The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan

I like Riordan's banter, his caricatures of the gods, nonstop action, monsters, dialogue, and stupid sense of humor. He seems to have so much fun and doesn't take himself seriously all the while teaching facts about mythology that is memorable. He makes learning history fun and his use of humor represents a type of controlled rebellion readers can live through in a vicarious way. His female characters are strong and heroes in their own right and even though he tries a bit too hard to represent every race on Earth at least his tolerance message doesn't seem as forced in this novel as the last one. I'm referring to Nico's sexual orientation and fears. In this book, Nico's point of view in the chapters shift toward him accepting himself, learning more about his powers, and moving on with his life. There is a whole lotta action and less internal changes which is fine by me. I like it better when Riordan doesn't go into great depth. He isn't particularly strong with the romantic subplots that all sounded very similar in the last book. Except Nico's and that felt inauthentic. He's back to the formula that I recognize and I blasted through his book with many guffaws.

Gaea, the Earth goddess, is rising and wants to destroy all humans. The gods are suffering from multiple personality disorders as their Roman and Greek counterparts within each of them cannot agree with each other. Gaea cannot rise unless the blood of some demigods is dripped on the soil. Traps are set to make this happen. Meanwhile the Roman camp is attacking the Greek camp and the demigods must stop their destruction first before halting Gaea. The prophecy says that one of the demigods will die. The heroes know that they need the help of the gods but are having a hard time getting their cooperation as they war within themselves. When Gaea creates a trap the demigods must split up to do the impossible of saving the world.

Jason, Piper, Leo, Nico, and Reyna are the narrators of this story. They are trying to figure out their destinies as Greek or Roman heroes and figure out their fatal flaws or physical weaknesses. Greek tragedies have heroes that have misfortunes happen to them because of some error in judgement. Riordan pokes fun at this concept as the demigods banter with the gods. The demigods don't usually make errors and Riordan seems to be following the Greek comedy more than any tragedy. The heroes find happiness at the end in one way or another. If you have liked the series so far, you won't be disappointed with this one.

4 Smileys