Preview of The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

hidden oracleWe are big fans of Rick Riordan here at Stacks so we or at least I am since Kate has yet to finish Blood of Olympus (and I will continue to publically shame her until she does, out of love of course). We saw that USA TODAY published the cover to the first book of Rick’s new series The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle.  The series is a small spoiler as to what happens to a certain God at the end of the last series but then again, if you know your Greek Mythology then you know that Apollo has a history of pissing off Zeus and that he gets turned into a human. The most exciting part of all of this is that it returns us to Percy Jackson’s world and another trip to Camp Half-Blood.  Rick may explore other mythologies like Egyptian in the Kane Chronicles and Norse in his latest Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard but he always seems to come back to Greek mythology and Percy. USA TODAY not only revealed the cover but also publish a short excerpt and it’s pretty clear that Apollo is in for a world of hurt.  After ten books from demi-gods point of view, it’s going to be fun to read from a God’s point of view, even if it is one turned human.

Who else is excited to read about Apollo’s adventures?  Or who is more excited about more Percy and the gang?  Is it May yet?

Series You Should Check Out: The Goddess Wars by Kendare Blake

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Ungodly is the final book in the Goddess War Trilogy.  The Greek Gods may not be worshiped like they did in Ancient Greece but being Immortal, they are still around and living mostly normal lives.  That is until they mysteriously start getting sick.  Gods are not supposed to get sick but Athena is coughing up feathers, Hermes is wasting away, Aphrodite has gone mad. Artemis is perpetually being hunted, just name a few.  Athena and Hermes set out to try to figure out what is going on.   This leads them to find the mortal heroes from the Trojan wars, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Cassandra and Andromache.  The thing is that they are now teenage kids who have no idea who they really are/were or are just waking up to it.  Only thing they know is that they are in a world of trouble.

I like this series because it was fun to read but also an interesting take on Greek Myths.  These Gods and Goddess are not Greek Gods of Rick Riordan.  They are not all gathered in one place on Mount Olympus at the Empire State Building keeping tabs on the world below.  They are scattered about the world with litter to no contact with each other.  They have gone on living their own lives and well still holding the same grudges for thousands of years.  Also the threat of dying has really humanize them in ways they never could be before.  They learn what it feels to live with the uncertainty that they will live to see tomorrow.  As for their human heroes, the Gods, particularly Athena and Hermes, find they are more sympathetic to them.  They are not just weapons to be used when needed but actually people with actual lives.

Cassie is really Cassandra who was a oracle during the Trojan War that Apollo cursed that no one will believe her.  Now in modern day she’s just Cassie who is in love with Aiden, oblivious to what’s going on until she meets Athena and Hermes.  She finds out that not only she a character from the Ilaid but so is her brother Henry (Hector) and her best friend Andie (Andromache). Oh and Aiden is actually Apollo, who feels really bad about that whole curse thing.  Considering the past run in the Gods didn’t go so well, you can probably bet that they aren’t going to get along all that well in the present either.  I definitely love how all of them at one point or another stand up the the various Gods.  They don’t just fall in line and do whatever they are told do.  It takes some major gumption to stand up to Athena. They each are in various states of conscience of who they were and they each have to figure out who they are now.  Do they just except that it is their fate to relieve the same drama all over again or do they choose their own path?  Isn’t that what we all struggle with?

There is a lot of action throughout the series.  Gods taking on each other.  Of course, Hera is a villain, when isn’t she?  You almost have to feel sorry for Hera.  She is constantly playing the villain.  To be fair, she did do some pretty terrible things but to be also fair she also endures some pretty terrible things too.  Anyway, total side note.  There are a lot of twists and turns and not afraid of killing off characters for the sake of the story.  It’s fun read for all those who love Greek Mythology, kick ass heroes and heroines and action.