Every time I read a book in the Percy Jackson series it becomes my favorite.
This one had wonderful moments in it, starting with the battle Percy has with monsters resembling cheerleaders. He is going to yet another new school, poor Percy, when he is attacked by empousa. It was great to see Rachel Elizabeth Dare again and to find out about her.
Another moment I enjoyed in this book is Hera interacting with half bloods.
My favorite new character moment was the introduction of Janus the Roman God of two faces.
The interpretation of the labyrinth from the myth of Jason was wonderful and I loved how they found the way to navigate through.
It was great that two strong female characters Annabeth and Rachel took center stage in the action in this book. I just hope the jealousy that the writer has started does not go on too long.
Calypso's introduction was the best I hope we see of this punished Titan.
Another great moment is the gang using wings from the Icarus tale and it plays wonderfully for the reveal of who Daedalus is at the end.
I cried at the death of Pan for myself and also for Grover who had searched for so long.
I loved that Nico finally chose a side he is becoming one of my favorites.
The great battle at the end was incredible. All the great moments and then the arrival of the Hundred Handed One, and Grover's amazing new power.
So many incredible moments in this book and it sets up so much to come in the final.
I know I can not mention everything I love about this book but I hope I said enough to indicate how great it is. 9780141321271 My fifth grader has read all the Harry Potter books but often spends his time reading graphic novels which are, in my opinion, of questionable literary value. I'm not complaining I mean he does read so there's that, but I was very pleased that he started on these and is reading through them on his own. He says they are not as good as Harry Potter (I mean, it is a high bar) but he does really like them and they seem interesting and don't have any questionable material that you wouldn't want your fifth grader reading. Overall very pleased. 9780141321271 My 11 yr old daughter loves this series and asked me to read it with her. I found myself reluctantly enjoying these books. I like the hidden morality lessons and the mythological component, which has inspired her to learn about the Greek gods independently. There is a romantic component between the characters which I could do without, but it's all PG and nothing too hot and heavy. Violence is a component of the books but it is limited and not graphic at all. 9780141321271 Well, this book was definitely a penultimate book. I think it ranks #4 of the 5 books in this series for me, mainly due to so much of it feeling like build up to what’s coming in the last book.
The characters were all great and consistent to themselves which is always important, and there was nothing inherently wrong in the plot of this book but it just failed to launch for me. There wasn’t really any stakes or any moments I didn’t feel like things weren’t just being prepared for The Last Olympian.
I do wish Riordan would slow his writing down though. I’m fully aware this is a middle grade book but that doesn’t mean you have to skimp in detail. There was such little detail a lot of the time in favor of skipping from one thing to the next to the next. It doesn’t ruin the story by any means but it sure does make it feel shallow than necessary.
Those are really my two main gripes. I think the Percy Jackson series is incredibly fun though, and I can’t wait to see where it’s going in the final book. 3 stars. 9780141321271 MY RATING SYSTEM
5 stars WOW
4 stars would read again
3 stars was good, won't read again
2 stars read it, but didn't enjoy it
1 star didn't finish, it was so awful
Do I need to read books before this one: yes
Cliffhanger: no
SUMMARY
Orientation for freshmen is in June. Mom's boyfriend, Mr Blofis, got Percy into his school. There Percy bumps into Rachel, the mortal who sees through Mist. Rachel sees the cheerleaders, who are really empousas, tells Percy to run. In the band room, he tells her the truth about Olympus, and she's relieved because of everything she's seen. 2 cheerleaders set the school on fire and Mr Blofis thinks it was Percy. Annabeth is angry because she and Percy were going to go to a movie before going to camp, and she saw him with Rachel.
At camp, Percy goes to archery, sees the biggest hellhound ever. The new sword teacher, Quintus, introduces Mrs O'Leary. Quintus is helping while Mr D is away.
The Council of Cloven Elders give Grover 1 week to find Pan. Grover's got a girlfriend, a dryad, Juniper. Tyson's at camp, too. Percy tells him Nico is the son of Hades; Tyson knows that means the Titans could use him for the prophecy.
Percy receives an Iris message that shows Nico burning his game cards. Someone tells Nico he can exchange a soul for a soul to bring Bianca back.
Grover and Percy talk about the Labyrinth. Clarisse found Chris Rodriguez, who'd joined the Titans, mumbling about string; he's going mad from the monsters and traps there. They think Luke is going to use the Labyrinth to attack the camp. Annabeth says the Labyrinth may be where Pan is hiding. Grover, “Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!” “But,” Annabeth said, “the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, to trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work for you—” “It could lead you to the wild god.”
Playing a camp battle, Percy and Annabeth find the entrance to the Labyrinth. That night, Percy dreams of Daedalus.
EVALUATION
I love this series for making Greek myths accessible by making them current, showing humans fight the same battles no matter who or when or where.
Relationships the theme of this book: Peer, romantic, family, faith. I like that Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel have some relationship issues, and, because it's all from Percy's point of view, it's not full of angst and multiple reviews of the dialog.
The absolute best part is the criticism of current education policies.
RECOMMENDATION
Everyone following Percy's journey. This is good stuff.
FAVORITE QUOTES
[offering Coke and Happy Meals to the dead] Ghost, “In my day, we used animal blood. It’s perfectly good enough. They can’t taste the difference.” Nico, “I will treat them with respect.” Ghost, “At least let me keep the toy.”
[running through Alcatraz] The last thing I saw was Tyson picking up a Dippin’ Dots stand and throwing it at Kampê. Ice cream and poison exploded everywhere, all the little snakes in Kampê’s hair dotted with tutti frutti. [little later] She was plastered in ice cream and T shirts. One of the bear heads on her waist was now wearing a pair of crooked plastic Alcatraz sunglasses.
Hephaestus: “It isn’t easy being a brilliant inventor. Always alone. Always misunderstood. Easy to turn bitter, make horrible mistakes. People are difficult to work with than machines. Daedalus started well enough. He helped the Princess Ariadne and Theseus because he felt sorry for them. He tried to do a good deed. And everything in his life went bad because of it. Was that fair?” The god shrugged. “I don’t know if Daedalus will help you, lad, but don’t judge someone until you’ve stood at his forge and worked with his hammer, eh?”
“I can’t get him to clean his room, but he’ll clean a hundred tons of horse manure out of some monster’s stables?”
Sphinx, “Welcome, lucky contestants! Get ready to play…ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!” Canned applause. “Fabulous prizes! Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?” Annabeth, “Ask your riddle.” “20 riddles, actually!” “What? But back in the old days—” “Oh, we’ve raised our standards! To pass, you must show proficiency in all 20. Isn’t that great?” Applause. “What…is the capital of Bulgaria?” “Sofia, but—” “Correct!” Applause. “Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a number 2 pencil. Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle. If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers. Now, next question—” [Q&A] “Hold up! It’s just a bunch of dumb, random facts. Riddles are supposed to make you think.” “Think? How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That’s ridiculous!”
POSSIBLE TRIGGERS
Sex: kiss
Language: 0 F words, 1 Lord's name in vain, 0 S words
Violence: fights with myths, deaths 9780141321271
Coming soon to Disney+!
Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth exciting adventure in Rick Riordans bestselling series.
Half Boy. Half God. ALL Hero.
Honestly, blowing up another school was the last thing I wanted to do.
As the son of a Greek God, Ive had my share of near death disaster and now my arch enemy Luke wants to invade our camp via an ancient labyrinth.
If he succeeds, thousands of bloodthirsty monsters will attack. So its goodbye sunshine, hello darkness as four of us descend into the terrifying underground and beyond.
Riordan takes the reader back to the stories we love; then shakes the cobwebs out of them Eoin Colfer
Witty and inspired. Gripping, touching and deliciously satirical The Times
Puns, jokes and subtle wit, alongside a gripping storyline Telegraph
Perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats New York Times
Its Buffy meets Artemis Fowl. Thumbs up Sunday Times
Funny. very exciting. but its the storytelling that will get readers hooked. After all, this is the stuff of legends Guardian
Books by Rick Riordan:
The Percy Jackson series:
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse
Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files
The Heroes of Olympus series:
The Lost Hero
The Son Of Neptune
The Mark of Athena
The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Files
The Kane Chronicles series:
The Red Pyramid
The Throne of Fire
The Serpents Shadow
The Magnus Chase series:
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer
Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor
Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead
The Trials of Apollo series:
The Dark Prophecy
The Hidden Oracle
The Burning Maze Battle of the Labyrinth, The (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)
If you've never been charged by an enthusiastic Cyclops wearing a flowered apron and rubber cleaning gloves, I'm telling you, it'll wake you up quick.
I'm going to start of by saying you would never, ever find me in the Labyrinth. That things sound scary. Not so much the monsters you encounter, but the fact it's forever changing and alive in some ways.
I absolutely love this series and this book definitely did not disappoint.
I thought I'd completely called a twist after a certain dream scene of Percys and was all chuffed with myself then was absolutely gobsmacked when the actual twist turned out to be even impressive.
Riordan is just a brilliant writer. Even in pretty dire situations he seems to find a way to bring humour into it without taking away from the seriousness of the situation! I was also really glad we got to see Rachel Elizabeth Dare again. I mean, we only met her very, very briefly in the last book but I had a feeling we'd be seeing her again and I'm glad it was so soon and in such a big way!
One thing I could of done without was the nearly superficial love triangle that Percy found himself in. I mean, him and Annabeth had enough problems getting together with Luke and mass drama of nearly dying every page without another problem but it worked weirdly enough in the end.
I finished this book to only go straight onto the next. I just couldn't wait to find out what happened! 9780141321271 Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In my original review/thoughts, I said that I have a soft spot for Nico and Luke, which has not changed. I also said that I was going to finish the series, and while that did not happen in 2015, it will happen in 2020. At least I'm going to do my best. Overall this is such a beloved series, and I have right there on that bandwagon. However, this one is not, in my opinion, the strongest in the series. I really do not like the labyrinth as a location and that really slows the plot down for me. I'm hoping that once I read the next book I will love this one because I will be able to see the series in its entirety for the first time. 9780141321271 This is the fourth adventure in the Percy Jackson series that starts with Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief.
Percy is a boy who happens to be half god, or a half blood as people like him are known. His father is Poseidon, king of the oceans, and because of him Percy can control the waters and the things that live in the water.
When Percy first discovers about his half blood origins he is at Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for heroes of the new Olympus. Olympus is alive and well in the 21st Century and situated in a magical quantum way in and around America, the new seat of world power.
Each book unfolds a quest which Percy and his friends must go on to save the world, and the Olympian Gods from destruction. In this volume, the power of Kronos, the evil Titan Lord grows even stronger, and he sends his hordes through the new version of the minotaur's labyrinth to try and destroy Percy, his friends and all they stand for.
I love these books. My children love these books. They are funny, clever and ingenious. I love the way Rick Riordan marries the classic Greek myths to the modern world and makes the stories fit so seamlessly it appears as if they were meant to be like that all along. I love the fact that as well as being complete page turners, the stories are thoughtful and the characters are well developed. The overarching plot line of Kronos and his dark army is inspired, and makes each quest rich and interesting to read about than if they had been standalone adventures.
There is one book to go in this series, and my children and I cannot wait to read it together. I've been reading the books out loud to my six and ten year olds and they actually beg me for chapters. If my voice would hold out all day, they'd have me reading all day. Wonderful books. 9780141321271 I've really enjoyed reading these books. I enjoyed the movies tremendously, and I wanted to read the books(as I am an avid reader). There is so much happening in the books, that it makes you wonder how the heck the writer managed to condense it all. I'd love to see this as a Netflix series, but not as dark as the Shadow Hunter's series. If they stick to the feeling of the movies, these books will come to life. I'm currently reading the last book I don't want this series to end! 9780141321271 how many people do you know that can control nthe ocean or are half god my guess is none. this book is thrilling with endless twists turns and red herrings. fun with great characters i love the chemistry between two of the chracters and i hope they get together on the book 5. if i could pick a favourite moment it would be the council of the cloven elders at the end, no spoilers. i really hope that people carry on enjoying this book. it is good for ya's and people of all ages, just try not to get lost in the labyrinth. daedalyus will shock you so be warned. a rip roaring adventure from start to finish! ;) 9780141321271