Tuesday, August 02, 2022

93. The Battle of the Labyrinth


The Battle of the Labyrinth. (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) Rick Riordan. 2008. 361 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school.

Premise/plot: Camp Half-blood is in trouble again. To be fair, it's more like destroying Camp Half-blood is step one on the bad guy's to do list. [I suppose you could argue that it isn't a bad guy so much as bad god.] Annabeth, Tyson, Percy, and Grover are teaming up again on a quest. They'll be going underground into the labyrinth. It's super-super dangerous. Those that do manage to come out again are rarely the same. The last person to come out has gone mad--they aren't quite sure how to cure him. But the world's only hope [so we're led to believe] is hidden within the labyrinth. It's a race--who will discover it, acquire it, use it...first. 

My thoughts: All the books are so closely connected. It is definitely best to read them all together. The tension does keep building and building. There is rarely a satisfying moment in the book in terms of suspense and tension. None of the books have that YES moment of success and completion. All the books are leading to the ultimate showdown. Book four still doesn't take readers to that final, ultimate BIG battle between good and evil. I would say book four offers less humor and more intensity. Looking back, The Lightning Thief now has such low stakes--but oh at the time, it felt like such a big quest. 

I do recommend the series. I am rereading the series this summer. 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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