TITLE: The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book V)
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PAGES: 381
Normal teenagers probably consider their sixteenth birthday a much less forboding occasion than Percy Jackson does. But then again, most teenagers don’t have to worry about a prophecy coming true as they blow out their candles— a prophecy that could herald them as a hero, or bring death in its wake. The great battle has dawned, ushered in with the wakening of the monster Typhon and the increasing advance of the enemy upon Percy and his allies. While the gods of Olympus are forced to abandon the seat of their power in order to battle Typhon, their children wage war on land and sea to defend what is dear to them. Blood will be spilled, losses will mount, friends will become enemies even as enemies turn out to be friends. For Percy, the stakes are higher than he ever imagined.
Often, the final book in a series is the deciding factor in whether I declare war on the author or cry tears of joy and satisfaction. It is always difficult for me to reach the end, despite my eagerness to find out what happens, because by the time I get to this point in a series I’m usually incurably attached to the characters and can’t bear to see them go. And after reading so many books, I always have this expectation that the LAST book will be the most epic, the most thrilling, the one that will tie everything together and leave me with closure. This doesn’t always happen. Thankfully, The Last Olympian delivered. Percy, so much more grown up since first realizing his heritage (and the first inkling of what his destiny might be) in The Lightning Thief, has come to the point in his adventures where all the preparations, all the effort and toil, the blood that was shed and the friends gained and lost, might all come to nothing. The prospect of defeat, and of death, hangs in the air like a wordless dread. And yet, our boy remains the same at heart, despite the very heavy responsibilities he has been tasked with. And he remains, always, the kind of hero whose compassion characterizes him and everything he does. Percy must fight, has trained to fight, for what he loves. He has been told from the beginning that a prophecy predicting either his glory or his demise has already been spoken. Dodging the hand of fate, forging your own path, can quite easily turn you into a different person. But for Percy, he still believes in the same things, even down to the end: family, friendship, loyalty, courage. And a few crackpot, harebrained schemes thrown in, of course. I truly enjoyed this last book, satisfied immensely by the way Riordan wrapped it up. Not perfectly, not without bloodshed or loss, and not without a sense of realism; Percy watches friends lose their lives for the sake of their cause, he must make decisions with momentous consequences, he must find mercy in his heart when all he wants to do is deliver the killing blow. Percy has to grow up, and deal with everything that growing up brings with it. I felt that he did it beautifully. I was very happy with the ending, which was poignant without being lame in any sense.
The last thing I want to say about these books is that Rick Riordan not only has a fantastic grasp of the mythology he has woven into his stories, but also does this really great job translating that mythology into something relevant to his young readers. Without involving any cliche time travel or plunging Percy and crew into arenas wearing togas, he creates parallels between the Greece of centuries past— once the heart of Western civilization— and the modern setting of New York City, which is the heart of Western civilization today. He gets kids interested in mythology and history without cheapening it or dumbing it down. And for that, I truly appreciate him. Read this series!!
RATING: 5/5
About Paola
Paola is a teacher, blogger, and book devourer currently living in Las Vegas, NV. She has an unhealthy obsession with popcorn, office supplies, and Target.
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