So let's jump into it right away :D
***SPOILERS ALERT, READ AT YOUR OWN RISKS!!***
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
published by Hyperion Books in May 2009All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of a victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows.
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.
In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.
Genre: Young Adult, fantasy
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book #5
The Story: The time has finally come, Percy is on the verge of turning 16 and the prophecy is about the become true. The last year has been difficult for all the half-bloods as they prepared for battle.
After losing a comrade in a raid the half-bloods organized, Percy realizes many things. First, there is a traitor among the half-bloods. Second, they have no chance to win as they are. If they want to survive, someone must be able to face off with Kronos who has taken over Luke's body, thus Percy has to get stronger. To do so, he has to follow Nico's insane plan: to bath in the Styx river.
Percy does so and returns to New York just in time, as the battle begins. Unfortunately, the half-bloods' odds still don't look good. Poseidon is busy fighting Oceanus, almost all the Greek gods have gone to fight Typhon, trying to stop his advance to New York. Many Titans have come out of their hiding places and lesser gods have also chosen to join with Kronos. All are making their way to New York, their goal being to reach Mount Olympus... and only the half-bloods (minus Ares cabin) are standing in their way.
My Opinion: The last book of a series is always read with apprehension, because at this point, everyone has expectations. It can either end the series on excellent not, save the series or ruin it ^_^; Well I'm glad to say that The Last Olympian belongs to the first category. It was simply a great book and definitively doesn't disappointed.
The most important I think was the plot. All 4 books have led to this moments and Mr Riordan doesn't screw up. Everything comes together in an excellent plot, all the loose ends are tied up, readers get their answers and are even surprised by some of the events. The action continues to be at the forefront, a definite important element of this series, but it doesn't overshadow the storylines. Instead, it reels the readers and the plot finishes the job by hooking them up LOL. Basically, you have everything in this book: betrayal, love, sacrifice and friendship. What makes it more realistic and better is that there are some losses, which is unfortunate... but necessary, I think.
Mr Riordan also does a great job, giving every characters some "screen" time. I was very happy to see everyone and even some new ones :P Seriously, this is a very hard thing to do when you have so many characters with such a complex storyline. In addition, the book was filled with surprises and twists. The most surprising one is about Luke. Very well written and thought out.
Perhaps the book was a bit more serious, with so many battles to fight. Still, Mr Riordan was able to add in some humorous scenes :) So, there's a great balance in this book. Basically, whatever worked in previous books worked in this one and it seemed to me Mr Riordan surpassed himself :)
The only thing one would complained is the characters' development. Personally, I was happy with it. The development of the characters is not as pronounced, but still continues in this final volume. It seems to me, all the half-bloods have grown up and matured. This battle has obviously weighted heavily on their shoulders and you can feel it. Percy's feelings and relationships finally get sort out. I was satisfied with it :)
My Grade: A-. Again, this was a book I just couldn't read fast enough, wanting to know what would happen. The best about it is that the ending was very satisfying :) Of course, there's a new prophecy indicating that perhaps, Mr Riordan would write a sequel or another series and that's simply good news :)
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There it is, the movie trailer :) If you go on Youtube, you'll find a lot of clips and other trailers as well. It's worth a look :) I'm hoping to see the movie eventually (I'll have to juggle with the Olympics schedule LOL).
It's hard to say based on the trailer only... The execution looks great, I'm just worried for the adaptation. By the way, there are plans for a second movie to come out in 2012. So hopefully, they don't screw up too much ^_^;
Stay tuned tomorrow :) I'll have a short post about my overall thoughts on the series and a contest :D
