The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Characters (the list is long, but it will be a reference for later books as well):

Apollo = used to be a god, now a human named Lester Padadopoulos

Artemis = Apollo’s sister

Cyrene = Apollo’s old girlfriend

Mikey & Cane = beat Apollo up under orders from their boss, have snake tattoos on their necks

Margaret “Meg” McCaffery = saved Apollo from Mikey & Cane, a child of Demeter, a demigod, adopts Peaches a grain spirit

Percy Jackson = Poseidon’s son, a demigod, helps Meg and Apollo get to Camp Half-Blood, working to graduate high school and pass exams

Sally = Percy’s mom, pregnant

Paul = Percy’s dad

Nosoi = plague spirits, can’t be killed

Peaches = a karpos, a grain spirit, can be a serious fighter

Will Solace = Apollo’s son with Naomi Solace ( an alt-country singer), a healer, dating Nico

Connor Stoll = son of Hermes, trickster

Sherman Yang = son of Ares

Austin = musically inclined son of Apollo

Kayla = daughter of Apollo, skilled archer

Rachel Dare = priestess of the Oracle Delphi

Nico di Angelo = son of Hades, dating Will

Chiron = centaur, professor in the mortal world, running Camp Half-Blood

Daphane = former love of Apollo, did not end well

Hyacinthus = former love of Apollo, did not end well

Julia Feingold & Alice Miyazawa = daughters of Hermes

Dionysos = head of Camp Half-Blood, has not been at camp since the battle with Gaea

Leo Valdez = off saving Calypso, unknown where he is for the last 6 months

Miranda Gardiner = senior camper, went missing, child of Demeter

Cecil Markowitz = child of Hermes, went missing

Ellis Wakefield = child of Ares, went missing

Paolo = son of Heve (goddess of youth) had his arms reattached, and one leg, only speaks Portuguese

Harley = 8 year old son of Hephaestus, sort of a Camp Half-Blood mascot

Nyssa = Harley’s older sister

Billie Ng = child of Demeter

Woodrow = satyr, teaches music at Camp Half-Blood

Valentina Diaz = daughter of Aphrodite

Damien White = son of Nemesis

Chiara Benvenuti = Italian demi-god, has a thing for Damien

Holly & Laurel Victor = daughters of Nike

Python = monster blocking Delphi

Beast = lives in New York City, uses or trains demigods to be servants or soldiers (aka Emperor Nero)

Grove of Dodona = the 5th Oracle

Sybil of Cumae = an oracle, wrote the Sibyline Books, Ella the harpy memorized them

Oracle at Erythaea & Cave of Trophonius = the other 2 oracles

Rhea = Queen of the Titans

Pete & Paulie = Geyser Gods

Triumvirate = three Roman emperors that are seeking to destroy the Greek Gods, currently Nero is the only known member, but the other two have been seen just not names.

 

Book Review/Summary:

I love Rick Riordan, and he has gotten me hooked into another one of his series.  This book brings you back to Camp Half-Blood and catches you up on some of your favorite demigods, while bringing a new group into play and sending them on a quest.

Apollo angered his father, Zeus, and was cast out of Olympus as a mortal landing in a dumpster in New York City.  Attached to serve demigod, Meg, they make their way to seek help from Percy Jackson.  Using a world that already exists and characters that readers have grown to love, hate, care about, and cheer for the stage is set.  New readers can pick up without ever having read the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus Series and start to learn about characters.

Once at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo realizes there are more problems than just him being mortal.  As Apollo comes to grip with his mortal state, he and Meg start a quest and learn what is really happening to the demigods and why communication between them has been interrupted.  Meg’s true parentage is explained, as is her current family state.  Apollo starts to have mortal feelings towards his children and the other demigods.  Seeing how Camp Half-Blood is accepting of him, even in his mortal state, makes Apollo realize how as an immortal god he didn’t pay enough attention to his children or what was happening in the world.

After some heartbreak and a betrayal, Apollo saves Camp Half-Blood with some help from Percy and the rest of the demigods.  The camp is safe, at least for now, and Percy is reunited with old friends.  Leo boosts Apollo’s spirits when he decides to help Apollo on his trials, of saving the oracles and freeing Delphi.

While is might sound as if there are spoilers, readers of previous Rick Riordan novels know there is more to the story than what I wrote and that the pattern of what is written is similar to all his books involving demigods.  If you enjoyed Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard (book 1) or Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus you will enjoy and be hooked on another great series.

I really like how the author can keep the same world and characters evolving while creating new characters to expand the world and tap into briefly mentioned characters or plot points that were minor in one series but can make a great series on their own.  I might be biased because I love the sub-genre of sci-fi that creates a magical or mythical world living right along the normal world with only a chosen few who can see it.  I was hesitant about this series, afraid it might not live up to Percy Jackson, the first series I read by this author and therefore the one I hold the rest up to since I love Percy, Annabeth, and Grover so much.  The character development is good and characters have depth, which is always a plus for reading the book.