The Burning Maze

Third book in the Trials of Apollo series. Keep tissues.

Author: Rick Riordan

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend: Fans of the Percy Jackson, and the Heroes of Olympus series will love (and curse) this book. It is the best release yet in The Trials of Apollo series and features the return of previous characters like Grover and Piper, and also has in store some major heartache. Keep your Kleenex ready; you’ve been warned.

Apollo, the most gorgeous and glorious Greek God (his words, not mine) of music, poetry, archery and a ton of other things has been punished to live on Earth as an awkward, acne-ridden teenager in the name of Lester Papadopoulus (that’s what happens when you anger Zeus). Bound into service by demigod Meg McCaffrey the two of them set out on a quest to free Apollo’s seven oracles that have gone dark.

In the third book, Apollo is going through his third trial, to free the Oracle Herophile; Herophile is bound in chains by the evil sorceress Medea in the Labyrinth. What’s Medea doing you ask? She is gathering her dead Grandfather, Helios’s (former God of sun before Apollo) essence and plans to extract Apollo’s remaining essence as well to put into an evil Roman emperor Caligula (extremely sadistic, clever and horrible) to make him the new Sun God.

Roman Emperor Caligula who just couldn't stay dead 

This level of messed up can only come from Rick Riordan’s fantastic mind.

I loved this book for all the reasons which make it a Rick Riordan novel and more. Apollo’s narration is of course refreshing and hilarious; however, his gradual transition from a vain, selfish, ignorant and a very much proud God into someone who is finally experiencing sorrow, emotion and compassion is what really drew me in.

“Oh, villainy!

             Please explain to me why I always end up falling into dumpsters.”

In the first two books, Apollo was almost always wallowing in self pity. He was embarrassed, a coward, pretty much useless and the whole entire reason behind why a trio of evil Roman Emperor’s had managed to ensnare all seven oracles. The whole thing is literally Apollo’s fault and in the third book, he realizes it. He admits it to himself. I loved seeing Apollo care in this book – without even realizing it, he was becoming such a better human than he ever was as a God! Throughout the book, I also loved seeing Meg maturing into a better person. A child with such a troubled past, at one point I was afraid she would take a dark turn like Luke Castellan did in the Percy Jackson series. But, despite her many sorrows, we see Meg being responsible with the tremendous amounts of power she has been given.

“Promise me one thing. Whatever happens, when you get back to Olympus, when you're a God again – remember. Remember what it's like to be human.” ~ Jason to Apollo."

Jason Grace

In The Burning Maze, we meet many beloved characters from the previous series: Grover, Piper, Jason, Leo and even Coach Hedge all make a reappearance. To be honest, I have never connected to Grover in the other books as I have in this one: he has transformed into a responsible leader and has come a long way from being Percy Jackson’s insecure guardian in The Lightning Thief. Rick also gives us a look into Piper’s life after the events of The Heroes of Olympus series; after a messy breakup with Jason, and losing her family home in Malibu, she is moving to Oklahoma, back to the small house she grew up in.

I always thought that being a demigod and living their lives would be a far better substitute than my own… however, in The Burning Maze, Riordan shows us that no matter how many powers you have, or who’s child you are, everyone has their own ordinary problems. The breakup between Piper and Jason felt very, very real.

And finally, for Jason Grace: my heart broke, it really did. He was a kind, courageous, and selfless demigod. He did not deserve that miserable, painful, and utterly abysmal ending that Rick gave him. Jason Grace, son of the great God Zeus, gave his last breath protecting his friends. My heart broke for Piper McLean, who still loved him till the very end.

Apollo when he fell to Earth

“From now on, I would be more than Lester. I would be more than an observer.

I would be Apollo.

I would remember.”

Put concisely, till now The Burning Maze is one of the finer pieces of Rick Riordan’s work. My only qualm with the book was the way Jason died; apart from that, the story telling was a true masterpiece. The Styx has hinted more death to come in the next books; if anything happens to Percy/Leo, there will be war Rick. Count on it.