Steph L
Written on Oct 16, 2020
"The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land--Greece itself--to find the Doors of Death"--
- ISBN10 1423140605
- ISBN13 9781423140603
- Publish Date 2 October 2012
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Hyperion Books for Children
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 608
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781423140603
Reviews
thepunktheory
Written on Jun 19, 2016
And how he does it! I really thought that after the Amazons and Iris with her ROFL-store I couldn't get nay better. However, Riordan surprised me again. You should know that in total this book is a bit darker and not as funny as the other installments. But don't worry, there will still be some parts that make you smile, I promise ;-)
Furthermore, we also encounter many place across the world and Riordan simply weaves them perfectly into his modern mythology plot-lines.
What I really like about The Mark of Athena is that each character gets more responsibility and acts independently. I feel like there are more solo or small group mission. Especially Annabeth's very own challenge was super thrilling. I held my breath the entire time!
Another important point I love about Riordan's books is that his characters are not too stereotypical. This is a problem I often have with YA novels, but Riordan does well! This brings me to another point that really annoys me about many YA stuff: love stories. YA in general seems to have a tendency to slowly drift towards a romance loaded plot that simply is not interesting to me anymore and I get super upset that the story strays so much from the initial starting point. However, even when Riordan introduces some love story aspect, he handles it perfectly. He gives it exactly the right amount of space to develop and become deep and meaningful without losing the focus!
Summing up I can only say that The Mark of Athena is as brilliant as the other books in the Heroes of Olympus series! Go check it out!
Nessa Luna
Written on Jun 20, 2015
Baroness Book Trove
Written on Jul 8, 2014
To me a lot has happened in this book. We learn that Athena sends only the bravest and smartest of her kids to find a statue that the Romans stole and put away somewhere safe where no one would find it. We have all seven of the demigods together on one ship with Coach Hedge to supervise them.
We also find out that no demigod from either of the two camps have "gone back to the homelands", meaning Greece and Rome, because of the many monsters that live in the Mediterranean Sea. Though it is there that Leo, Frank, and Hazel fell overboard all only because before that Leo was taken to the past via Hazel so that he can see why Frank keeps on asking him if he was Sammy. It's there we find out that Sammy is Leo's great-grandfather. It was at these underwater palace that we found a training center for the underwater heroes. Though Percy was quite upset about that they didn't want to meet him. Since he is the son of the water god but they just didn't want to met him.
To read more of this review please come to my blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-mark-of-athena-by-rick-riordan.html
Sarah Says
Written on Feb 6, 2014
The extreme pace and non-stop action of the story propels you forward, the story races over the pages. I’m only dropping it to Four stars instead of Five because in places I felt like some events got rushed as Riordan was trying to fit so much in. Unfortunately the story ends and the cliff-hanger with Percy and Annabeth will have you racing out to get the next book (the House of Hades).
I will add though that I really missed Tyson and Mrs O’Leary, their presence always warms my heart, I am rather hopping we will see them back again in the last book (The Blood of Olympus) for the final battle.
The hard work for our favourite demigods has only just begun!
Four out of Five Stars – Bring on the House of Hades!!
Mercy
Written on Jan 14, 2014
No puedo con mi vida :(
Chelsea
Written on Sep 23, 2013
I really loved how developed the characters. During the book when they go off on mini quests, we can see more about the characters. The author makes you change your perspective of all the characters. I thought Jason was a show-off and Piper the typical girl who doesn’t do anything but they all prove you wrong. I love that we even learned more about Percy and Annabeth.
Berls
Written on Feb 17, 2013
Though I wouldn't recommend the audio version of this book - the narration took me a while to get past - the book is a lot of fun. Although the Official Synopsis makes it sound like the book centers around Annabeth, her story is really only a very small part of it. The central idea of this story seems, at least to me, to uniting Roman and Greek forces: a seemingly impossible task. The Romans: Leo and Hazel and the Greeks: Annabeth, Piper, and Leo don't trust each other; it's only their relationships with Percy and Jason, who've both grown close to both the Roman and Greek camps in the first two books of the series that hold the two groups together.
This is also a book about growing up - as so many Young Adult novels are. The characters are growing up and learning about themselves, trying out their abilities, exploring their relationships, and challenging their limits.
At the same time, the stories are getting a bit old. After the Percy Jackson series and the first two books of the Heroes of Olympus, the demigods challenges are all starting to sound familiar. Yes, technically they are facing new evils and getting out of them in new ways - but ultimately there's a familiar Greek/Roman bad guy does something and they overcome - using their abilities, their parental connections, and friends. The modern twist to ancient myths remains fun, but not as new and inventive as they once seemed.
All said, the adventures of Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, Piper, Frank, and Hazel are doused in Riordian's typical ridiculousness that leaves you laughing. As usual, he leaves you eager for the next installment - this time with one hell of a cliff hanger.
KitsuneBae
Written on Feb 1, 2013
If you have managed to read the Son of Neptune (SoN), you can definitely relate to how I desperately waited for this book to come out. Son of Neptune, though excellent ended with a big cliffhanger that it made me want to read the next book right there and then. I am happy to report that MOA answered the major questions in SoN nicely. Annabeth was finally reunited with Percy and the seven demigods were introduced to each other.
Rick Riordan’s brand of humor was absolutely present in this book that it was hard to get bored even after reading a lot of pages. What’s more is that the humor was multiplied seven times as MOA was told from the POVs of seven demigods. For some books, this approach might confuse the readers but it worked quite well in MOA since for me, it is important to connect intimately with our heroes and heroines. What I admire most in Rick’s character building is that he can manage to make all the seven demigods unique in their own ways. There are no duplicates; each one has his or her own individuality. And how Rick managed to make them all loveable and appealing, I don’t know. That’s still a mystery that I would like to ask Rick if ever I get that kind of opportunity. Amongst all the seven demigods, I think Leo Valdez really shone out in this book with his awesomeness and confidence in beating Narcissus for the “Coolness and Gorgeousness” award.
A lot of things are happening in MOA that I didn’t get bored even for a minute. Its subplots were as engaging as the main plot that I can’t complain about “lack of action scenes.” And the nice thing about it is that every sub-plot connected to the main plot to create an ambitious story such as this one. It neatly integrated the story of the gods into the modern world which makes the story more exciting than ever. Even the world building remained consistent transporting me to the places of so long ago where the godly battles occurred.
Like the previous books, MoA also has its share of interesting entourage of gods and goddesses. And while it is almost impossible to introduce a lot of gods and goddesses in one book without sacrificing their characterization, Rick has managed to pull it off with a flourishing grace. This is perhaps why I love Rick’s version of Greek mythology because he made these gods unforgettable by giving them personalities that the average person can relate to.
I was also thankful that Rick managed to keep the romance to a bare minimum and wholesome. Yet it didn’t fail to show that the romantic relationships of the characters are developing into something deeper. I must admit that I feel giddy every time I arrive on MOA’s romantic scenes.
While I immensely enjoyed MOA, I still wished that we could have gotten glimpses of Grover, Tyson and Percy’s mother. I am quite curious as to what happened to the latter after Percy’s disappearance and I would love to see a heartwarming reunion between mother and son.
In an overall assessment, MoA has done it again, a story brimming with freshness and ending with another cliffhanger. This would surely make Rick’s fans salivate with wanting for the House of Hades to come out.
Stephanie
Written on Oct 20, 2012
Why do I have to wait?