The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Published: October 2014

# of Pages: 516

Source: Purchased Copy 

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.

**This is the fifth and final book in the series so if you haven't read the first four books I would recommend not reading this review as it may contain some spoilers. 

This series...oh my goodness this series was amazing. If you are not aware this series is the follow up to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It features new characters and incorporates Roman mythology as well as Greek mythology. I have reviews for both the first and fourth book if you would like to check them out. 

This book like the rest of the books in the series is focused on figuring out how the demigods are going to be able to stop Gaea "earth mother" from rising and wiping out the entire world and bringing an end to the reign of the gods. There are so many discovers and explanations related to this series. Rick Riordan is able to successfully craft a story that leaves the reader wanting more and more after each book is completed. What I believe I enjoyed most about this final installment was the continued relationship between all the demi-gods. I loved watching them build relationships in the first novel to fostering and helping those relationships grow throughout the rest of the series. They had such an amazing bond that really assists in the development of the plot. What I really admire about these books is the idea that although there are romantic relationships present, the focus seems to remain on

building life long friendships with people who are similar and dissimilar to you. In addition to this, I really loved being able to learn more about Greek and Roman mythology. There were so many gods and goddesses to learn about and to research. I can never get over how Riordan was able to successfully weave together the various aspects of both cultures and knit them into one story.

There was only one thing that I did not like about this novel (I rarely ever dislike things about Rick Riordan novels) and it dealt mostly with the ending. It wasn't that I disliked the ending; however, it seemed to just end too quickly. As a reader, you have four novels that build up to this huge decision as to whether Gaea is going to wake and essentially take over the world. The answer to this question came and resolved itself rather quickly, almost too quickly in my opinion. I was expecting a longer,

more drawn out battle and I feel like it was over with within a few pages. I simply expected such a significant event to have more of a presence. And with the ending of this novel I'm hoping that we get to see more of these characters in future novels and series. I just can't get enough of them.

As always Rick Riordan's writing is fluid and keeps the reader interested. There is never a dull moment with the plot as it's constantly keeping the reader on their toes from interpersonal relationships to battles to riddles and beyond. If you've never picked up a Rick Riordan book then I definitely recommend starting with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and you'll understand why these books are so loved. I would recommend this to individuals who love adventure and reading about mythology. Then ending of this book has definitely got me excited to start another one of Riordan's series.