The Hidden Oracle

Update 2022: As an update for my journey through every Percy Jackson Universe book, I decided to re-read this book before I take on the rest of the series. After looking over my original review, I must admit that little has changed. I still think that Apollo becoming mortal is the best aspect of this book, and the worst is this book having to justify its own existence in the Percy Jackson Universe.

The one thing that was new that I liked is how, with this book at least, the journey was fairly small in scale. This means that the opening book is a journey that does not go beyond the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood, a nice change of pace from the other first books in Riordan's series.

Sadly, that is about it for me. The rest of my review still stands. I am not really looking forward to this series, as much as I hope, but hey, maybe the next book can change my mind. I give this book a two out of five.



Original Review 2017: Let me start off this review by saying that I was somewhat apprehensive by this book. I had been with Percy since the very beginning, and I loved both the first series and the Heroes of Olympus series. I did and still do sing their praises. I still think those novels are great! Still, when I heard that Riordan was releasing The Sword of Summer or a series about the Norse gods, I was a little excited to see what he would do with it. And sure, it was a regurgitation of the standard Riordan formula, but I still really enjoyed it. It was a fun, guilty pleasure for me. Then I found out that Riordan was releasing another book set in the Percy Jackson universe, and I was upset, because I felt that he needed to just stop. Percy Jackson needed to end and be left to be enjoyed by fans while Riordan moves on to something else. And that was the attitude that I went in with when I started to read this book. And now, after finishing it, this novel did nothing to change my mind.

This novel is a short 377 pages (a guesstimation, since I listened to it on audio) but it felt so much shorter. This is because Rick Riordan has taken a complaint that I had with The Sword of Summer and made a book that doesn't sound like a Percy Jackson rip off. Instead, he has made up a main character with an entirely new point of view who manages to be refreshing, and interesting all at the same time. The greek god Apollo is cast down as a mortal by Zeus and he must find a way to get back into god-like form, but there are many enemies that want to see him dead, and now he will have to battle many enemies and find a way to become a god again. He is a narcissistic, sarcastic, and very funny asshole. I genuinely believed, due to the strength of Riordan's writing, that this was what a greek god would be like when he falls down to earth.

That sounds interesting, right? Well, sadly, that is about the only good thing in this novel. The rest just feels rushed and slapped together. This book constantly tries to justify it's own existence by making me care about these characters, but for a majority of the novel, I could not help but question why this thing even exists. Unlike The Heroes of Olympus series where any problems with this being a sequel is offset by the interesting main characters and alternative points of view, here, it is clear that Riordan is running out of ideas. Meg is a character who I did not like at all and who got on my nerves constantly. She seemed to be a more annoying version of the female character that joins the male lead, like Annabeth or Sam from The Sword of Summer. One annoying aspect of her, besides her personality was how her godly parent seemed to have little influence on her. Riordan has many examples of female characters whose godly parent not only gives them strengths but also weaknesses. Take for example Annabeth, her mother, Athena, gives her wisdom but Annabeth also overestimates her abilities. Or Clariese whose father, Ares, gives her the ability to fight well, but also can make her antagonistic, and hard-headed. What does Meg get as a daughter of Demeter? The ability to swing fancy swords, control rotten fruit and...that's it. Other than a few instances towards the end, her being a daughter of Demeter affects her or the plot only when it is convenient.Then there is the main plot of the novel, which I will detail in a spoiler section below.

The main plot goes as follows: The main plot is that the Oracle at Delphi is not working, nor is any of the other means of communication that the demigods use from Iris messages to snail mail. The main villain in this whole thing is the Roman Emperor Nero. Apparently he was worshiped so much that he became god-like and somehow achieved immortality. He and several other former Roman Emperors that were apparently behind many of the things in the previous series (such as funding the ship Luke sailed on in the first Percy Jackson series) now choose to strike and take over the world. This, to me, sounds rushed and unnecessary. There are only so many times that the campers of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter can be put into danger before I don't care anymore. After Kronos and Gea, I just can't see anyone else as being much of a threat. Also, how the magic system works with the multiple oracles confused me. I think it was just a plot device so that there was some achievable goal for Apollo to get to. And, assuming that Kronos or Gea had succeeded in their plan to take over the world, I am still not clear as to how the Roman Emperors would rule the world assuming Kronos or Gea had won.

Then there are just some other things that really annoyed me. One is how certain established characters act in this series. One example would be Chiron. In the other series, he was wise and patient, willing to hear everyone's suggestions before deciding anything. In a certain scene here, when Apollo tries to tell him that he believes to have found out what is causing all the problems at Camp, and that they are walking into a trap, Chiron just brushes him off in favor of setting up a three-legged race to the death, Then there were the references to pop culture. I'm not saying that some things like online videos and smartphones should not be referenced, because this is a modern book, but there were so many pop culture references that they felt like they were going for cheap laughs. There were many times where I considered how much of these jokes would become dated in five years, let alone ten.

In the end, one good character in the form of Apollo, does not an awesome novel make. I was willing to give this book a three out of five until the very ending of this book. It not only annoyed me but it angered me. Here it is At the very end Percy Jackson just has to come in and help save the day. Despite the fact that Percy stated that he was not going to help Apollo on this quest, he just has to come in on the final battle and help to save everyone. I can't help but think that Riordan just couldn't leave his boy alone, and just had to force him in. It was so forced, it angered me. This shows that Riordan was unable to move on at all, and let the strength of the writing and characters stand on its own. That, along with the fact that the writing seems to have regressed, and I cannot think of any reason to read this book again. I MIGHT read the next one, but I do not know how much I will be looking forward to it. As much as it pains me, I have to give this book a two out of five. You may enjoy it, but I did not.

got a few belly laughs out of this one.

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—
Only 361 pages? Riordan is taking it easy on his readers. And maybe himself.

Anyway, following the events of The Heroes of Olympus, Zeus is a little displeased with Apollo and demonstrates this by turning him into a human teen (read: YA/MG novel star) and casting him to earth. He appears to be fully human – not even a demigod like Percy and the rest. Speaking of Percy, as soon as Apollo figures out what happened to him and where he is, he makes a beeline for Percy's apartment to get help. Smart move. Percy gets him to Camp Halfblood and disappears back to NYC to do homework.

Once there, Apollo begins trying to figure out what quest he'll have to do to return his status to quo. Along the way, he'll make some friends, get a better perspective on himself and his offspring (yeah, that's not weird), and maybe go through some of that personal growth. Note that I said, “some” personal growth and “better” perspective – that's not saying much, basically Apollo comes across as a a teenaged-Gilderoy Lockheart with a conscience. Instead of the large number of missions that we've become accustomed to in these books, there's really just one (plus the series-arc mission) – such a nice change.

A lot of people from the Percy Jackson and The Heroes series are name-dropped and discussed, not to mention the few that we see – there's even a nod to the Magnus Chase series – thankfully, my favorite is one of those who shows up in the flesh. There's also a good amount of in-jokes to please the long-time fans. But readers new to this universe shouldn't be put off by any of this – it's absolutely approachable, maybe even moreso than anything since The Lightning Thief.

This is told in the typical breezy style that characterized non-adult mystery Riordan novels, but given the different protagonist, feels a little fresher. A little briefer, a little change of pace – still full of that Riordan magic. The Hidden Oracle is a sold first-entry in yet another adventure in this world. Give it a shot.

5/5 stars

Rick Riordan never fails to impress.

I had high expectations for The Hidden Oracle, and not only were those expectations exceeded, but they practically got squashed by a giant s-oops sorry spoiler alert.

Years ago, when I read PJO for the first time, Apollo was my favorite god. He was just so full of himself, and so obsessed with haikus, that every scene he was in made me laugh so hard. I'm glad to see that he hadn't changed. I've seen countless reviews contain this comparison, but I have to agree. He's Gilderoy Lockhart, but severely less annoying.

I only have to complaints about this book: not enough Percy, and absolutely no Annabeth. But the fact that there was Percy, and the moments of Nico and Will's relationship made this book even more perfect.

It's getting really formulaic. So, for every single book in every single series written by Rick Riodan, it goes roughly the same way. A threat that could result in the destruction of human civilisation. Then a new, bigger quest is hinted at and we learn of an EVER BIGGER THREAT TO HUMAN CIVILISATION FJDJSJDJDHAHSHSHALDKS, rinse and repeat.

After the first couple times being told that my darling protagonists are bravely facing the most dangerous danger, introducing an even bigger threat just... loses it's impact. My emotions get worn out, danger loses meaning. Riodan is trying to make the Triusomething sound significant it hopes that us readers will care about the story, but sorry, it might work the first five times but not now.

I was eagerly awaiting the climax of the book, when I looked at the pages and realised I'm already 90% through. There was some pacing issues, but I'm a poor writer myself and find it hard to identify the problem.

I wish Riodan wrote his books in Percy's universe in a way more similar to how Orson Scott Card wrote his books in Ender's world. At least for Ender's series, different books and different series have different challenges: some big some small, unique, but still relevant to the bigger picture. It doesn't have to be bigger threat after bigger threat. This isn't a damn d*ck size contest.

2,5/5.
Este livro foi quase um DNF. Demorei absurdos para concluí-lo, colocando várias leituras n frente; para me importar com as personagens - e por elas, digo, Apollo, porque Meg não teve salvação no meu coração (é uma personagem fraca e sem razão para estar lá :[). E não apenas isso. Por mais que eu tenha ciência que os livros de Rick são muito “tudo da mesma coisa”, “fórmula pronta” e etc, eu gosto do mundo construído e de como ele o desenvolve. Mas me surpreendeu o quanto esse livro é... fraco, comparado com as demais séries. Ainda mais, o quanto Magnus Chase é superior a esta série (considerando que é o mesmo autor, escrevendo paralelamente estórias distintas).
O que “salva” este livro, é as aparições de Percy, as menções aos demais livros e a “promessa” do trio que seguirá para o segundo livro porque, minha gente LEO voltooooouuu. E ponto.

When I was younger, I would have killed to have more content in the PJO universe and this would have scratched that itch perfectly. It even brings back some characters from the original series! As a YA fiction book, this is great. Adventurous, funny, well-worthy of a spot in the canon. Honestly, the lead-up to the big confrontation scene at the end made the book worth reading all by itself.

I do wish that he had spent more time on some of the minor characters. He mentioned their names and one thing about them, but I just wanted a little more.

Age range: 10-15
Lots of LGBT content/allusions/asides, in case that matters to you. Nothing other than that.

——————–

Eu ganhei esse livro pro meu aniversário de um amigo meu da UFMG e, apesar de já ter lido esse livro há 6 meses, eu decidi repetir. E essa vez a experiência foi exponencialmente melhor! Eu acho que quando eu li pela primeira vez, eu não estava na fase de querer ler um livro desse gênero. Então pra mim parecia um pouco brega e juvenil. Mas esse foi só o quarto livro que eu tenho lido em português na minha vida, então meu nível de entendimento é até de humor e bem mais baixo nessa língua. Porém, eu ri de verdade das piadas que o autor fez, eu fui muito investido no desenvolvimento do personagem principal e eu achei que o jeito que o autor conectou essa série com as anteriores deu bem certo.

Eu deixei minha avaliação de 4 estrelas ao invés de 5 porque o plot parecia muito com os outros livros que esse autor tem escrito. Só faltava um pouco de originalidade. Não quero dar um spoiler, mas esse livro até tem uma arma falante!

Faixa etária recomendada: 10-15
Violência igual o padrão do autor, uma cena chegando ao fim que o perigo em que os personagens se acharam e muito assustador. Também contém conteúdo LGBT, se isso for importante pra você.

Schitterende start van een nieuwe serie. Grappig, meeslepend, spannend en mysterieus. Apollo is een briljant hoofdpersonage met een hilarische, eigen stem. Ik kijk al uit naar het vervolg!

 I read The Hidden Oracle as an audiobook, as I do with most of what Rick Riordan writes. I found Apollos godly arrogance really funny, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of the character growth we see him go through in this book continuing within the rest of the series. The Hidden Oracle was a three star book for me primarily due to the characters. I really value the characters in a story, and was looking forward to seeing some of my favorites who either were not in this book at all, or were only in it a little bit. I'm sure I'll grow to love the main characters in this series as I read more of Trials of Apollo. Despite not having many of my favorite characters, the end of The Hidden Oracle left me wanting to read the next book in the Trials of Apollo, The Dark Prophecy, as soon as possible.

I miss Percy

Si Rick Riordan hubiera hecho a cierto personaje como yo quería, los siguientes libros de esta serie habrían sido totalmente queer y habría sido hermoso, pero igual estoy contenta con que incluyan a este personaje que no puedo mencionar porque es spoiler.

Y ahora sí de verdad tengo que darme un descanso con Rick y su mundo, tengo que leer otra cosa!

• 1st person POV from Apollo - he is a hilarious, pompous and narcissistic arse I found it impossible not to love.
• Introduces the character of Meg, who I really liked, especially the interactions between her and Apollo.
• More Nico DiAngelo development, hurrah!
• Lots of wit and snark throughout
• Cameos from Percy and lots of other old favourites
• Slow start but gains momentum
• Interesting watching Apollo interact with his kids while trapped in the guise of an awkward teen
• Really loved how each chapter starts with a poem composed by Apollo referencing the coming events
• All around fun read, with some good insights and character development.

“When one is a god, the world hangs on your every word. When one is sixteen... not so much. 

Another great read from Rick Riordan. The Apollo POV was so funny! Answered a couple questions left at the end of Blood of Olympus too. I'll have to look back at the quotes I highlighted. I look forward to the next installment!

Christian POV note: This book also reminded me of how awesome Jesus is. Though He was God, He humbled himself as a human by choice, served, and gave His life for us willingly.

I walked right into that one, didn't I? You can't blame me—I had a huge PJO phase. Who didn't have a PJO phase? (Spoiler: no one, that's who.) And now Rick Riordan's back! After a quick stop at the Norse Mythology session, that is. And, yes, I liked this book. I liked The Hidden Oracle. There, said it. HEY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT (it's totally my fault and I am sorry).

The thing is that I wasn't sure I would like this book. I mean, it's still repetitive, the main character still talks like Percy Jackson, and there's still a prophecy thing (more Oracles! more prophecies!), but—I love everything so much, I can't help it. I'm not proud, you guys. Not AT ALL. As a reader, as a pagan, as a human being, I am not proud, right? Right. Fine. Okay. I think we can talk about The Good now, because I am dying to. (Possible spoilers ahead.)

THE GOOD: Solangelo (Will/Nico) is probably the best pairing to exist in the history of pairings, hands down. I am so happy they were there, I'm so happy they exist! I crave queer representation in media, guys, and I am so here for it. ALSO ALSO ALSO Apollo is bi/pansexual. CANONICALLY SO. I am happy. Besides, there's Leo Valdez. I love me some Leo Valdez. Leo Valdez is amazing. Give Leo Valdez a book.
THE BAD: It's all very repetitive. Again, it just feels like we've heard it all before (it is less repetitive than Magnus Chase, though... I think?), and, like I said, it reads very much like Percy Jackson's still narrating the story, only now he's got a huge ego. Besides that, now we've got another Annoying Talking Weapon. yikes! I missed Mr. D.
THE UGLY: What the fuck was that with Apolo thinking camp boys and girls were cute and/or considering flirting with them? Gross, dude. I mean: GROSS, dude.

Mejor libro de la vida y perfesto inicio. Yastá

Fiction audiobooks are truly not for me. 

• surprisingly charming after magnus chase #1 !
  + apollo-bias
  + apollo's relationship with meg and his kiddies ;___;
  + percy's retirement and his CONFIRMED BABY SISTER and role reversal with apollo
  + hooooooooly hell the scenes where apollo is solo and desperate and lonely
  + robbie daymond was awesome to listen to and possibly the reason i was forgiving overall about the negatives that follow
  + no diversity bingo
  
  - everyone other than apollo and will and meg are boring
  - even meg is pretty boring
  - even nico and percy are boring, especially if you treat this series as a new one, which by the way seems hard to do because it's not interested in explaining continuity
  - hella repetitive (we get it, human brains are small, come up with a new way to complain about your predicament)
  - the sense of urgency that came with the river styx has been destroyed, as with many pre-established things in the pjo universe... packing things on top of each other is getting too convoluted
  - i hate riordan's fandom-based memes more often than not
  - i also continue to hate many of riordan's choices from the previous series, including our travelling companions for the next book, although from a technical standpoint i understand WHY that hasty hook-up was thrown in at the end of BOO :
  - no (tasteful) diversity at all, unless you count apollo's constant “Have I Mentioned I Am Bisexual Today?”
  
  a good travel companion on a 10 hour road trip, though!

Short Review: More standard Riordan. Which I really enjoy. This builds on the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. And I got bored and never finished the last of the Heroes of olympus series. I should go back and read that. So there were a couple holes in the story for me. But that was easy enough to guess at what happened.

Apollo is a lovably annoying character (this is first person in his voice.) You see his character growth. But you really like the other character in the story and so at least I read, more for interest in her than in him.

I will keep reading them. It was a good change of pace.

my very slightly longer review on my blog http://bookwi.se/hidden-oracle/

DNF - PG 64

Why?
Well, to put it succinctly, Percy Jackson. Beyond the fact that I like Carter and Sadie Kane, Jason Grace and possibly even Magnus Chase more than Percy Jackson, this boy NEEDS to quit showing up everywhere.

I wish that each series was not connected to each other - much like The Kane Chronicles, which was barely connected until we got to the absolutely unneeded crossover short stories/novellas - and then each character could be their own and then we would have constant shilling of characters. (Or just let the fans do that. They do it often enough as it is.)

So, my displeasure of Percy showing up, when I thought we were finally shut of him, caused me to start reading 2 star reviews. Caused me to come across ... well. I don't know much about Greek mythology, admittedly, but when a name was brought up and connections mentioned, I did a brief bit of research for myself.

It is said that Daphne was the first love of Apollo but unfortunately the girl never responded to his love. It was not usual or possible for a nymph or a mortal woman in the Greek mythology to resist to the love of a god, but Daphne did so and in fact, she lost her life trying to escape this ‘love'.