Riordan, Rick. The Last Olympian. Percy Jackson & the Olympians. 5. New York: Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/6185013]
Booktalk:
Percy's a playa!
Rachel kissed me before I could even react. "Now get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."
...
"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."
"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."
p.10
But why shouldn't Percy keep his options open? He's about to turn sixteen. And when he does, he gets to decide the fate of the world.
Review:
A lot of people die in this one. It is all about the war between the Titons and the Gods so it is to be expected, but a lot of people die. And not just monsters who can reform later; demigods die. And not just people we expect to die (like Luke), but normal demigods who have been present at Camp Half-Blood since book 1. I knew that people I liked would die in this one, but I guess I wasn't expecting so many to die. Not that it felt gratuitous or anything; every death meant something and was for a reason. It was just sad.
That said, this book rocked. It is jam-packed with action. In between all the monster fighting, we learn a lot of back story about Luke, Thalia and Annabeth, we learn the rest of The Prophecy, we learn why the Oracle is a tie-dye wearing mummy, and we learn why all of these things are connected and, oddly enough, what they have to do with Rachel. A lot of things came together in this book from various points of the story thus far in the previous 4 books, and it wasn't all about Percy like I worried it would be! Everyone who was ever important in the previous books has an impact on the outcome in this one. Percy is still a very big hinge-pin, but he is not the be all and end all of Olympus, Camp Half-Blood, or the mortal world. It's a nice difference from the other series about a special/chosen magic young boy you may have read...
This was a very well thought out end to the series. I wish the series were longer as I enjoyed reading it so much, but nothing about this ending left me unsatisfied. I know how things ended and I have a pretty good guess at how they will proceed. Besides, Riordan hints in his acknowledgments that there may be other series about the campers of Camp Half-Blood in the future.(!)
But let's be honest. What I'm really happy about is that evil no longer hangs out in San Francisco. Evil congregates in Jersey. Awesome. :)
But why shouldn't Percy keep his options open? He's about to turn sixteen. And when he does, he gets to decide the fate of the world.
Review:
A lot of people die in this one. It is all about the war between the Titons and the Gods so it is to be expected, but a lot of people die. And not just monsters who can reform later; demigods die. And not just people we expect to die (like Luke), but normal demigods who have been present at Camp Half-Blood since book 1. I knew that people I liked would die in this one, but I guess I wasn't expecting so many to die. Not that it felt gratuitous or anything; every death meant something and was for a reason. It was just sad.
That said, this book rocked. It is jam-packed with action. In between all the monster fighting, we learn a lot of back story about Luke, Thalia and Annabeth, we learn the rest of The Prophecy, we learn why the Oracle is a tie-dye wearing mummy, and we learn why all of these things are connected and, oddly enough, what they have to do with Rachel. A lot of things came together in this book from various points of the story thus far in the previous 4 books, and it wasn't all about Percy like I worried it would be! Everyone who was ever important in the previous books has an impact on the outcome in this one. Percy is still a very big hinge-pin, but he is not the be all and end all of Olympus, Camp Half-Blood, or the mortal world. It's a nice difference from the other series about a special/chosen magic young boy you may have read...
This was a very well thought out end to the series. I wish the series were longer as I enjoyed reading it so much, but nothing about this ending left me unsatisfied. I know how things ended and I have a pretty good guess at how they will proceed. Besides, Riordan hints in his acknowledgments that there may be other series about the campers of Camp Half-Blood in the future.(!)
But let's be honest. What I'm really happy about is that evil no longer hangs out in San Francisco. Evil congregates in Jersey. Awesome. :)
Book 1: The Lightning Thief
Book 2: The Sea of Monsters
Book 3: The Titan's Curse
Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Book Source: Philly Free Library
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