THE TRIALS OF APOLLO Book One: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

THE TRIALS OF APOLLO

Book One: The Hidden Oracle

by

Rick Riordan

            Apollo was a bad, bad god – at least according to his father. Zeus blamed Apollo for the battle between the gods and Gaea (detailed in Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series), so he punished him by casting him out of Olympus. In the first book of Riordan’s The Trials of Apollo series, The Hidden Oracle, Apollo falls to Earth, ending up in New York City in the form of a mortal sixteen year old boy. He finds his way to Camp Half-Blood where he works with the demigods to try to figure out why the oracles have fallen silent. What he discovers – a plot involving immortal former Roman emperors – is far beyond a powerless mortal human teenager with acne.

            By my calculations, The Trials of Apollo series is Riordan’s fifth young adult series. Nonetheless, there is overlap between the works. Apollo’s tale, obviously, involves Greek gods. Not only does Apollo go to Camp Half-Blood and fight with the Greek demigods, but Percy Jackson also makes an appearance (Annabeth, alas, is in Boston dealing with family issues involving her cousin, Magnus Chase). This overlap is very appealing.

            The Trials of Apollo, like Riordan’s other series, is very well written. Riordan is a clever and funny writer. Not only does he interweave his series, but he does a good job teaching us about the different gods and different myths. My own interest in the various mythologies has been piqued by Riordan’s series; I can only imagine the extent of this generation of young adults interested in Classics thanks to him.