The Battle of the Labyrinth.

The Battle of the Labyrinth

by: Rick Riordan

When demonic cheerleaders invade his high school, Percy Jackson hurries to Camp Half Blood, from whence he and his demigod friends set out on a quest through the Labyrinth, while the war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near.

 

Gosh, another fantastic book in the series. Meeting more gods and goddesses, setting things up for a giant war, and navigating an impossible maze. All those together are the ingredients for an incredible story. And I might add that this book has my favorite cover of the series so far, because it's just so detail-oriented. Like in the maze portion of the picture you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building.

Brave and Smart Hero: CHECK

Percy just gets more and more awesome with each book. In this book he's helping all his friends, beating up a ton of monsters, and saving Camp Half-Blood . Anyone can do all of those things at once has got to be crazy awesome. His friendship with Annabeth gets a bit awkward and rocky in this one, but I have hope that they'll come through this series together.

Wise and Brave Heroine: CHECK

Despite her worrying that she wouldn't be smart of brave enough to get through leading her own quest, she does quite well. Even wiser than going it alone, she takes help when it's offered because she knows that this is something she can't do on her own. I loved when she faced the Sphinx and Hera and how as Percy said, "she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble." I respected her for demanding a challenge for herself to test her mettle. I just really like her. She isn't perfect, she's often prideful and a bit snappy, but she is a good person and a great character.

Extraordinary Supporting Characters: CHECK

Nico: I think Nico is the equivalent to Draco Malfoy in this series. He doesn't want to be evil or traitorous or angry or confused, but that's the hand that he was dealt. Because of his father, he was not welcome on Olympus or Camp Half-Blood and was, therefore, forced to walk alone and face his own anger and confusion on his own. That led him to some seriously bad counsel, in the form of King Midas. However, in the end he made the best option out of those offered to him and honored his sister's memory.

Eurytion: I know he was a VERY minor character, but I liked him a lot. He was the hillbilly of the monster world. He just wanted to have some peace to care for his monsterous animals.

Hera: If I hate anything more than I hate just plain evil characters, it is hypocritical characters. (and of course, when I say hate, I mean I love reading them, I just hate them).They are just so holier-than-thou about everything and they know it. Yet they continue to claim their own innocence. I truly sorry for Hephaestus for having a mother like Hera. I mean, she just kind of threw him off a mountain because he was ugly. And yet she claims her love of her family is most important to her. I think that if any of the goddesses needs a good slap, it's her.

Hephaestus: I really didn't want to meet him after all of the times he was mentioned in the other books and how mean he seemed. But now I completely understand.

Daedalus: In some strange way, I liked him. Yes, he purposefully caused his nephew's death and was altogether a horrible person. But I think his time in the maze (at least the time that led him to becoming Quintus) changed him in a good way. He realized his mistake in cheating death and finally found his way to fighting on the right side.

Kronos: Oh gosh. He's fully formed, people! He's coming back to life in the next book and I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare: I'm not sure how I feel or think about her yet. I definitely think she's a pretty good person and I know that it's awesome how she can see through The Mist. But, I also know that she's accidentally messing things up in Percy and Annabeth's friendship, which I don't like. I have a feeling that she'll be important in the next book too, but we'll see what happens.

Grover: I'm just really proud of him for finding Pan and being brave when telling the other satyrs what they needed to do in the future. And I kind of love that he has a girlfriend now.

Juniper: She seems like a really sweet...nymph. I approve of her for Grover.

Dionysus: After hearing his story about his wife in the last one and about his sons in this one, I'm starting to feel bad for him. I don't like his attitude toward half-bloods any more or anything, but I think I like him a little better. He has more depth than I gave him credit for. I've found that Rick is very good at introducing you to a character that you don't think you could possibly ever feel sorry for, and then he slowly shows you why the reality of their life made them how they are. And then soon you find yourself feeling so sorry for them. In other words, he is not just good at writing characters with depth, he is also good at giving them new depth with every page.

Original Setting and Unique Plot: CHECK

Basically I have the exact same thing to say as I did in my review of all the other books in this series. Rick Riordan is awesome at coming up with believable and epic plots that are always progressing. I also loved how he worked the Labyrinth mythology into the modern America. As with all the other mythological aspects of the stories, they fit into the plot and the culture so perfectly that you wouldn't be surprised were it true.

Plot Twists and Page-Turners: CHECK

So much action. The amount of incredible monster-fighting scenes just keeps increasing with each book. We meet so many new creatures that have to be fought. Also, you would think that the twists would be obvious when presented with a prophecy explaining exactly how the quest is going to go before they set out on it. But, the twists keep you guessing until the very end. You guess or assume that the prophecy is saying that one person is going to die, but it ends up being another.

Quotes:

"Nothing caps off the perfect morning like a long taxi ride with an angry girl."

"If you've never been charged by an enthusiastic Cyclops wearing a flowered apron and rubber cleaning gloves, I'm telling you, it'll wake you up quick."

"I'm talking about justice," the ghost said. "Vengeance."
"Those are not the same thing."

"She smiled for the first time in days, and that made it all worthwhile."

"Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things."

"Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me."

"You deal with mythological stuff for a few years, you learn that paradises are usually places where you get killed."

"A real artist must be good at many things."

"I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

"But I give you this news: when the time comes, you will not be ruled by fear."

"Genius does not excuse evil, Percy."

"But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword."