Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

"Yay!" he said. "Now we can eat peanut butter sandwiches and ride fish ponies! We can fight monsters and see Annabeth and make things go BOOM!"

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/4

The Battle of the Labyrinth was a thoroughly enjoyable book and did a great job of expanding this amazing fictional world of Greek mythology that Rick Riordan has amazingly crafted!

 

First off, I was super happy that we finally got to see more of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I just knew that she was going to have a larger role in these next books and I was happy to be proven right about that. I especially love that despite being a mortal with basically no abilities whatsoever, she is still able to hold her ground and be a badass, especially in battle. She doesn’t seem all too scared of monsters and the world of half-bloods at all. I definitely hope that we will see her again in the final book. She seems like an awesome addition to the Percy-Annabeth-Grover trio.

 

What I didn’t like so much though was the clichéd jealousy that was happening between Annabeth and Rachel. Now I obviously do understand that Annabeth secretly loves Percy and feels slightly threatened by a girl who seems to be getting as close to him as she would like to be. But I’m honestly just extremely sick of seeing two awesome girls in their own right not like each other (or one not liking the other, as is the case here) for the sake of some crush. Annabeth, being the frickin’ daughter of Athena, the goddess of WISDOM, should kind of be a bit wiser in handling this situation and her feelings, in my opinion.

 

On a more positive note, I was really happy that Annabeth was actually the one who received the quest this time to venture into the Labyrinth. I know that this is just a minor aspect of the plot, but I like that it isn’t always the ”chosen one” character (aka. Percy in this series) who is always the one getting quests and being recognized as being awesome in this series. I love how Rick Riordan allows all main characters besides the protagonist to shine and hold larger roles in the grand scheme of adventures.

 

Calypso’s story especially broke my heart, in my opinion. I do really hope that she is allowed to get a happy ending sometime because just thinking about her all on her own, being constantly taunted by heroes who can’t ever stay with her as companions is just so sad in my opinion. Aphrodite really needs to help this girl out, jeez!

 

Overall, I also really enjoyed the adventure of going into the Labyrinth. The mythology of the Labyrinth and its endless possibilities and horrors that it presented to our heroes made for an unusual atmosphere for this adventure. Pan’s tale which we find out about in the end of the book also really broke my heart. I definitely feel as though the story of the wild places disappearing and Pan dying really speaks to me in our current modern world. The idea that everyone needs to step up and be a part of carrying on the spirit of helping the “wild places” is extremely relevant and very poetic and beautiful, considering the current state of our world.

 

As for the next and final book, I’m very excited to see what will with Luke with Kronos now inhabiting him. That is something I was definitely not expecting! Is there still hope for his redemption? I honestly don’t think so, but I wouldn’t be so sure, since Annabeth keeps still talking about him in a redeemable way. I am also incredibly interested in seeing Nico’s journey and how he will end up coming to terms with being Hades’s son. Furthermore, the prophecy that will still need to be fulfilled is also looming over our characters. My prediction is that most likely Nico will suffer, or perhaps Bianca will make a reappearance and save everyone? Thalia hasn’t made an appearance in this book, so my guess is that she is probably safe as a maiden of Artemis, but who knows? Either way, I’m really excited to find out!

 

Favorite Quotes

“People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can't be fixed.”

 

"Yay!" he said. "Now we can eat peanut butter sandwiches and ride fish ponies! We can fight monsters and see Annabeth and make things go BOOM!"

 

“You deal with mythological stuff for a few years, you learn that paradises are usually places where you get killed.”