Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Title: The Last Olympian
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Published: May 2009
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages:
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 9/10

I finally finished the fifth and final installment of Rick Riordan’s first Greek gods series, and I must say I’m so glad I hunkered down and dove in.

Riordan’s novel The Last Olympian, the fifth novel in his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, takes place four years after the first words in The Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson, a young man who happens to be the son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, goes through some serious changes personally, physically, emotionally and spiritually just to reach the point where he is capable of battling Kronos, the king of the Titans.

Riordan outdid himself writing this novel. The Last Olympian, with a title referring to one of the not well-known gods in Greek mythology, is so action packed and exciting I could hardly put it down, even after days and days of reading the first four books.

The majority of the novel took place in Manhattan while Percy, Annabeth, Grover and the rest of the campers of Camp Half-Blood prevent the onslaught of Kronos and his military might. I enjoyed so much action in this novel because it felt like the right path the story needed to take.

I also enjoyed the subtle hints of things throughout the novel. The actual last Olympian was not who I was expecting at all, but that god fit the title so perfectly there was no other choice for Riordan to fill the position. It was such a subtle decision, that and the reasons why Percy does what he does concerning his fate during the battle, fit the characters and storyline to a T. I am so happy Riordan followed his characters’ paths, rather than writing them the way he may have wanted when those paths could have been wrong.

I suppose there has to be something less than thrilling about each novel, and in The Last Olympian, my choice for that would be the action. I really enjoyed it, but sometimes I was hoping we could see a change of scenery, a bit more of Percy’s quippy humor, or something. I want to say about 90 percent of the final novel in the Percy Jackson series took place in Manhattan surrounding the battle with Kronos, and it was a bit tiresome.

But, really, it was just as exciting as it was tiresome, almost as if we as readers were standing alongside Percy the whole time.

Overall, this was the best novel of the five. There was so much excitement, so much adventure and love and danger I couldn’t help but allow my emotions to take over and guide me through the series. Even if it is a young adult series, it is a very well-written, imaginative, exciting series that I hope Riordan’s other series are just as amazing.

To get more of your Rick Riordan fix, check out the next Greek and Roman mythology series The Heroes of Olympus at Barnes and Noble or Amazon. Or, look into Egyptian mythology with The Kane Chronicles, or Riordan’s latest series focusing on Norse mythology with Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.