#87 The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
The review has spoilers for previous books in the Percy Jackson series, but no spoilers for The Battle of the Labyrinth.
Percy Jackson's already dangerous world is getting a lot more dangerous. The titan lord Kronos is about to rise. Luke has gathered an army and plans on striking Camp Half-Blood by a secret passage through the Labyrinth. Percy and his friends will do anything to stop him, even if that means venturing into the twisted paths of the Labyrinth themselves.
The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth volume in the series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It is also my favorite so far. I found the story in The Battle of The Labyrinth to be far less predictable than previous volumes. There was even a moment that genuinely shocked me. Another issue I had with older books in the series was the somewhat heavy handed way that Riordan handed character development. This is something else that has been improved upon greatly. I have become quite attached to certain characters, and really enjoyed watching them grow in this book. I particularly enjoyed the way that Riordan handled Percy's romantic awakening. Percy is starting to grow up in this volume, but he's still a kid in many ways. He realizes that the way he feels about certain female characters is changing, but the whole situation confuses him more than anything else. This felt like a very realistic viewpoint for a fourteen year old boy.
One thing I noticed about The Battle of the Labyrinth is it's the first book in this series that feels like a young adult book for me. This is partially due to the new romantic subplots, but main reason is the aura of great danger the permeates the novel. It's true that The Titan's Curse had it's darker moments, but they were often lightened up with humor. This is not usually the case with The Battle of the Labyrinth. As Kronos prepares to rise, Percy's world is becoming a lot more complex and dangerous. As a result, the reader doesn't always feel as if everything will end up happily ever after. I am curious about how this trend will continue in the final volume.
The Battle of the Labyrinth is filled with great humor, awkward adolescent romance, and the most epic action sequences seen so far in this series. Since The Sea of Monsters, I have been experiencing the Percy Jackson Series as audiobooks. Although I sometimes feel that narrator, Jesse Bernstein, can be a little too cartoon-ish, I have to admire the passion he puts into his voice acting. I look forward to seeing how Riordan will finish up this fantasy series with The Last Olympian.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: I was listening to the audiobook, but the print version is 361 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenges: This book is not part of any challenges
Similar book: Eion Colfer's Artemis Fowl Series and The Harry Potter Series ( read my reviews)
Other books I've read by this author: The Lightning Thief ( my review), The Sea of Monsters ( my revivew), and The Titan's Curse ( my review)
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
Percy Jackson's already dangerous world is getting a lot more dangerous. The titan lord Kronos is about to rise. Luke has gathered an army and plans on striking Camp Half-Blood by a secret passage through the Labyrinth. Percy and his friends will do anything to stop him, even if that means venturing into the twisted paths of the Labyrinth themselves.
The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth volume in the series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It is also my favorite so far. I found the story in The Battle of The Labyrinth to be far less predictable than previous volumes. There was even a moment that genuinely shocked me. Another issue I had with older books in the series was the somewhat heavy handed way that Riordan handed character development. This is something else that has been improved upon greatly. I have become quite attached to certain characters, and really enjoyed watching them grow in this book. I particularly enjoyed the way that Riordan handled Percy's romantic awakening. Percy is starting to grow up in this volume, but he's still a kid in many ways. He realizes that the way he feels about certain female characters is changing, but the whole situation confuses him more than anything else. This felt like a very realistic viewpoint for a fourteen year old boy.
One thing I noticed about The Battle of the Labyrinth is it's the first book in this series that feels like a young adult book for me. This is partially due to the new romantic subplots, but main reason is the aura of great danger the permeates the novel. It's true that The Titan's Curse had it's darker moments, but they were often lightened up with humor. This is not usually the case with The Battle of the Labyrinth. As Kronos prepares to rise, Percy's world is becoming a lot more complex and dangerous. As a result, the reader doesn't always feel as if everything will end up happily ever after. I am curious about how this trend will continue in the final volume.
The Battle of the Labyrinth is filled with great humor, awkward adolescent romance, and the most epic action sequences seen so far in this series. Since The Sea of Monsters, I have been experiencing the Percy Jackson Series as audiobooks. Although I sometimes feel that narrator, Jesse Bernstein, can be a little too cartoon-ish, I have to admire the passion he puts into his voice acting. I look forward to seeing how Riordan will finish up this fantasy series with The Last Olympian.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: I was listening to the audiobook, but the print version is 361 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenges: This book is not part of any challenges
Similar book: Eion Colfer's Artemis Fowl Series and The Harry Potter Series ( read my reviews)
Other books I've read by this author: The Lightning Thief ( my review), The Sea of Monsters ( my revivew), and The Titan's Curse ( my review)
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads