So here’s the long and short of it: I loved The Hidden Oracle. I felt that with this book, Rick really
got his groove back, because to me, he hadn’t yet.
The Hidden Oracle is a bright and truthful book about a
recently-made-mortal god and a quirky street urchin finding a way to save the
world and not die at the same time.
Returning characters:
AHHHH!!!! PERCY’S GOING TO BE A BROTHER (blood this time, versus ichor)
AHHHHHH!!!!
-All right, all right. So I live for Jackson family updates
in books that are not about the Jackson family. But squee!
-It’s really really nice to get a blast of sarcasm and
freshness from Percy whenever we see him. After all, we started the journey
with him, plus, because of the way he ages from book to book, he and I are at
about the same point in life. Ahhh, the joys of standardized testing and
college. And just hearing about Annabeth was nice because, let’s be real,
Annabeth is bae.
-It is great to see all of our other demigod babes too! I
particularly enjoyed getting to know Apollo’s children and see their
interactions with their dad. I really like how the children’s talents are
typically influenced by what their godly parent fell in love with their mortal
parent for (in the cases that the god/goddess has specific talents also). In
general, it was just a new experience to see how some of the other cabins
decorate. What can I say? I’m a sucker for world building.
-SOLANGELO IS ALIVE AND WELL! Yay!! Those cuties!
“Significant annoyance, in your case,” Nico grumbled.
“Oh, I’ll
get you for that.”
Mm yes. Wholesome and adorable. I’m excited to see how their
relationship develops!
-HOLY GUACOMOLE!!! I actually started crying when the long
lost son of the fandom showed up! LEO BABY! YOU AND CALYPSO ARE OK! *eternal screaming* Their relationship
is also cute and adorable and basically how I’ve always pictured it. I am so
very excited to see more as they travel with Apollo.
Villains
-The Triumvirate (tri-uhm-vur-it) itself was being a scarily
efficient for a group of long dead Roman emperors. I mean, to me it was
actually rather frightening that they had enabled so many of Camp Half-Blood’s
previous enemies, or that they had even been around long enough to gather vast
amounts of money and property and connections. It’s generally less good when
your enemies have lots of time to prepare.
-Python is a bit of an unknown entity to me, so I don’t have
much to say on the matter except that he just seems like a snake. Go ahead and
laugh. When I say snake, I mean the personality, not just the creature.
Main characters
Meg
I honestly don’t know what to do
with Meg at this point. I’m pretty sure she has a form of Stockholm syndrome,
and is definitely showing signs of having experienced domestic violence. I’m
pretty sure I like her. I suppose it fades in and out a little bit, but on the
whole she is a pretty great kid, and definitely a wonderfully well-rounded
character. I hope we see more of her, and that everything works out. It’s got
to be tough living with a half-dead-but-not-dead-enough Roman emperor.
Apollo
Apollo is
still the obnoxious, narcissistic god mortal that many of us have grown
to love, or at least tolerate. Over the course of the book, readers see Apollo
change and mature through his exposure to what life is like for mortals.
I felt like the scene where he was singing his heart out to
put the myrmyrkes to sleep was
probably one of the best scenes I’ve ever read, and incredibly important to his
character development. He’s singing about his faults, for goodness sake.
Concerning Apollo and the children that he has sired or
taken under his wing: I liked his relationships with them. He was initially
hesitant about Meg, but he came around rather quickly, and treats her as I
imagine a rather exasperated but loving parent would. He’s quite devoted to
keeping her alive and well, and I admire that about him. Apollo’s relationship
with his children leaves little to be desired. When he first meets them, he
acts as a godly parent; more of a “oo! Look what I made! Isn’t that neat!”
instead of “I want my children to be as safe as possible, look at this amazing
person I helped make.” But as time goes on, he starts to have much more of the
second opinion and becomes truly concerned about his children’s wellbeing.
Things I loved
Basically everything
Rick did an amazing job with this book. It is well written
with consistent character development, and the story telling is sure to keep
the reader involved from cover to cover.
Things I didn't love
Apollo did go through a teensy bit of character development
regression, but it was about his ego, and he only felt vaguely better after
saving the campers, so... it’s understandable.
Favorite quotes
“You were going to say, ‘At least we’re not being
followed. Then we’ll end up in a big battle that totals my family car and
probably destroys the whole freeway. Then we’ll have to run all the way to
camp.” –Percy Jackson
“You know, I keep thinking, I have now killed every single thing in Greek mythology. But the
list never seems to end.” –Percy Jackson
“...You simply can't do much with a kiddie pool
brain.”- Apollo
“...Oh why does college have to happen to
perfectly good people.”-Apollo
“Showers are good. Perhaps not as good as bacon,
but good.”-Apollo
“Many different belief systems powered the revolution
of the planets and stars. Wolves would still chase Sol across the sky. Ra would
continue his daily journey in his sun barque. Tonatiuh would keep running on
his surplus blood from human sacrifices back in the Aztec days. And that other
thing—science—would still generate gravity and quantum physics and
whatever.”-Apollo
“...Not all monsters were three-ton reptiles with
poisonous breath. Many wore human faces.”-Apollo
“...His chin is so weak, I was tempted to create a
GoFundMe campaign to but him a better jaw.”- Apollo
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