The Blood of Olympus

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Title: The Blood of Olympus

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: The Heroes of Olympus, #5

Publisher: Puffin Books

Release Date: October 7th 2014

Rating:

Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen – all of them – and they’re stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood – the blood of Olympus – in order to wake.

The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it “might” be able to stop a war between the two camps.

The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea’s army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

– Blurb courtesy of goodreads.com

This review may contain spoilers for previous book(s) in the series.

My Thoughts On…

…The Plot

“Legion, cuneum formate!” Reyna yelled. “Advance!” Another cheer on Jason’s right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood.
“Greeks!” Percy yelled. “Let’s, um, fight stuff!” They yelled like banshees and charged.
Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. They had no organization whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

The seven demigods have managed to free the Doors of Death, stopping the monsters working for Gaea from overwhelming the demigods. However the real challenge still awaits them in Athens. The giants plan to wake Gaea during the Feast of Spes, and it is down to Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel and Leo to stop them and keep Gaea asleep.

The closer they get though the harder their journey becomes, and with the prophecy foretelling one of their deaths echoing in their minds it isn’t just defeating Gaea that becomes a priority for the seven. As the Argo II sails towards Athens they seek help from Nike, Artemis and Apollo along the way, and learn of a “Physician’s Cure” which has the power to save the dead.

“My son, what you are attempting – shadow-travel across the world, carrying the statue of Athena – it may well destroy you.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”

Meanwhile Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge have their own quest to complete before the Feast of Spes. The three of them are on their way back to Camp Half-Blood with the Athena Parthenos, shadow-travelling halfway across the world with a forty-foot statue hoping it will unite the Greek and Roman demigods before they declare war on one another. However with a giant hunting them down, nursing a personal grudge, and Nico pushing himself further than he should the outcome of their quest seems bleak.

However individual their quests may seem, one way or another, the battle against Gaea will come to a head at Camp Half-Blood.

As the last book in this second series there was a lot to tie up. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank and Leo have already faced a lot of challenges, both individually and as a team, but now they face their greatest one yet. They are on a tight schedule to stop Gaea and save Camp Half-Blood before Octavian and the Romans destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to save. The Blood of Olympus is fast-paced, addictive, terrifying, suspenseful, and all in all an amazing book. None of the demigods are safe, all of them know what they are risking but there just isn’t another choice.

…The Characters

“There are too many of them.” Reyna wondered bitterly how many times she’d said that in her demigod career.
She should have a badge made and wear it around to save time. When she died, the words would probably be written on her tombstone: There were too many of them.

Reyna hasn’t been a character we’ve learnt much about in the first four books. She is loyal to New Rome, the perfect Praetor despite bending the rules where required. However in The Blood of Olympus we see another side of her. We learn about her history with her sister, the queen of the Amazons; what led them both to Circe’s island and what happened when they were children that still haunts Reyna today. Despite putting forwards a tough persona Reyna is vulnerable at times, she has her doubts and her fears that can seem overwhelming when the people she loves are in danger.

Together with Coach Hedge and Nico Reyna travels halfway across the world, and as such they learn more about one another. Nico’s character development is continued, and we see more and more of the turmoil the son of Hades faces every day. However we also see his strength as he pushes himself further than he should to bring the Athena Parthenos home again. Coach Hedge is still brash and full of rage, but he’s determined to return home to see his wife and child, and determined to do everything he can to protect Reyna and Nico.

“Commander Tool Belt” Jason said.
“Bad Boy Supreme” Piper said.
“Chef Leo the Tofu Taco Expert.”

Leo has always been the quick thinker. The guy on the ship with the sharp, thought slightly annoying, sense of humour, the one who can be relied on to lighten to mood with a cheesy joke or remark. However ever since Leo returned from Ogygia he’s been different. He’s left someone important behind and his promise to Calypso weights on him as he works out a way to do the impossible. Leo has always stood by his friends but in this book, learning one of them will die, he becomes even more determined to come up with a plan to save everyone he cares about.

“Some pain shouldn’t be wished away so easily. It had to be dealt with, even embraced. Without the agony of the last few months, Piper never would have found her best friends, Hazel and Annabeth. She never would’ve discovered her own courage.”

Piper, as the daughter of Aphrodite, is often overlooked by the monsters they face but they learn before long that is a deadly mistake. Piper is different from the rest of her friends; she doesn’t always have a plan but she understands her instincts better than anything and uses them to lead her in the right direction, usually coming out on top. Piper wants to believe the “Physician’s Cure” will work, that all seven demigods will survive. She trusts in things she has no concrete evidence of, believing what her gut tells her over what her mind knows.

“The whole crew sat on the deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple.”

After all they’ve been through the seven have become a well oiled machine. They know how to work with one another to defeat any foe they come up against, know how to use each other’s strengths to their best ability and know the best team to get the job done. There is no divide of Greek or Roman between them anymore, even the rivalries the Gods have that are passed down to their children no longer seem to apply. They have reached a stage where they easily trust one another, with their lives and with the fate of the world, with no words needing to be spoken between them.

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If The Heroes of Olympus series is amazing then The Blood of Olympus is without words. The whole series has been nonstop action and danger but it all comes to an epic conclusion in this last book, with everything the heroes faced before a practise run compared to fighting Gaea. However the end is in sight for the seven demigods, and win or lose they need to finally come head to head with Gaea. This was an amazing series, and I can’t believe I waited a year to pick it up.

What did you think of The Blood of Olympus? Was it a favourite of yours or could you just not get into the story? Let me know.