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Thanks! For everyone who has read it, what does everybody think?
I loved it so much! There's so much I want to talk about but right now all I can think of is how Grover's going to react to this Labyrinth news. "Uh, no man, been there, done that. Can I go back to Palm Springs?"
Hannah wrote: "I loved it so much! There's so much I want to talk about but right now all I can think of is how Grover's going to react to this Labyrinth news. "Uh, no man, been there, done that. Can I go back ..."
The Burning Maze (third book of ToA) is probably going to relate a lot to the Battle of the Labyrinth. I'm really glad that we're going to see Grover in this series. I mean especially since he disappeared in HoO...
It was much different than what I expected. One of the most shocking things was that I thought Meg was not going to be on Apollo's side. I totally thought Artemis, Jason, and Piper were going to be there! We would probably see Jason and Piper in TBM, but I really want to see Artemis in this series! Like before Apollo turns into a god..it'd be really interesting.
Commodus also shocked me! I can't wait to see who the third roman emperor is...
Some things that I liked:
-Apollo's development
-Apollo and Meg's relationship
-The overall DARKNESS in this book
-The vision during the Cave of Trophonius, Zeus and Leto? I want to see more of them in the series. If you add Artemis to that, we have to whole complete family!
-The Hunters
-New characters!
-Other things I can't think of at the moment..
Some things I may have hated:
-Yay! I'm so glad Rick put in those pop culture references! They definitely did not annoy me one bit! But in all seriousness, it did....WHY RICK?! (and I mean, the name Lit?!) *sighs*
-Caleo, I was never a fan of this relationship in the first place. I thought it would be developed more but to me it seems like they can't stand each other. And then at the end...high school! This relationship still annoys me to the very day.
-Deux Ex Machina...and the singing. Seriously?! Why at the last minute, Apollo just gets some of his powers back? I mean it's cool to see signs of his powers but why...And also the singing! How come now singing is like a magical power that can be used to defend against anything! It was used a lot in THO, and now Meg is singing as well!
-The pacing was a little confusing. This was not a big issue, at some parts there was fast pacing which was really the usual format for RR books so I enjoyed that, but at some parts it got really slow and descriptive so I got a little confused.
-Apollo is still very whiny...I'm still waiting that to change, but in another way, it's hilarious.
-Possibly others...
Those are just some of my thoughts. What did everyone think about the character development, plot, and characters? What did you like about it and what did you dislike about it?
Yeah the singing thing is sort of strange. I get why Apollo's kids (and him when he has powers) would have that power, since he's the god of music and all, but I don't really understand why Meg can now use it too.Parts I loved:
-it was sort of random that apollo got that power at the very end, but I liked seeing a god showing their true form; every other time the main character has to close their eyes
-I liked that trophonius was Apollo's son, it really showed how carefree the gods are
-"for millennia, I'd BEEN the crack of dawn. I was tired of it."
-GROVER
-Percy Jackson's #1 rule
-the blemmaye (forget the spelling already lol) were great
-just all of Apollo's connections to people (Emmie, Commodus, Trophonius) because it showed how old he really is
-but also him realizing how much older than him Calypso is
-THALIA
-I liked the balance between Lester's incapabities and Apollo randomly being really helpful with information
-Wayyyy more that I'll remember later
The pop culture references are also getting kind of grating to me...I don't mind a few, but if Rick is having to research things (which I suspect he is) then "dude" is modern enough for me. Also, a lot of it is sort of "outdated" because he began writing the book a year before we read it, and pop culture changes a lot in a few MONTHS.
Hannah wrote: "Yeah the singing thing is sort of strange. I get why Apollo's kids (and him when he has powers) would have that power, since he's the god of music and all, but I don't really understand why Meg can..."I definitely agree with what you said! I really hope the singing comes to play with everybody. I even remember in TDP, there was one part where Apollo and Calypso sing...so it's an overused ability.
Overall, I really liked seeing the POV from a god and not from a demigod. It's really different because Apollo has actually encountered other mythological creatures/gods so it's definitely a different insight.
Yes, the pop culture references really tick me off! Most of the pop culture references are pretty outdated. It'd be kind of funny though to see what kind of research Rick had to do... :)
Should someone also make a Predictions page for the Burning Maze?
I actually loved Leo/Calypso's arc. The way they developed felt so natural and realistic, now I can say I wholeheartedly ship them. I guess we can say we were right when we felt that they'd be along for Apollo's quest temporarily. I agree that I never thought that Meg would come back so easily and so soon. I expected something else...I thought Nero's grip on her would be harder to break. It seems like Apollo and Meg's relationship will form the core of this series.I loved how this book was darker then a lot of Rick's other works. The graphic descriptions of deaths were quite unexpected. But what I loved most was Apollo's flashbacks, especially those set in the Roman Empire. Reading those scenes felt like I was reading a completely different novel, not in a bad way but you'd expect reading something like that in a really good historical novel. Also Commodus and Apollo being lovers, who could've guessed that! And him going back to strangle him in the disguise of a mortal! That was amazing to read. Besides that I expected Calypso and Apollo's beef to be something more specific but it was very vague. I assume it's because he voted for her to be imprisoned for much longer, but then again everyone else did too? I also liked Calypso's complex relationship with Ogygia. On one hand it's her home and on the other hand it's her prison. And finally the next book they'll be off to Camp Jupiter! I admit I expected them to be on there way towards the end of this book, but I guess Rick wants to hold his cards for now.
caramelfeet wrote: "I actually loved Leo/Calypso's arc. The way they developed felt so natural and realistic, now I can say I wholeheartedly ship them. I guess we can say we were right when we felt that they'd be alon..."I thought this book was especially darker than a lot of books Rick has written! I'm still not sure about Calypso and Apollo's arguments. It didn't really say much, I thought in THO, it was mentioned already that Apollo refused to sign the petition for her early leave so this book really didn't mention....I just wanted to know why.
For me, maybe it's just harder for me to like Caleo (probably because I'm pretty biased towards it) but I was glad there were a bunch of arguments unlike another relationship (cough cough Jasper) but I'm not quite sure whether or not I like the relationship. The overall trophonius oracle and Commodus thing was pretty dark for a Middle Grade. I'm glad this book was not everything I expected because it would've been too formulaic. I imagined Meg would have a harder time and I wish we got more of Meg talking to Apollo about escaping Nero's clutches (but she told him to stop every time he wanted a conversation with her).
The Ogygia thing basically has its ups and downs and it really depends on the person. To Apollo, it looks like paradise and he was the person who opposed the petition. To Calypso, the prisoner, Ogygia was a prison.
One thing that really ticked me off in this book was Artemis! I mean she was not in the book and I was kind of disappointed. It seemed that throughout the book Rick was trying to trick us into thinking Artemis was there. There were a couple times (in THO in TDP) where Apollo was like "Oh that's more of my sister's thing" and then there were times in Apollo's narration "You're guessing that's Artemis right? Oh but it isn't!". And then we find out, Artemis couldn't even see Apollo which frustrated me!
But yeah, this is an interesting book.
I agree, I really wanted to see Artemis. I love her and Apollo's dynamic. I'd love to see her reaction to his mortality, and them just being badass twins together (well Apollo would probably be Lestering things up, but you know). I'm hoping we'll get to see her by the end of the series at least.
I expected her to show up too but I guess Apollo's punishment extends to all of the Olympians. It sucks because I really wanted to see his dynamic with Hermes and Dionysus because they are often contrasted and paired together in the myths so it has a lot of potential. Slim chances of it ever happening though.Another thing I really enjoyed reading was the whole mystery surrounding Georgina's biological father. I don't know if this will ever become a plot point but the fact that it made Apollo feel really guilty about his frivolous antics with mortals was a good dose of reality for him. Also his relationships with trophonious and his brother was very intense to read too. Let's hope the books continue in this direction. My only issue was the pacing and the lack of internal logic behind Apollo and his power ups. Something tells me we won't be getting an explanation behind them either. But I will say it was really a good book for it being set in a location in the middle of nowhere. Apologies to people from the Midwest but Indiana is not really a place I would care for. But yeah, the parts of the book were it was set in the past really shone for me.
If this is the last series of the whole greek mythology series then I'll be really disappointed if I don't see some of the Olympians. And not just mentioned or seen at the end when Apollo turns into a god again. I just hope that some of the Olympians try to sneak out and help Apollo. Because I mean...Apollo's relationship to this godly family is probably one of the most relationships that needs to be established here. I mean in the Trophonius cave I know Apollo saw Zeus and Leto and that was cool.I couldn't guess who Georgina's biological father was. I did not expect it to be Apollo. I'm glad he felt some guilt about leaving his children. In THO, I feel like Apollo was experiencing his children's lives and how they lived without him and I guess he felt guilty that he never was a proper father to them. And then in this one, both Trophonius and Georgina were left alone by Apollo and we all know what happened. The Trophonius story was a sad one.
Yes I got annoyed with Apollo's deux ex machina! Believe me, I'm excited to see his powers but like it's an impossible situation and then suddenly he just uses his powers to get through everything. I hope in the next one, there's more strategy and less power but it was definitely cool. I think somewhere it mentioned that Apollo would get his powers back when he felt like he care or protected someone. We don't know why but I think that's it so far.
Omg I haven't read it yet and I'm not sure whether I'm going to, I just feel really lazy (hahah). Do you recommend it?
So I know the book is out now, and some of you have read it. Since I want to keep the predictions thread for this book spoiler-free for those who haven't read it, you can discuss the book here!
How did the book match up to your expectations? Better? Worse? Did what you predict come true? What did you think of the characterisation? How did it compare to the first book?
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SPOILER-FREE FORUM.
I myself haven't read the book yet, because I've got exams right now (which is why I've been fairly inactive recently). In a couple of weeks though I'll read it and come here to discuss it with you guys! In the mean time, enjoy discussing. This thread is probably more for discussing how it went as opposed to how you thought it would, and your reactions to this book. In a short while I'll create a Predictions thread for the third book, and any predictions you have can go there.
I hope this all makes sense :)