Didn't read the first two books in the series? I REVIEWED THEM ALREADY!
Book #1: THE LOST HERO
Book #2: THE SON OF NEPTUNE
If you didn't read the previous series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians, I reviewed all five books from that series as well, and you can find links to all of them in my review of The Lost Hero.
Amazon summary to do this sort of well, "In The Son of Neptune, Percy, Hazel, and Frank met in Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Camp Halfblood, and traveled to the land beyond the gods to complete a dangerous quest. The third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will unite them with Jason, Piper, and Leo. But they number only six--who will complete the Prophecy of Seven?
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 to find the Doors of Death. What exactly are the Doors of Death? Much of the prophecy remains a mystery. . . .
With old friends and new friends joining forces, a marvelous ship, fearsome foes, and an exotic setting, The Mark of Athena promises to be another unforgettable adventure by master storyteller Rick Riordan." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
So for this review, as this book is relatively current, I will not be giving a blow by blow summary. I'm going to try and keep it to the first third of the book and then give you my reaction about the end. There's a ton of neat stuff that happens in this book, and I'd much rather you read it than have me spoil all of it.
So the book begins with Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Coach Hedge all meeting the populace of Camp Jupiter where Hazel, Percy, and Frank await them. At first, it started out a bit rocky as the God that protects Camp Jupiter exploded onto their ship and demand that they do not enter camp with weapons or the Argo II. So they end up docking the Argo II in the sky and scrambling down some ladders to get to actual camp. Percy and Annabeth have an adorable moment in front of the camp filled with kisses and Annabeth flipping Percy over, but you know, romance is bound to be a little bumpy from time to time.
While they're at camp, Annabeth kind of touches on the whole 'Mark of Athena' thing that isn't delved into without greater detail into later in the book. It plays a big part though, so there's that.
So they kind of have an interesting beginning in camp with the Romans still on edge around them and the few Greek kids trying to get them to trust them. And then Octavian and Leo go up in the Argo II for Leo to give Octavian a tour, and well the Argo II starts to fire upon Camp Jupiter. Octavian is seen screaming and running from the ship with sizzling clothes and such crying that the Greeks are out to get them. The whole camp gets in an uproar and the seven demi-gods for the quest (Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank) all scramble aboard the Argo II and make a run for it.
The Roman eagles begin pursuit of the Argo II and then things get a bit weirder. Hazel mistakes Leo for Sammy (see The Son of Neptune where Sammy is revealed to be her first love/crush whatever; SHE'S THIRTEEN), and Frank gets a little jealous while Leo is like, "Um...does this mean you like me? I'LL TOTALLY KIND OF TRY TO SHRUG THIS OFF. HA HA...no really, do you like me?"
They get chased by the eagles for a long time and set down to find some celestial bronze to repair the ship with since it took some nasty damage while fleeing Camp Jupiter. So Leo and Hazel go with Arion to find the bronze and they come across Narcissus and Echo. That's a hilarious moment. They manage to get the bronze away from Narcissus and get back to the ship to find that everyone else is back on board. Leo and Annabeth rush down to make the repairs and the rest of the crew fend off the nyads that are in love with Narcissus.
They end up making their way to a place that Piper saw in her magic knife only to discover that Dionysus/Bacchus is there. They have an interesting conversation with him before the god figures out it's a trap and vanishes, but Piper, Percy, and Jason are not so lucky. Gaea takes control of Percy and Jason and tries to get Piper to chose which one shall live and which one shall die, and due to her lack of choosing, Gaea gets them to start fighting each other. Jason winds up getting knocked out and Percy is knocked out by Blackjack who he summoned earlier for a ride. Piper manages to get both unconscious boys back to the ship, and when they wake up, they discover that Eidolon spirits had possessed Leo (when he set the Argo II after camp Jupiter), Jason, and Percy. She makes them leave and swear on the River Styx to not possess any of them again and banishes them from the ship.
There are a couple of 'couple' moment strengthening things between Piper/Jason, Annabeth/Percy and then they discover the Nico is being held hostage by the twin giants that were made to take down Dionysus/Bacchus. He has five days left to live since he went into a hibernation kind of mode and is living off of the pomegranate seeds from Persephone's garden.
That's about a third of the way through the book.
My reaction to the ending of the book was lot of cursing, shutting the book, rereading the last chapter, and cursing some more. I WANT the fourth book to come out badly. But I have to wait until this fall. GROAN.
...happy reading!
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