needed a bit more life and being a hunter will do that. I knew Hazel was going to be nominated and I think she’ll make an excellent praetor. BUT I can’t help but be slightly annoyed that it’s another couple in power. Why are book characters always so perfect for each other?
I almost forgot the most important bit about Reyna: I absolutely loved how she explained herself to Apollo. She talks about how expectations have always been heaped onto her shoulders and she was just expected to find love and stuff. Wait, I have to get the quote down. It’s only part of it, mind you. I don’t want to type out a whole page.
“But youshowed me. When you proposed dating…” She took a deep breath, her body shaking with silent giggles. “Oh, gods. I saw how ridiculous I’d been. How ridiculous the whole situation was. That’s what healed my heart–being able to laugh at myself again, at my stupid ideas about destiny. That allowed me to break free–just like Frank broke free of his firewood. I don’t need another person to heal my heart. I don’t need a partner…at least, not until and unless I’m ready on my own terms. I don’t need to be force-shipped with anyone or to wear anybody else’s label.”
I really liked that. During my first week of classes, three of my lecturers told the whole class that 80% of medical students end up marrying each other. And ever since, there’s kind of been this pressure to find your match or to at least find your group of friends. I was also caught up in it. My friends and I kept coming back to the subject over and over. Now that the first semester is almost over, I find it hilarious that I was trying to figure out which boy from the lecture hall was going to end up being my husband. I’m thoroughly enjoying my Peter Pan syndrome and refuse to grow up so being able to have those thoughts articulated so perfectly felt nice.
As for Apollo, this book was all about him realising how deep his relationships actually were. There’s a scene where he just hugs Meg and tells her he loves her when she apologises for charging at Tarquin. That was quite heart-touching especially because I was super annoyed at Meg for doing so. His love for her eased my annoyance. Apollo also realises just how much he loves his sister after being separated from her for so long. I’m the last person who’d use the “l-word” on my sister (yuck) but being away from her and being all alone too has made me realise just how much she means to me. I could definitely relate to that. I think I was close to tears when Apollo and Diana finally met. (I say “think” because I finished this book a few days back and I can’t remember clearly because my head is full of microbiology content.) I also really loved all the flashback scenes where he explains how horrible he was as a god and comes to accept that fact. Like the bit with the ravens where they were actually pretty white birds but they brought bad news about a woman cheating on him or something and she was pregnant with their child. He instantly gets attacked by Meg and Reyna about why black was considered bad and how horrible it was that he got his sister to kill the woman. And then Apollo reflects upon the experience and agrees that he was terrible. Those moments of insight were quite nice to read even though they detailed gruesome and dark moments of Greek mythology.
Frank Zhang and his firestick–I’m not entirely sure what happened. Apparently, Frank took control of his destiny and that’s how he survived? I’m just glad he’s alive. He’s become so much more confident and sure of himself since theHoO days. It’s a good look! He’s also adorkable which makes him an even better character. Lavinia was interesting. I loved that Riordan wasn’t subtle at all with her love interest. She is quite clearly into girls and isn’t afraid of voicing it. It was refreshing to have a character so sure of who she preferred.
I’m looking forward to seeing more Thalia. I’d love to have a short stories collection or something about her and the hunters especially now that Reyna has joined the gang.
Writing Style:I needed Riordan’s writing. I needed something light and funny yet deep and poignant at the same time. I also LOVED the references! There’s a reference to Wakanda fromBlack Panther and another to Quentin Tarantino’s films (which I have now become familiar with thanks to a friend from uni). I loved the one-liners and I loved Apollo’s stream of consciousness. I still think the villains and monsters sound very similar to each other and they’re characterised as being so incredibly childish that it’s hard to take them seriously. I keep forgetting that they are indeed capable of actually injuring our heroes. Other than that, gosh, I didn’t realise how much I missed middle-grade/YA fiction until I finished this.
