Book Review: "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Daniel's review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Previous to a road trip in the fall of 2006, Britt dropped by the library to find us a few books on CD to while away the hours in the car. Among them was a piece of juvenile fiction by author Rick Riordan called "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." Dubious at first, it didn't take long for the book to catch our rapt attention. Later, the book unfinished, I remember us sitting in the car at our destination, waiting for a "good place to stop." We were hooked.

This week, three years and five books later, we finished reading the series together with the last book, "Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian." Percy, the son of a mortal mother and immortal father, Poseidon, god of the sea, is a modern day hero in the tradition of Hercules and Achilles, complete with quests against gorgons, titans, and other assorted monsters of mythological fame. The time is the present, and the gods, really the symbol of western civilization, still reside at Mt. Olympus at its current location somewhere on the 600th floor of the Empire State building. They are at war with their ancient enemies, the Titans, lead by once banished and now resurrecting Kronos and his minion-brothers Typhon, Prometheus, and Oceanus.

Into this titanic clash (no pun intended) Percy Jackson is coming of age, growing up in a world split by high school and fighting monsters. Regular appearances by Hades, Poseidon, Hermes, and even Zeus himself, as well as centaur/hero trainer Chiron (see Achilles and the Iliad), the Fates, the Furies, and the river Styx (not just a rock band from the '80s) keep the book connected to Greek mythology set in a modern world. Percy's voice as the narrator keeps the plot moving along, and his teenage perspective manages to understate the action, often with hilarious results.

Looking at the series globally, "The Last Olympian," while perhaps not the most creative of the series, does a good job bringing together all of the elements of the previous four novels and tying up all the loose strings. Parents should be aware that this novel does deal with death in a more expanded way than previous novels. Main characters are both injured and killed, and the entire novel has a somewhat darker nature than the other books (it's about the end of the world, right, and it centers on New York City and a major skyscraper...? Does it get much darker, even if the nemesis is a bunch of mythical monsters and not a terrorist in an airplane?).

"The Last Olympian" is designed for a teenage audience, but Brittany and I enjoyed reading it to each other, too. The narrative is fun, the plot moves quickly, and everything ties together nicely with a hero motif, not too heavy and not too light. I look forward to reading this again, someday, to our children.

Our only complaint? What to read together next.


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