The Trials of Apollo is a five-book series by Rick Riordan, the author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series. The series is a sequel to previous series and pretty much demands you to have read them first to understand all the cameos and constantly mentioned incidents. The Trials of Apollo is, much like previous books, a YA fantasy with mentions of Greek and roman mythology except that this one also has a LGBT tag as Apollo is bisexual. I will warn for spoilers as well as I will go into some of it, such as death to discuss the overall impact on the story.
I have decided to slam my review of the series together for a simple reason. Much like previous books this series is very formulaic. Hence the same complaint I have follows the books. I don’t want to repeat myself too much so I just write a review of the entire series instead of struggling like I did with previous series to say something new when the critic is the same.
The books in the series are the following:
1. The Hidden Oracle: Apollo has fallen from grace, meeting a demigod called Megan goes to camp half-blood to try and find a way to become a god again. He learns that his old nemesis, Python is back along with some old emperors looking to become gods.
2. The Dark Prophecy: Apollo goes to the Wayward Station to try and find a long lost oracle along with an old lover who has kidnapped a little girl.
3. The Burning Maze: Apollo goes to find Jason to bring down a emperor looking to become a sun god, while burning down the home of dryads.
4. The Tyrant’s Tomb: Apollo brings Jason’s body back to the Legion to bring the fight to the Triumvirate and get revenge for his fallen brother.
5. The Tower of Nero: Faces old enemies as Apollo fights against Nero and Python.
Honestly each book follows a similar formula. A homebase, such as camp half-blood or the wayward station. We get cameos from previous books, they attack the bad guys base, fail, then return to homebase to defend it. Someone dies and the bad guys are killed. Repeat for each book and you have the formula for each book.
Much like in previous books (different formula but a formula non the less) it get’s predictable and frankly very few books hit home well. I think the best one was the third one, as the death in that one (Jason Grace, the main character of a previous series) follows the other two books and it is a turning point for Apollo as a character. He for the first time wants to live up to his brother’s expectations and last wish which trigger a change in his character.
All other deaths are more a way to give shock value. “I remember that character from previous books and now they are dead!”. Honestly, most of them are barely in the book and only get a few mentions from time to time.
I also dislike, much like in previous books, the nonchalance the mythology have been used. Many of these stories are dark, mention of rape and the like, but Riordan has dumbed it down to be child friendly which often lead to the original message being gone. One example of this is the Daphne story that is about Apollo chasing a dryad who doesn’t want him to the point of her killing herself. This happens after he being hit with an arrow from Eros while the dryad is hit with an arrow of unrequired love. It misses the point as Riordan tries to explain that there has to be love there from the beginning for it to work, and frames it as a sad love story while in reality, both back then and today, it’s about not forcing someone to love them.
It’s also interesting that the guy, Hyacinthus, who actually has a lover story with Apollo is downplayed while Daphne who Apollo hasn’t even spent time with is constantly mentioned as his great love. I don’t get the way how Riordan uses the mythology, and I have never liked it. I’m not sure Greek and Roman mythology is a good base for a children’s book. But maybe that is just me.
What I like with the series is what everyone else seem to hate. That is the main character. I like Apollo as he, unlike previous main characters of Riordan’s series, are a very flawed character. He is not strong, not very bright and constantly has to rely on friends and family to get by. All while previous characters, often used rather well in the story, teach him about bravery, compassion and humanity. Something he has previously lacked.
Apollo is in no way a hero, and certainly not the Mary Sue of previous book. He constantly messes up, strumbles, get hurt and often faints at the end instead of being the kickass hero Percy and Jason was. Of course, those who enjoy the power fantasy of previous books might dislike this book as here it is not the main character who is the Mary Sue, but his companion Meg.
I’m not sure about Meg to be honest. She is mostly there as a tool. Either to be the Mary Sue that is lacked from previous books. Apparently Riordan has to have a overpowering child to beat down the entire army. Or to act as a way for Apollo to realize his own abuse by his father by comparing his life to Meg’s. She gets some sidestory though, so that is good and I didn’t really hate her. It just felt strange how much focus the story puts on her when she is mostly just running around the back while Apollo should be in focus.
I’m not sure about the cameos either. Some I liked, such as Jason who truly impact the story. Will and Nico’s cameo makes sense considering Will being Apollo’s son. Grover’s were also fine he actually has a part in the story. Other’s just felt random and thrown in for the fun of it, or for them to die. It became a bit overpowering after a while.
I had wanted a bit more scenes between Apollo and Jason as those two left the largest impact on each other and the story. Other than that, I enjoyed the story, though it surprised me as I didn’t like the other series by Riordan. I don’t enjoy the Mary Sues, and this one certainly didn’t have one as a main character. There was some flaws, and I can see fans of previous series disliking this one if only because it has a different concept. It’s not about a perfect person who becomes recognized for his greatness or teaches others about goodness. This is about flawed person learning to become a better person. Which I enjoyed.
I would give it a 7 out of 10. Some books was a bit lacking, and it was very predictable but some scenes left an impact and I enjoyed the main character. I’m not sure I would recommend it though as I worry the fans of previous series might not enjoy it, but I certainly did.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
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