The Burning Maze (Book #3 of The Trials of Apollo) by Rick Riordan

Synopsis :

The formerly glorious god Apollo, cast down to earth in punishment by Zeus, is now an awkward mortal teenager named Lester Papadopoulos. In order to regain his place on Mount Olympus, Lester must restore five Oracles that have gone dark. But he has to achieve this impossible task without having any godly powers and while being duty-bound to a confounding young daughter of Demeter named Meg. Thanks a lot, Dad.

With the help of some demigod friends, Lester managed to survive his first two trials, one at Camp Half-Blood, and one in Indianapolis, where Meg received the Dark Prophecy. The words she uttered while seated on the Throne of Memory revealed that an evil triumvirate of Roman emperors plans to attack Camp Jupiter. While Leo flies ahead on Festus to warn the Roman camp, Lester and Meg must go through the Labyrinth to find the third emperor—and an Oracle who speaks in word puzzles—somewhere in the American Southwest. There is one glimmer of hope in the gloom-filled prophecy: The cloven guide alone the way does know. They will have a satyr companion, and Meg knows just who to call upon. 


This is what I say :

Are you tired of the demigod series?  If you are, my apologies and let me assure you that this would be the last post on the demigod series that I am hooked on started from Heroes of Olympus to Trials of Apollo for the time being.

The next book is the series is entitled The Tyrant's Tomb.  I don't think I will be reading it anytime soon as I am not able to locate a copy as yet.  

I enjoyed The Burning Maze.  The reason could be due to some earlier characters from the Heroes of Olympus Series are also prominently featured in The Burning Maze but it was also rather sad as a demigod hero died and he is one of the main character in the demigod universe.

Apollo has also grown as a human and has shed some of his annoying condescending attitude from the first two book in the series. He is certainly more likable now.  

I think things would pick up in the forth book in the series with Apollo heading to the Jupiter Camp and in search of a tomb.  I hope it won't be years till I read The Tyrant's Tomb.

The Dark Prophecy (Book #2 of The Trials of Apollo) by Rick Riordan

Synopsis :

Go west. Capture Apollo before he can find the next oracle.
If you cannot bring him to me alive, kill him. 

Those were the orders my old enemy Nero had given to Meg McCaffrey. But why would an ancient Roman emperor zero in on Indianapolis? And now that I have made it here (still in the embarrassing form of Lester Papadopoulos), where is Meg?

Meg, my demigod master, is a cantankerous street urchin. She betrayed me to Nero back at Camp Half-Blood. And while I'm mortal, she can order me to do anything . . . even kill myself. Despite all this, if I have a chance of prying her away from her villainous stepfather, I have to try.

But I'm new at this heroic-quest business, and my father, Zeus, stripped me of all my godly powers. Oh, the indignities and pain I have already suffered! Untold humiliation, impossible time limits, life-threatening danger . . . Shouldn't there be a reward at the end of each completed task? Not just more deadly quests?

I vow that if I ever regain my godhood, I will never again send a poor mortal on a quest. Unless it is really important. And unless I am sure the mortal can handle it. And unless I am pressed for time . . . or I really just don't feel like doing it myself. I will be much kinder and more generous than everyone is being to me—especially that sorceress Calypso. What does Leo see in her, anyway?


This is what I say :

Please bear with me as I go through this phase of demigods series in the universe of Percy Jackson and the rest of the Heroes of Olympus.  I am sure I will be over them shortly and move on to other genre in times to come. *fingers crossed*

The Dark Prophecy is the second book of the Trials of Apollo with The Hidden Oracle being the first book.  If you are not familiar with the Percy Jackson's universe of demigods, I really do not know if you will enjoy this series.  There are many references of people and incidents made on the previous series so you might find it confusing?  Or perhaps not as the story itself and the way the author writes are quite engaging.

However, if you have not read the first book of the series, then there's no point to read the rest as the stories are connected and needs to be read in the sequence of the books.

I enjoyed The Dark Prophecy better than The Hidden Oracle.  While The Hidden Oracle was good, I would say The Dark Prophecy is better. It's more engaging, captivating, funny and generally has more excitement.  Apollo still feels sorry for himself but at lease he moans less about being mortal than in the first book.  He also exercised his 'godly' power when situations call for it.  I think he has come to terms with his fate thus far.

There are new characters introduced in The Dark Prophecy and they are worth characters which might have their own spin-off in the future especially someone from a totally different godly parentage (like from the African nations) which is something to keep an eye on in the future.

Anyway, the next book/title is The Burning Maze and it won't be long before my review is up. :)

The Hidden Oracle (Book #1 of The Trials of Apollo) by Rick Riordan

Synopsis :

How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood. 


This is what I say :


Right after The Blood of Olympus, I was every so ready for another Olympus adventure and lo and behold, I discovered that Rick Riordan wrote another series which takes place right after The Blood of Olympus. And not only it's a new series (new to me as I wasn't aware of it's existence), there's  already three books to this series of five books and book number four is being released as at the moment.

The Trials of Apollo is all about who else but Apollo.  In the Blood of Olympus, it was mentioned that Zeus hold Apollo responsible for the demigod's quests (The Heroes of Olympus Series) and The Trials of Apollo scribed the punishment Zeus inflicted on Apollo. He turned Apollo into a mortal (not a demigod but a mortal).

The Hidden Oracle is the first book of the series. It's a very easy and light and amusing read.  If you are expecting the usual heroes to make their appearances, you will be disappointed as they are off and out in the world doing mortal stuff like going to colleges/universities and sitting for exams.  Percy did make an appearance for a short while towards the early chapters and there's mentioned of the demigods' names here and there but other than Nico and Will, the rest of the demigods are not the main ones that readers are used to.  

The fate of Leo was mentioned was well.  

And of course, there's a new demigod heroine introduced.

All in all, I enjoyed The Hidden Oracle and can't wait for the second title, The Dark Prophecy.

The Blood of Olympus (Book #5 of Heroes Of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan

Synopsis :

Nico had warned them. Going through the House of Hades would stir the demigods' worst memories. Their ghosts would become restless. Nico may actually become a ghost if he has to shadow-travel with Reyna and Coach Hedge one more time. But that might be better than the alternative: allowing someone else to die, as Hades foretold.

Jason's ghost is his mother, who abandoned him when he was little. He may not know how he is going to prove himself as a leader, but he does know that he will not break promises like she did. He will complete his line of the prophecy: To storm or fire the world must fall.

Reyna fears the ghosts of her ancestors, who radiate anger. But she can't allow them to distract her from getting the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood before war breaks out between the Romans and Greeks. Will she have enough strength to succeed, especially with a deadly hunter on her trail?

Leo fears that his plan won't work, that his friends might interfere. But there is no other way. All of them know that one of the Seven has to die in order to defeat Gaea, the Earth Mother.

Piper must learn to give herself over to fear. Only then will she be able to do her part at the end: utter a single word.

Heroes, gods, and monsters all have a role to play in the climactic fulfillment of the prophecy in The Blood of Olympus, the electrifying finale of the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.


This is what I say :

Finally it's over.  Finally, I have read all five books under the Heroes of Olympus Series and with that, a reading marathon that was started a few years back is now completed.  This series took me four years to complete as I wasn't able to get hold of the forth and fifth title after reading the first three and it was only recently that I managed to do just that (get hold of book 4 and book 5).

So, how was The Blood of Olympus? Being the fifth and final title of the series?   Saying I like it doesn't seems to be enough.  It was olympic in a way but at the same time there's a dull buzz too.  I guess it's all about managing expectations.

While book four has more content on Percy, book five has less.  In fact, he wasn't really being mentioned at all during the final battle with Gaea.  Nico certainly takes centre stage and so is Piper and Jason.  

There's more about Reyna too but to me book five is a lot about Nico and in a way, that's good as Nico has also being the underated hero and it's good that he finally found a pace to call home.

I am happy to end this olympic journey with the heroes.

The House of Hades (Book #4 of Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan

Synopsis :

Hazel stands at a crossroads. 
She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reincarnated in the mortal world. Whichever road they decide to take, they have to hurry, because time is running out. Gaea, the bloodthirsty Earth Mother, has set the date of August 1 for her rise to power.

Annabeth and Percy are overwhelmed. 
How will the two of them make it through Tartarus? Starving, thirsty, and in pain, they are barely able to stumble on in the dark and poisonous landscape that holds new horrors at every turn. They have no way of locating the Doors of Death. Even if they did, a legion of Gaea's strongest monsters guards the Doors on the Tartarus side. Annabeth and Percy can't exactly launch a frontal assault.

Despite the terrible odds, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and the other demigods of the prophecy know that there is only one choice: to attempt the impossible. Not just for themselves, but for everyone they love. Even though love can be the riskiest choice of all.


This is what I say :

This is book number 4 in the Heroes of Olympus Series as written by Rick Riordan.  It's been over four years since I read book #1 to #3 of this series.  I wasn't able to get hold of book #4 and #5 but then I wasn't seriously on a look out for them as well

I wasn't able to even get hold of an online copy at that time.  It was out of curiosity that I tried to search for an online copy recently and to my surprise, I managed to find one almost immediately, and not just book #4 but book #5 too.

Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult to get connected with the characters even after an absence of so many years.  I still remember quite clearly what happened to Annabeth and Percy at the end of The Mark of Athena and I was very keen to continue with them their adventure in Tartarus.

Such, book number four, The House of Hades is all about Annabeth and Percy while in Tartarus and the rest of the crew on-board the Argo II trying to make their rendezvous with Annabeth and Percy at the Doors of Death and the adventures each of them go through in order to make this meeting possible.

Can I describe that reading this copy is like having a coffee with a good friend that I have not seen for quite a while?  It was a good read and perhaps even better as the heroes shared their journey, their fear and their acceptance of the challenges ahead. Most of all, it's nice to read about close friendship and comradeship among these youngsters. 

I have started on book #5 so can't wait to share with you on The Blood of Olympus.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Synopsis :

Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings.  With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. 

Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri's The Inferno. 


This is what I say :

Other than the latest title, Origin, I have read all of Dan Brown's books, of course, with Da Vinci Code being my favourite as it was the first book of such nature that I read and it was very new then.  

However, I just realized that I have not reviewed the earlier titles as I must have read it way before I started this blog and the only title I have was The Lost Symbol which I read about eight years ago.  I didn't like The Last Symbol and I think it's one of his most weakest tittle but I quite like Inferno.  

Again, Inferno has Robert Langdon running all over a few cities/countries like Florence, Vienna and Istanbul, trying to solve a puzzle and it won't be a Dan Brown thriller if there's no one chasing after him.  This time round, it's the WHO and another secret private organisation.

It would not be a Robert Langdon if readers were not introduced to some of the great art, monuments and sculptures like the St Mark's Basilica, Palazzo Vecchio, Hagai Sophia Museum, Basilica Cistern, etc Places that I can only visit in the books.

After reading the book, I actually decided to watch the movie which stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon just to see the beautiful art and monuments mentioned in the book. I won't know how accurate the movie portrays these places unless I visit them one of these days :)

I have read as an e-book and I have the e-version of Origin with me too which I shall be reading next.