The Blood of Olympus

The Blood of Olympus

Cover of first edition
Author Rick Riordan
Cover artist John Rocco
Country United States
Language English
Series The Heroes of Olympus (bk 5)
Genre Fantasy, mythology, young-adult novel
Publisher Disney-Hyperion Books[1]
Publication date
 October 7, 2014
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 516 pp (first ed.)[1]
ISBN 978-1-4231-4673-5
OCLC 881318207
LC Class PZ7.R4829 Bl 2014[1]
Preceded by The House of Hades
Followed by The Trials of Apollo

The Blood of Olympus is a young adult novel written by American author Rick Riordan and the fifth and final book in The Heroes of Olympus series. It was released on October 7, 2014.[2] The seven demigods of the Prophecy of Seven—Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang—go on their final adventure to defeat Gaea while Nico di Angelo, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, and Coach Gleeson Hedge attempt to bring the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood in order to prevent a war between the Roman and Greek demigods.[3] The chapters are written from the perspectives of Jason, Piper, Leo, Reyna, and Nico, making it the first time in the series that someone other than one of the seven demigods of the prophecy is the viewpoint character. It is the second time that Percy appears without being a viewpoint character (first being in The Lost Hero).[2]

Plot

The seven demigods continue their journey through Greece. Upon hearing that resurrected souls are gathering at Odysseus' home in Ithaca, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth disguise themselves with Hazel's mist to infiltrate the proceeding. They learn that the Giant's army does not plan to invade Mount Olympus as expected, but the Acropolis in Athens, where most of them have gathered. Since the Gulf of Corinth is heavily fortified and guarded by the Giant's army, the demigods have no choice but to circle the whole Peloponnese to reach Athens. When Michael Varus, one of the souls, recognizes the demigods' deception, he forces Jason to confront his mother's insane spirit, whom Jason rejects, and mortally wounds Jason. As Jason recuperates, the three demigods use Odysseus' marriage bed to summon Juno who is stabilized because the bed represents Penelope's faithfulness to her husband, Odysseus. She tells them to seek Nike at Olympia and reach out to Artemis and Apollo, both of whom have been banished by Zeus, alongside Hera/Juno. At Olympia, Percy, Leo, Hazel, and Frank, who are forced to participate in Nike's deadly Olympic Games, capture and detain her. Coerced, she reveals that one of them is destined to die, and that they need the "Physician's Cure". It is a cure that consists of Pylosian mint, the heartbeat of the chained god, and the curse of Delos.

Frank is able to obtain the first ingredient, the Pylosian Mint, from his shapeshifter relatives in Pylos. The others decide the chained god is Ares because the Spartans had a statue of him that was chained down to ensure they would win every war. Piper and Annabeth head out to the temple of Ares located in the ruins of Sparta, where the second ingredient, the Makhai, is located. They battle Mimas, a giant stationed there, and Piper manages to defeat him with a statue of Phobos. While sailing through the Aegean Sea, Argo II is hit by a violent storm that Percy and Jason discover is caused by Kymopoleia, a daughter of Poseidon, who is working with Polybotes. Jason convinces Kymopoleia to switch sides and together they kill Polybotes; in return, he swears to become a Pontifex Maximus after the war and to give the first offering to her. After reaching Mykonos, Leo, Frank, and Hazel meet with Artemis and Apollo at the nearby Delos where, with Leo's offering, Apollo gives them the third ingredient, the cursed aster, and reveals that the Python at Delphi is blocking his ability of prophecy. He also reveals the location of his son, Asclepius, who is able to make the cure, as Epidaurus. Upon leaving the island, Leo tells his reluctant friends about his plan to sacrifice himself to defeat Gaea and inject himself with the cure afterwards. After obtaining the cure from Asclepius and finally reaching Athens, the demigods head to the Acropolis and battle the army of giants, whom they kill with the help of the gods, led by Zeus, after their split personalities are healed by the return of Athena Parthenos. However, the giants are able to injure Percy and Annabeth, whose blood wakes Gaea in Camp Half-Blood.

Meanwhile, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo, and Coach Hedge head back to Camp Half-Blood with the Athena Parthenos in tow using Nico's shadow-travel. After reaching Pompeii, Reyna learns from her dreams that they are being hunted by a giant. At Évora, they are attacked by Lycaon and his aides. They defeat him and shadow-travel to San Juan, Reyna's homeland. Reyna is captured by the Hunters of Artemis, led by Thalia Grace, who are working together with the Amazons, who are led by Reyna's sister, Hylla. The giant, revealed to be Orion, appears and massacres both the Hunters and the Amazons, but before he could reach Reyna, she, Nico, and Hedge shadow-travel to South Carolina. Reyna reveals her life before she and Hylla worked at Circe's island, secretly being spied upon by Bryce Lawrence, an ruthless legacy who was once exiled from New Rome by Reyna before being reinstated by Octavian. He tries to execute Reyna for patricide when she reveals her "killing" her father's insane spirit, but is turned into a ghost by a furious Nico.

Arriving at Camp Half-Blood with the help of Pegasus and several of his brethren, Nico and Hedge head out to the camp while Reyna lands on the yacht Mi Amor in Long Island Sound. She is confronted by Orion and manages to kill him with help of her mother, Bellona, and Athena. Nico meets up with several Greek demigods, including Will Solace, to hijack Camp Jupiter's onagers. Just when the two camps are about to clash, Reyna reveals the Athena Parthenos, ending the warfare before it even starts. However, Gaea suddenly rises and begins to attack the camp. The seven demigods, transported by Zeus, arrive and battle Gaea. Piper uses her charmspeak to make Gaea sleep, then Leo sacrifices himself with the help of a newly revived Festus while blasting Gaea with fire, which, coupled with an onager attack that Octavian accidentally launched himself from, killing him, finally destroys Gaea.

The two camps celebrate their victory at Camp Half-Blood together and stayed until the Romans' return to Camp Jupiter the next day. Nico decides to make Camp Half-Blood his home, after his previous refusal to stay in it. He also reveals his crush to Percy, but has moved on. Jason, having been made a Pontifex Maximus, tells Piper that he will have to visit Camp Jupiter occasionally to make offerings. Percy and Annabeth also plan to move to Camp Jupiter to attend college after they graduate from high school. Meanwhile, Leo, who thought he was dead, revived by the physician's cure, arrives at Ogygia to pick up Calypso, as he had promised when he first left her. Herself no longer bound to her curse, Calypso leaves with Leo into the unknown.

Characters

Main

Other

Release

The Blood of Olympus was released on October 7, 2014 in both hardcover and eBook formats. Disney announced that in the first printing, there were 3 million copies printed.[3]

Critical Reception

The Blood of Olympus received mixed reviews. While some praised Riordan's writing, as well as the inclusion of two additional POVs, some doubts were expressed over certain loose ends. According to Kirkus Reviews, "The satisfyingly cataclysmic showdowns yield to peaceful resolution at last; here's hoping it holds this time."[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The blood of Olympus". LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The Blood of Olympus". Rick Riordan Official Website. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Disney Publishing Worldwide Announces 3 Million-Copy First Printing of Rick Riordan's THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS". Broadway World. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS". Kirkus Reviews. October 19, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2016.

External links

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