The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
The following contains spoilers for books 1-4 of HoO, but not The Blood of Olympus.
Title: The Blood of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Heroes of Olympus #5
Spin off to: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Pages: 516
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Publishing date: October 7th, 2014
Rating: 4 stars ):
Spotify playlist: The Blood of Olympus
Previous reviews: The Lost Hero, The House of Hades
It's no secret that I have a particular weakness for finales, and not even because they usually please me. I love them because they're a particular art in writing. Of all installments, they're hardest to pull off. And the more fame your series acquires, the higher the stakes. In one final BANG, all loose ends should be tied, all your dramatic conflict resolved, and the tone for the entire series set and, not unimportant, the final sentence.
Some of my favorite finales:
Deathly Hallows (THE QUEEN STRIKES AGAIN)
Mockingjay (unpopular opinion)
The Last Olympian (I know your skills, Rick)
The Winner's Kiss
Some that left me iffy:
Winter (wrong time, wrong place, I guess)
Son (the Giver quartet)
Disappointing:
The Death Cure (messy)
Allegiant (style, not ending)
I think my main problem with this book was that I expected something grand and more spectacular, and it just wasn't there.
The spoiler section for The Blood of Olympus starts here.
After the amazing fifth installment to PJO that was The Last Olympian, my expectations were high. I was expecting a gigantic battle of at least 250 pages with gods and Titans and monsters and Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. I was hoping for an incredible climax where I would have chattering teeth and boiling blood. I was preparing for a major plot twist that would put everything in perspective. I was rooting for everyone and hoped for sentimental flashbacks and astounding character development. What I eventually felt was, "Eh."
A Guide to Writing Finales by Sennett Young
1. Write till your fingers bleed.
Your last book is allowed to be extremely big, like 800 pages if you need them. Don't limit yourself. The longer you've been building up tension, the more time the resolving of all that tension can and should cost. Your audience expects something grand. Use that expectation to your advantage and stretch the page number a little to include extra details and long fight sequences.
2. Listen to your audience.
Simply check who's whose favorite character to accomplish the POVs. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank didn't narrate anything in this book, which I understand because they were so present and developing in HoH, but still. I liked them so much, more than Piper and Jason. I loved Leo, Nico, and Reyna, but they only did, like, half of the book. The absence of the other four Argo crew members occasionally made me forget they were even there. I wish everyone had had some attention instead of focusing so strongly on the three friends from The Lost Hero. We all missed Percy for a reason. Okay, this has turned into a 'listen to me', but that aside, the whole set of characters needs attention and love in your final book.
3. Resolve or be literary.
If you've made a point out of something, I want you to address that point later on and show me how relevant it is. Percy's fatal flaw could have played in so strongly, but it was kind of left hanging as a potential problem in Leo's masterplan. Ella's presented as the most important bird in Greek history in SoN (Haha.). I expected her and wanted her to play a big role in the final battle against Gaia. Literature may leave boxes unchecked, but this was not literature.
4. Villain defeating is hard.
Gaia is there for, what? Three chapters? One KABOOM is all it takes to put that b!tch back into her slumber? Please. To me, there was no sense of a moment suprème or a real challenge. Giants are suddenly the weakest beings ever and Gaia is just a tiny Earth Lady Festus can hold suspended in the air. Also, don't split your battle like that. It makes both parts feel small and unimportant.
5. Killing characters is realistic but I get that it wasn't planned.
It's just beyond Rick to kill off one of the Seven. I didn't expect him to. Just like The Lunar Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus is a sugar cane book. Yes, there are stakes and there is suffering, but it's not going to leave me whimpering at two in the morning because everyone is dropping dead. *eyes Divergent* *shies away from The Hunger Games* *yells at J.K. Rowling* However, a little death and destruction can make your story more real. These lovely disposable side characters you have? They could die. In very memorable ways. With great character development. You guys might get ideas about what type of author I would be.
Things I Did Really Like by Sennett Young
1. Nico di Angelo's POV and boyfriend possibilities.
He and Reyna are two bad-asses. He and Will Solace are the ship. And Percy's reaction to his confession was hilarious.
2. The encounter with Asclepius.
His character and all the scenes revolving around him were fascinating.
3. The ending.
Even though I disliked the ending, I do respect Riordan's choice to make it a little bittersweet. I still with this was canon, though.
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