Rick Riordan's The Last Olympian is being released today! I got a copy of it through undisclosed, surreptious means, so was able to read it over the weekend. I'll try not to spoil it for anyone.Percy has known that he will have to fight Kronos eventually, and everyone at Camp Half-Blood has been preparing for this. When Percy finds out that the Princess Andromeda is headed toward New York City, he knows that the battle has begun.
From the start, the victories of the battle are Pyrrhic. Percy thwarts the boat, but at the cost of a friend. He has disturbing dreams, and finds out background information about some of the characters that is rather sad. While the action packed battle scenes were engrossing, and the humor as present as always, I thought that this background information was the best part. It made the characters seem more real, and their motivations more understandable.
Preparing for the battle takes up the entire book, because aligning everyone takes time. There are a lot of surprises along the way-- nothing we couldn't see coming, but still fresh and innovative. Nico is tricked by his father, Grover is triumphant, Rachel ends up making an unusual decision, and Percy is heroic in a way that he is not expecting, and when he is granted one wish by the gods, he uses it for a greater good.
This is billed as the final book in this series, but there I get the feeling there may other series. I read this one slowly, putting it down frequently, because I just didn't want it to end. If it does, five books is a nice run. If there are others, I will certainly have readers for them, and I will be happy because I am not quite ready to let Percy go! What a wonderful series.
For a video quiz read by Mr. Riordan, go here:
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