In this last chapter of the Percy Jackson Olympian saga, the heroes of Camp Half-Blood make their final stand against the Titan Kronos and his armies to decide the fate of Olympus and the world. Faced with a fatal prophecy, sacrifice, and betryal, Percy is forced to question what truly makes a hero and whether Olympus is truly worth protection.
One word describes this book: Epic.
When I read this final book of the Percy Jackson series I felt most like I was reading a Greek epic poem updated for modern times. It still had the humor and camp of the rest of the series that I've enjoyed, but it's easily the darkest of all. The entire book is basically one huge battle scene. Normally that would be a bad thing for me, and I still felt like I had to catch my breath from time to time, but I do feel this book was amazingly well done.
I LOVED the identity of the Last Olympian referred to in the title. I never would have guessed who it was, but it was PERFECT. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first, but it gave the book a beautiful depth and meaning. It is the Last Olympian who helps Percy see what's worth fighting for.
I was also satisfied with the resolution of the romance and the ending as a whole.
This is the section where I'll discuss the details of the book as if I were in a book club. Great if you've read the book, but if you haven't, beware the spoilers and zombie soldiers.
What I really like is how Riordan doesn't pull his punches. This book really dealt with death and war in a realistic way. Even when he killed secondary characters I got choked up every time, which both shows his skill in building up the characters and in making you care about a character who's not the main character. For example, both Beckendorf and Silena's deaths choked me up and I don't usually get choked up over characters I don't know all that well. But Riordan managed to make the circumstances so tragic. When Beckendorf sacrificed himself to destroy Kronos's ship and when Silena turned out to be the repentant spy I almost cried. I definitely got a lump in my throat when Percy declared Silena a hero in spite of how she had betrayed them. It also wasn't like a forced forgiveness like I've always felt the forgiveness of Edmund in the Chronicles of Narnia was. I truly believed that Percy was right; Silena did believe she was doing the right thing, and she sacrificed her life in an attempt to set things right. It beautifully mirrored what happened to Luke at the end.
I was also very happy that Percy and Annabeth ended up together. The kissing underwater definitely a great romantic use of Percy's powers. It was a little convenient that Rachel ended up the oracle and therefore couldn't be with Percy. But it was still good.
While I was glad the series had a definite ending, I was happy to see the new prophecy. I've watched interviews with Riordan where he promises that the first Olympian series is done, but there will be a new series, and I'm looking forward to it because I was glad that I'll be able to see how the changes in Camp Half-Blood will take effect. I was so excited that they finally bult cabins to all the gods. It changes things so much.
But by far my favorite part of this book was Hestia. Riordan read my mind again. Not only have I always wanted a story with hippalektryon, but I've always loved the goddess Hestia. Most people would think that's strange because she so rarely features in mythology at all and she's the goddess of the hearth. Hardly exciting. But I loved her because of those things. Hestia represents home and family, both things I love, and she is not renowned for cruelty like the other gods often are. She's also a mystery. Since she doesn't get in the same scrapes as the other gods, she's rarely talked about.
Hestia was the perfect last Olympian. At first, even with as much as I loved her, I thought it strange that Riordan didn't choose a more grandiose god to be the last Olympian. But in the end it was elegant and perfect. Hestia would be the only one who would never leave the hearth of Olympus. And she was the perfect goddess to guard hope for Percy since protecting home and family were at the center of Percy's hopes, and those are what he was driven to protect in the end.
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