The Burning Maze: The Trials of Apollo, Book 3

Having recently read Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series, I decided to tackle his Trials of Apollo series (which includes The Hidden Oracle, The Dark Prophecy, The Burning Maze, The Tyrant’s Tomb, and The Tower of Nero) and found it just as enjoyable.Zeus blames Apollo for the happenings that occur previously in the Heroes of Olympus series and, to punish his son, drops him literally into a garbage dumpster in New York City—sans his immortality and godly powers—with a junior driver’s license proclaiming him to be Lester Papadopoulos. He’s got to survive as a flabby, sixteen-year-old boy with pimples until he can convince his dad to allow Apollo to return to Olympus. A mortal Apollo has plenty of enemies who’d like to see him dead, including former friends, enemies, and lovers such as Caligula, Nero, and Commodus as well as his ancient enemy, Python. He teams up with Meg, a daughter of Demeter and step-daughter of Nero, who claims Apollo as his slave.As always, Riordan is witty, often laugh-out-loud funny as he blends pop culture (Apollo apparently knew and influenced everyone from jazz musicians to rock-and-rollers) with twists on Greek and Roman mythology. He also does a bang-up job giving Apollo, who starts out as a typical arrogant, egotistical god with a superiority complex, a delightful character arc as he becomes more human, more tolerant, more caring. The book is a rousing, rollicking adventure with a great message for youngsters. I have previously credited Riordan’s writing for triggering my son’s love of reading, and that certainly would apply to this series—except that he’s now an adult reading Star Wars books ad nauseum.

Apollo and his friends are still seeking to restore the Oracles. After his demigod companion Meg receives the Dark Prophecy, Apollo and Meg find themselves guided by the satyr Grover through the mysterious burning maze in the Southwest US. Apollo must face the worst of the emperors yet and find a way to save his new dryad friends. He is starting to realize just who Meg is and how crucial she is to this quest. Readers also reunite with demigod friends from previous series. Another great addition to the Trials of Apollo series with fantastic narration. Highly recommend to middle grades readers.

We get to see Apolllo aka Lester really see what being human is all about! It’s wonderful to see characters from the other series. A great ride just keeps getting better!

This book was slower than the first two books in this series and took me a while to get through. Like many other third books in a five-book series, the book spent most of the plot setting up the rest of the series and was slower because of this. The plot focused on finding the next big prophecy and set up issues that would complicate the poor demigods' lives in the next two books. But even though most of the book was slow, the ending was very dramatic and emotional. The end of the book drew me right back into the series and made me look forward to reading the next books of the series. Overall, it was a slower but still very enjoyable read!

I absolutely adored this book. I have a few questions though. SPOILER ALERT. In The Blood of Olympus, Jason sees his future. It shows him, living, with Piper, talking to his grandchildren. This scene is impossible, as we now know, because, first, Jason dies. Wouldn't Jason see this? Why didn't he? Is it because the future Jason saw was only one of the many outcomes of his life? Secondly, he and Piper break up, which is a blow to everyone, and Piper moves away, which means that they probably wouldn't have gotten back together. It is difficult to hold a long distance relashionship together, especially when it was ended on awkward or unfriendly terms. It is possible that Piper would've moved back to LA, but it is unlikely. LA represents the place that her dad's job fell apart. It represents the fame and money that once surrounded her, and which kept her and her dad apart. It represents everything about being a celebrity she despised. This is all assumed under the pretense that Jason's destiny is altered.The series is extremely well written and I admire Rick Riordan greatly. This is the first book Rick Riordan has written that holds great tragedy, except perhaps the Titan's Curse and the Last Olympian. I mean real tragedy, not a resurrection, such as Leo or Frank's death. It is the first book that has a major protagonist's death. I view Jason's death as so much worse and personal then any other death, perhaps because I have gotten to know him so well. Better then Zoe, Ethan, Silena, Beckendorf, Bianca, Michael, Lee, and Luke anyhow. If you are a true fan, you will understand who and what I mean. In my opinion, the death of Crest the pandai, while distressing, is not worth shedding tears over. The character was frankly, annoying. I was not a fan. If you were, I mean you no hate for liking him.I would also like to point out some neat foreshadowing I noticed. In the Last Olympian, Grover recieves a distress message from a satyr who fought a giant badger in Toronto. The note was signed "Gleeson Hedge, protector". Hint, hint. Another time, Annabeth tells Percy she's having a family emergency in Boston. Clearly she's referring to the time when she learned that Magnus was homeless from their Uncle Randolph. She expresses her frustration at being kept in the dark to her father as Magnus is eavesdropping on them, trying to find out why someone is looking for him. In the Last Olympian, when Percy warns the camp counselors that they have a spy in the camp, Silena Beauregard is racked by fresh sobs. The other counselors attribute this to the fact that she has just lost her boyfriend, Charles Beckendorf, which is true, but she is distraught mainly because she is the spy and she knows that it is her fault Beckendorf was killed. There is much more to discuss, but I am going to refrain from keeping you here for hours.One last thing I noticed is that each of the books have two main obstacles to overcome. In the Burning Maze they had to get the shoes from Caligula's boat and they had to free the oracle. If you compare this theory with every book in the Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo series, I am sure you would find that it holds true. On that note, let me bid you all farewell and goodnight. Or good morning. Or good aternoon.

Great Birthday Gift

This book was an amazing read, Apollo was a hilarious narrator and Meg's responses were also hilarious.Although I have a two choice words if like to say to Rick about Jason's death. Which I will not share as kids may read these reviews.

Good to read, recommended for 12+ age children's

Compré este libro de rebaja y ha llegado perfecto

Muito bom, comecei a coleção do universo Percy Jackson em inglês pra treinar vocabulário. Cada livro é único mas ainda mantém a essência Rick Riordan e Percy Jackson. Minha única observação é que essa versão é menor de todos os outros livros da saga (é uma reimpressão) e eu não me atentei a isso pois achei que só havia uma versão dos livros. Então pra quem quer fazer a coleção uniforme, minha dica é sempre se atentar as dimensões do livro e se tem escrito "edição de reimpressão" algo do tipo. Havia comprado o quarto livro no lançamento e os 3 primeiros agora. Os 3 primeiros vieram menores e com um tipo de folhas acizentado.