The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

I am still extremely happy that I read the Percy Jackson books and I am a little sad that it is all over, because I really enjoyed The Last Olympian. However, I do not plan on reading the other Olympian books. More on that later.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

For a year now, the demi-gods have been preparing for battle against Luke and the Titans, and now the time has come. While the gods handle Typhon who is crossing the States, the demi-gods are trying to protect Manhattan from Kronos. But there is one person they did not expect to have to battle: the Lord of Time. And maybe this wouldn't be so stressful if Percy knew where Grover was, but no one has heard from him in months. With Percy's sixteenth birthday approaching, he knows that means the prophecy is close to unfolding, but will it be in favor of the gods or the Titans?

This book really does an amazing job of bringing everything from the previous four books together. Little things that you forgot about, big things that have been plaguing you from the beginning, at the end of this book, everything makes sense in a beautiful way. Obviously, Pan was resolved in book four, but the satyr elders have yet to believe Grover and the others with what they saw and were told, leaving the satyrs split in how they should be proceeding. Even that is nicely tied up by the end of it and Grover is given the respect he deserves.

(Source: Giphy)

I was amazed at how long the book was and how much was packed into it. It's one of the longer, if not longest, books in the series. This allows Riordan to answer all of our questions in a way that makes sense and is gratifying, but isn't overdone. We finally learn how that the twins got out of the Locus Hotel, and that Hades wasn't as against a war of the gods as he said in the first book. We see growth of characters, like Clarice, from a bratty teenager to a young woman finding her place in the world of demi-gods. Even Rachel, who has slowly played a bigger role each book since the fourth, makes sense as to why she was brought into the series and why she can see through the mist so clearly. But the book wasn't so long that it dragged on or felt weighed down with unnecessary side quests and petty banter. I would say that of all the series I have read, this one really all comes back together nicely and is a good example of balance.

At the end, it does set up more books. The Heroes of Olympus is the second series by Riordan. It's another five books that discuss the new set of demi-gods and the Prophecy that Rachel relates at the end of The Last Olympian, and I assume appearances by characters from the Percy Jackson series. The other series is The Trials of Apollo, but I don't know where it fits into the Percy Jackson universe. So here is my problem with this. I have read too many disastrous spin off series. Mainly, I think of The Mortal Instrument spin offs, or even the last three books, that have clearly been written because the author knows it will bring in money because people are loyal to the characters. I don't want to read a book with the same character just because I love the characters; I only want to read about them if there is actually something to read about. JK Rowling knew when to stop. Stephanie Meyer knew when to stop. I don't want my wonderful experience to be ruined because Riordan didn't know when to stop. I know I won't know that unless I read them, but I don't want anything to change my feelings here, so I'm stopping before I get ahead of myself, just in case.

(Source: Giphy)

All that being said, I really would recommend these books to young readers. The subject matter isn't too heavy or too dark; I'd say it would be great for pre-teens, or younger readers who are precocious. Even I, a 29 year old, really enjoyed them. They helped me escape COVID and moving drama.

Rating: 9/10
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 5 of 5)
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mythology
Dates Read: April 1-2, 2020