The Last Olympian: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5

After the usual cliffhanger of a book that precedes the finale, I was very eager to read The Last Olympian (Book 5). What I read was above and beyond any book in the series and an absolute fantastic way to finish it out. As Battle of the Labyrinth set up previously, the final showdown between the Olympians and Kronos draws dangerously close to being a reality. This is what Percy and all the other demigods in camp have been training for their entire lives, but will it be enough or in time to stop the Titan army? As the book opens, we learn Kronos is back and getting stronger than ever in the body of Luke and with each traitor that crosses over, helps him gain a stronger foothold in the mortal world again. As The Last Olympian opens, preparations from Camp Half-Blood against the Titan Lord and his army are underway. However, Percy and company have a bit more to worry about than just Kronos himself. They must also figure out a way to help the Gods of Olympus defeat the literal "Father of all monsters" in Typhon, who was accidentally released when Percy nearly destroyed Mount St. Helens the previous summer. As Typhon walks again, he sets his sights on now rampaging in a path of destruction towards New York City where there will be no stopping him if he reaches The Summit of Olympus. The search for the upper hand takes Percy on a very interesting journey, of which includes a very interesting visit to the mother of Luke in order to find anything that would explain just why Luke became who he became and why Luke would ever serve someone like Kronos. What will Percy learn from this meeting? What could the mother of Luke have to offer Percy that would help when it matters the most? Riordan crafts the answers to these questions very nicely and does an excellent job of not giving them away until the very end. With that said, The Last Olympian is certainly not without its fair share of surprises and "ah ha!" moments. Percy's story is complimented very well by the lovable characters of Grover and Annabeth but equally as well by characters like Nico where you're never sure what side they're on. Readers up to this point will be very intrigued after they see what Rachel's role is towards the end as well. It ends up making perfect sense for her, but you don't quite realize what her true potential is until the last few pages. I wasn't ready to give any book in the series 5 stars so far, but this one truly won me over. I don't like to give a lot of books 5 stars unless they really earn them and this book definitely did that. Everything seemed to work just right with The Last Olympian. From the pacing to the action scenes to the character development, it all just fit nicely. Even though it's a series primarily aimed at young adults, the humor and knowledge you gain of mythology throughout this book and this series is truly refreshing to see for any age. Whether you're looking for a good summer read or a good summer read that teaches you something in the process, don't make the mistake of missing out on this series! -Travis S.

Author: Rick Riordan Publisher: Hyperion Books/Penguin Books Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan is an extremely enthralling book that you will never want to put down. The whole series is great, and is also an interesting way to learn about Greek Mythology, whilst reading about Percy, the main character and also a Demigod, and his adventures. Rick manages to bring the Mythology to life throughout this whole series, whether it be when the Demigods are at Camp Half-Blood or the Olympians are fighting Typhon, the Father of All Monsters. I assure you there is not one scene in this book that will not leave you wanting to continue reading. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Mythology or wanting a book that will always keep them on the edge of their seat. Rick Riordan has written the whole series from Percy's perspective, and I find that really helps you gain a better connection with each of the characters. Whatever Percy feels about a certain character, you tend to feel the same way, as it is written in first person. The advantage of writing this series in the first person is that it makes the reader feel like they are actually there, doing what Percy is doing, whether they are fighting the Drakon or finding out what the Great Prophecy is. I think that finally discovering what the Great Prophecy says in the last book of the series helps build suspense throughout the series because you sit there wondering "What is the Great Prophecy?" "What will the Prophecy say?" "Will the Prophecy mean something bad for Percy?" or "I wish I knew what the Great Prophecy is". The storyline of The Last Olympian is similar to the other books in the series; however, this is the final stand between Percy and Luke, who has been turned into Kronos. The Demigods must save Camp Half-Blood and Mount Olympus, before the Olympians fall and the Titans rise to rule the world. The last battle between the Demigods and the Titans takes place in New York. Morpheus, the God of Dreams, has put the city under a spell so the mortals are not aware of what is going on. The suspense of whether the Demigods win or are defeated by the Titans makes you anxious, and you never want to stop reading until you reach the last page. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian is one of the best books I have ever read. At first, I was hesitant to read the series; however, as soon as I read Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, I had to continue reading the whole series. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian is truly an incredible book and I look forward to begin reading the second series, The Heroes of Olympus.

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian is the final instalment in the great Percy Jackson series. I have enjoyed this series a great deal and will no doubt read the other Rick Riordan series. My feelings were that each book in the series was better than the one before, I suspect that this could be due to my growing familiarity with the characters. When I read, I try not to over-analyse it too much. My reasons for reading are not to dissect the book and look for faults, but rather to take it at face value and get into the story that's being told. The crisis is at a climax. The final instalment of the series' overarching story, the survival of Olympus, is the focus of this book. By the time we get to this one there are loads of sub-plots which have been introduced in other books along the way. I found that in some parts it was a bit tricky to remember all of the sub-plot details. But, with a bit of brain power and memory jogging it wasn't really too hard to keep track of everything. Riordan did a great job of tidying up all of these storylines. During the book before this one I had formed some definite opinions on who I couldn't trust, but as I'm no Sherlock Holmes, my mystery solving weakness showed up and some of them ended up being wrong. I had also formed an opinion of Nico in the previous book (I didn't like him - I don't really know why) and even with the outcome of his story, I still didn't like him. Most of the characters were great to get to know, they each had their own story which evolved and climaxed along the way. One thing though, I didn't really 'get' what Percy's mum's new friend Paul added to the story, or why he was even in there - maybe I missed something. I guess it's these sorts of personal reactions to books and their characters that make books so interesting. Each reader is free to form their own opinion and interpretation. In a nutshell, the main aim of books is to entertain and provide an escape from our daily lives, the PJ series was successful in enabling this to happen. I would recommend the whole Percy Jackson series to readers who love adventure and action. It has some great humour threaded through it that makes it so relatable to our own modern world.

Percy Jackson is by far one of my favorite literary characters of all time. And, no disrespect intended to anyone out there, but in a one on one fight I think Percy would probably beat Harry Potter in a fight. I love both characters don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that it would be a lot of fun to watch. This book was a great way to end the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series and a good book to introduce The Heroes of Olympus series. I will try and review the book without giving any spoilers. The series finally comes to an end with the battle we have been waiting for. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood against the forces of Kronos. While the Gods are off fighting another foe perhaps even more terrifying than Kronos that leaves Percy Jackson and the other campers against...EVERYTHING ELSE! Percy receives a special 'blessing' through a dangerous and unconventional place that he needs in order to defeat Kronos and manages to turn old enemies into new allies. One thing I really enjoyed (Potential tiny spoiler here) is seeing Percy facing down the first monster he ever defeated in the Lightning thief and totally owning him showing how much Percy has progressed through the series. One thing that I always have hated when I finished a fantastic book series is that empty hole that you feel when it is over. With the end of this book you have the Kane Chronicles you can read (The Egyptian Counterpart series) or you can read the sequel to this series (The Heroes of Olympus) and after both of those they have three short stories combining the two and Rick Riordan has also started a Norse Series and a Sequel to The Heroes of Olympus series as well. So when you finish this book there is plenty of fun time to still be had.

MY RATING SYSTEM 5 stars--WOW 4 stars--would read again 3 stars--was good, won't read again 2 stars--read it, but didn't enjoy it 1 star--didn't finish, it was so awful Do I need to read books before this one: yes Cliffhanger: no SUMMARY Percy and Rachel have been spending a lot of time together over the summer. She invites him to vacation with her family in the Caribbean because she needs to talk to him about something. But Beckendorf shows up, It's time. Rachel kisses him for luck. Percy and Beckendorf fly to the Princess Andromeda on a mission to blow it up before it reaches New York Harbor tomorrow. Beckendorf looks at a picture of his girlfriend, Silena, daughter of Aphrodite. They sneak to the engine room and start setting explosives of Greek fire. They hear people coming. Percy will distract them so Beckendorf can keep working. He fights monsters and demigods. Luke/Kronos meets him, and within seconds Percy is surrounded. They'd known he was coming for weeks; Luke shows him the bracelet with the Titan's symbol as a charm. They duel. It's apparent Kronos hasn't fully taken over Luke. Nakamura brings Beckendorf out; he still wears the watch (detonator). There's no delay on it. Beckendorf brings his hand to the watch and Percy dives off the ship. EVALUATION For me, this book was like Endgame: you know the good guys are gonna win; it's a matter of how and with what losses. It didn't go like I thought it would. We meet even more gods and heroes and monsters. It is much more satisfying than I'd hoped. RECOMMENDATION Those who've read the first 4 books FAVORITE QUOTES My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil. “You want a bonbon? My dad sent them. He thought—he thought they might cheer me up.” “Are they any good?” She shook her head. “They taste like cardboard.” I didn’t have anything against cardboard, so I tried one. The other two were driven by harpies, who are basically demonic human/chicken hybrids with bad attitudes. We used the harpies mostly for cleaning the camp, but they did pretty well in midtown traffic too. “He looks like a magician. I hate magicians. They usually have rabbits.” I stared at him. “You’re scared of bunnies?” “Blah-hah-hah! They’re big bullies. Always stealing celery from defenseless satyrs!” Hope does not leave without being given permission. “You’re just as much of an outcast as I am! Stop being angry about it and do something helpful for once. That’s the only way they’ll respect you!” Hope survives best at the hearth. POSSIBLE TRIGGERS (SPOILERS) Sex: kisses Language: 0 F words, 8 Lord's name in vain, 0 S words Violence: war, human deaths, no gore

It is the best book in the series in my opinion. You truly get to see Percy grow as a remarkable young man.

I really like the characters and the plot development. The book has personality and the heroes are not safe (anyone could die). Good book.

At first I was bummed that The Last Olympian was going to be the final chapter of Percy Jackson and his demi-god friends. Until...I read the Riordan's acknowledgements page of the book..."As the first Camp Half-Blood series draws to a close, I have so many people to thank." That sentence from Rick Riordan seems to hint there will be more Camp Half-Blood adventures featuring more demi-gods coming to camp - hopefully Percy and friends will be part of them, but this gives me hope. The last book of THIS series of books was a non-stop adventure between the kid demi-gods, the gods who are their parents, and the Tital army, moving towards NYC to go up the Empire State Bldg, where Mt. Olympus is hanging way up above it. The conflicts from all the books, the mythological creatures featured, and the maturing of the characters we have come to love has been masterful. Riordan has done his mythological homework in this series - I am Greek and have studied mythology, and can speak and read Greek, and the wording of the Greek and translations were spot on. With Percy Jackson, Riordan has brought all things good about the Olympians that the gods and goddesses have seemed to forget - integrity, honor, bravery. The true reason the Titans got such a big army was from dissatisfied demi-gods who were mistreated and lesser gods who felt they had no sayso in the Pantheon. It sometimes takes a child to point the way. If Riordan isn't Greek, to me he's an honorary one! I look forward to more Camp Half-Blood adventures - with new kids born of gods and goddesses with mortals. And those frisky gods, you know there will be plenty of them! This series, and particularly this book in such detail integrates all the myths and gods and legends it is mind boggling. But such great fun! Riordon's imagination is stunning! This is one series that is best read from book 1 on - and what fun that is. Fantastic read and fantastic series!