“The Battle of the Labyrinth” by Rick Riordan

I had a snafu with the library app in the middle of reading this book, but I finally finished it. 

After the previous installment in the Percy Jackson series (The Titan’s Curse) started kicking things up a notch, this book really just continues that development. We of course see more of characters that were introduced in the previous book, and dive deeper into their growth and their characters. Rachel Elizabeth Dare of course makes a reappearance and is as wonderfully snarky as ever. Nico grows up from an annoying kid and becomes an angsty teenager. The prophecy is looming ever closer and Percy just cannot talk to girls for the life of him.

Essentially the plot follows Annabeth’s first quest. Chiron suspects that Luke’s forces are using the mythical labyrinth that Daedalus developed and wants to send a party into it to explore. After finding an entrance that leads directly to Camp Half-Blood, they are forced to do so. Annabeth knows the most about it and leads it, taking Grover, Percy, and Tyson with her. Percy and Annabeth get separated from Grover and Tyson when Grover finds a path that seems to lead to the god Pan. So they split up, since Percy and Annabeth are taking a side quest from the god Hephaestus to check out what’s been going on in his forge. Once they get there, Percy accidentally triggers a volcano and ends up bruised and beaten on Calypso’s island. There he has to make a choice: stay with Calypso and give up on the mortal world, or leave and never be able to return. Of course he elects to leave. Meanwhile back at the camp, they’ve given up on Percy for dead until he returns. Percy also realizes that they need the eyes of a mortal who can see through the Mist to navigate the maze. Which pulls in Rachel. Annabeth is very annoyed about the whole thing, both this new girl and Percy staying on an island with another girl. So their relationship becomes strained. They manage to catch up with Grover and Tyson just in time to find out that Pan is dying, and book it back to camp before Luke’s forces attack.

This battle is the titular one and it’s where you know that Riordan isn’t pulling any punches. Many characters die in the battle, both side ones and Daedalus himself. That destroys the labyrinth, making Camp Half-Blood safe again. But the group learns that Luke is now hosting the remaining soul of Kronos. This destroys Annabeth, especially since Percy wants to give up on Luke and she hasn’t stopped caring about him. So the book ends at an impasse between the two of them.

So there’s a lot going on in this story, as you can tell from the very long recap. I didn’t even mention Nico in it and his contributions to this book are pretty big. But his arc shows how he’s coping with life as an outsider. Since he’s the son of Hades, he has a lot of power at his disposal and is often shunned by the others. However, the book ends with Percy inviting Nico inside for a chat, and to celebrate Percy’s birthday. It’s a nice gesture, and hints at the role Nico will play in the next book.

There’s also the death of Pan. This section sometimes gets glossed over, but I think it’s key. Essentially Pan dies and tells Grover to take on the role of looking after all of the wild places himself instead of relying on a god. It’s a very obvious metaphor for what we all have to do to save nature and wild animals on earth. It’s up to us to make conservation efforts. It’s a good ending to Grover’s quest to find Pan though, and it’s nice to see that wrapped up.

A lot of this is leading the reader up to the final book in the series, The Last Olympian. Honestly I can’t wait to read it, the big ol’ prophecy will be happening and there will be so much drama. Here we go!