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A review by katymul
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
One of the best parts of my Riordanverse re-read project is seeing that each book of the Heroes of Olympus series seems to be a feint of one sort or another. The Lost Hero offers Jason as a pretend-new-protagonist so that we won't resent Leo for being Percy-like but not OUR PERCY, then Son of Neptune is The Lightning Thief in disguise while introducing a parallel world, and Mark of Athena has the big distraction of the final cliffhanger Do I put that in spoiler tags? and also some of the most romantic moments of the entire Riordanverse to keep us entertained while it does the potentially tedious work of actually setting up the main conflict.
It's kind of amazing that it's not until the third book in a five book series that the actual story gets going, but yes, The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune are both prologues -- doing a great deal of worldbuilding and character introducing work, but Mark of Athena is when the interlocking series of complicated conflicts are actually set up -- and that's not to mention at least nine complex, emotional character arcs that play out over the next three books in shifting, moving ways. How did this book not buckle under the weight of that? But it doesn't. There's plenty that is resolved in the final chapters, and while no one would consider the plot finished with the above-mentioned cliffhanger, it is an emotionally resonant and thematically appropriate ending to the individual volume.
I'm just impressed -- this set up so much and it had enough going on that it didn't all feel like endless set-up and most of the time, despite heavy stakes starting to slide into place it was just...fun...
Well done, Uncle Rick.
It's kind of amazing that it's not until the third book in a five book series that the actual story gets going, but yes, The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune are both prologues -- doing a great deal of worldbuilding and character introducing work, but Mark of Athena is when the interlocking series of complicated conflicts are actually set up -- and that's not to mention at least nine complex, emotional character arcs that play out over the next three books in shifting, moving ways. How did this book not buckle under the weight of that? But it doesn't. There's plenty that is resolved in the final chapters, and while no one would consider the plot finished with the above-mentioned cliffhanger, it is an emotionally resonant and thematically appropriate ending to the individual volume.
I'm just impressed -- this set up so much and it had enough going on that it didn't all feel like endless set-up and most of the time, despite heavy stakes starting to slide into place it was just...fun...
Well done, Uncle Rick.