Riordan’s The Blood of Olympus is Not Just Greek to Me

     Rick Riordan hits another nail on the head with his fifth and final book of The Heroes of Olympus series.  The Blood of Olympus is a gripping tale that chronicles the lives of nine demigods and their quest to defeat Gaea and unite the Greek and Roman camps.  Piggybacking on the success of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Riordan fuses fiction with mythology to maintain his spot as a New York Times best-selling author.

     Having been captivated with the series, I was eager to dive into this final book.  I found myself mostly enjoying The Blood of Olympus but also being slightly disappointed in it.  Compared to the previous books I was not satisfied with the quantity or quality of action.  Throughout the previous books in Riordan’s series, spectacular fighting scenes are described in detail and unique tactics are consistently explained.  Unfortunately, in The Blood of Olympus this is not included.  Additionally, the connections between the characters are not well established.  As individuals, the characters are challenged with their own problems, but the connection amongst them as members of an overall team is missing.  Further, I found the story disappointing because it has a poor climax.  Throughout the previous books in the series, there was a lot of build up to the climax.  In The Blood of Olympus, this is lacking.

     Despite the flaws in the book, there are many extraordinary aspects about it.  The unpredictability of the plot kept me engaged.  I was fascinated by the ‘fact and fictional’ nature of his story-telling approach; I appreciated how Riordan integrated Greek and Roman mythology in telling the story.  I thought that the idea of having each chapter is told in a different character’s point of view quite entertaining.  This allowed me to gain a better understanding of both the background of the characters and of the characters themselves.  Even though the connections between the characters are poorly described, the development of each individual character is well presented.  In reading the book, I particularly loved the way Riordan uses humour.  Like the other books in the series, the characters make witty remarks that make me laugh.  Even during some of the most serious parts of the story, a character tells a joke or makes a funny comment to ease the tension of the moment. 

     Being a huge fan of Rick Riordan’s series, I expected to be enthralled with The Blood of Olympus.  Although I was not satisfied with certain aspects of the book, I still consider it a novel worth reading.  I recommend this book to readers who enjoy action-fantasy novels, and especially to those who have read The Heroes of Olympus series. 

3.8/5 stars