Heroes of the Olympus (3) - The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
And... part 3! The Mark of Athena (In German Das Zeichen der Athene, in French La marque d'Athéna). I heard it as a German audio book. Originally published 2012.
Finally the prophecy of the seven fulfils itself. The cursed daughter of Pluto, the vulnerable son of Mars from Camp Jupiter, the daughter of Aphrodite who has to understand her powers and the son of Hephaestus who has yet to learn how to stay and trust from Camp Halfblood. And then there are the ever dutiful Jason, son of Jupiter and the ever loyal Percy, son of Poseidon, from both camps… who have their own problems with the quested Annabeth, daughter of Athena, the one Greek goddess who hates the Romans more than anyone else… and will do anything to keep them apart. And all the while, Gaia's forces rise to disrupt the Seven and the world...
This book is not as funny as the other two prequels. But it has its moments – like with Leo and Narciss! I'm all team Leo! But I'm kind of sorry for Echo and the other nymphs and dryads. This whole plot and its execution? Really nicely done.
Plus, I like the problems Hazel and Leo have with each other… or rather, Hazel has with her past and Frank has with Leo and Leo has with… guys, this is a little complicated. Let's sum it up in saying that each character has his / her problem with the others, which is mostly simply because they don't know each other and have been thrown together on a nerve wrecking quest with nerve wrecking weaknesses. And backgrounds.
Let's take Annabeth as an example. We all know her background. Now add to that that she lost Percy again – is it surprising that she is not very happy about her Mom or the fact that gods kept her love life “interesting” again? Or that she has problems with trusting Romans, given her mother?
By the way, her little date with Venus: The goddess of love acting like a gossiping teenager? Why doesn't that surprise me. But it fits. And I was sorry for every girl at the table. Really.
But I'm sorry for Percy as well. I like his issues with water after Alaska. And I like how he struggles with letting Annabeth go alone on her mission. I'd have these problems, too.
Annabeth's and Percy's relationship is sooo cute! Even cuter than Jason's and Piper's. How he behaves at the end? But I like that Annabeth still has the means to prove herself and that Percy doesn't want to contain her or anything. That she managed that Arachne thing mostly (okay, totally) by herself, with a broken leg and everything. A true daughter of Athena – who, by the way, behaves like a total jerk from now and then.
Which leads me to the stuff that I didn't like.
I miss Grover. It's said he fell into this side-character-thing. I mean seriously? In the first and in the second part, he wasn't even mentioned! That sucks. And is not realistic, as I already said.
And the varying views on whether or not to rescue Nico? First of all, everybody knows Nico, Percy's friends with him. Second, they need Nico for their mission. And third, they seriously doubt whether he's trustworthy because he knew about both camps in beforehand?! Percy and Jason were switched and established in both camps. The adventure party comes from both camps and Hera's scheme has the sole reason to unite both camps. This argument of Nico knowing both should actually mean that they trust him, right?
Okay, back to the good stuff: The mind-controlling was very well done, how they make Percy, Leo and Jason go nuts, and how Piper sees that all in Kathoptris.
Apropos “visions”: The one for Piper were well done, and I miss Rachel. It's nice she turns up again, even in a one paragraph scene. And her “battle” with Octavian is sooo gorgeous.
By the way, I like how Leo develops. I'm sorry for him, how Gaia plays him like a flute, but he really makes himself, I think. As do Hazel and Frank. Poor Frank, if I was him, I wasn't comfortable around Leo. At. All.
Oh, and the underwater school is gorgeous. Baking classes. Underwater! I love this stories, they are simply awesome! And I want these brownies.
In brief:
I give this book a star for characters, ideas, style and the mind-controlling, minus one for content.
Prequel:
Sequel: