Customer Reviews

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

5 star:		(226)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is book four of the Percy Jackson series, with only one more installment to come. Readers from around ten years old will be thrilled by the adventures of the teenaged hero who just happens to be the son of Poseidon, God of the Sea, and all his friends, most of whom are the children of the Olympians from Greek Mythology.

In my opinion, it would be better if you read the series in order, and the three previous books are:

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)


In "The Battle of the Labyrinth", Percy and three friends set off on a quest through the treacherous labyrinth, in search of the inventor Daedalus, hoping that he will help them to defeat the army being assembled by Luke, son of Hermes. The thing is - Luke is just the messenger, and the evil he's about to unleash can bring down Olympus itself.

Although still clueless about girls and relationships, Percy starts developing and unleashing his powers, and surprises even himself when he attempts to repeat Hercules' great stable cleansing project. Other demi-gods also come into their own in book four, and a mortal girl proves to be just the ticket, and in the nick of time too. In a related sub-story, the search for Pan reaches an exhilarating climax.

Packed with monsters of all persuasions, gods and demi-gods, rescues, battles and side trips to Alcatraz and Mount St. Helens, this is by far the most exciting book of the series so far.

Amazingly imaginative, thrilling and funny, this series by Rick Riordan continues to be a front runner in children's fiction, and I recommend it without reservation.




Amanda Richards, May 25, 2008

The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, following The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan's Curse. Several new gods are introduced, and the book picks up an ominous pace as it draws closer to the finale, and the determining battle between gods and Titans.

Percy Jackson has just been accepted to a new school. Again. And despite his every intention not to get kicked out of this one too, being a demigod with Poseidon as your father tends to attract trouble. And monsters, in the form of peppy-but-deadly cheerleaders. After accidentally starting a fire, Percy makes a break for it - along with a mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who has the unusual ability to see through the Mist, the substance that usually hides gods and monsters from mortal eyes.

When he finally makes it back to Camp Half-Blood, Percy finds that all is not well there. His friend Grover is in danger of losing his lifelong dream, his friend Annabeth is treating him oddly, and - worst of all - Nico di Angelo, the half-blood son of Hades, is still at large, trying to bring back his dead sister in exchange for another, living soul.

But all of these pale in comparison to the danger of Kronos, whose followers are growing and whose resurrection is now imminent. When Annabeth is assigned a quest through the perilous Labyrinth of Daedalus, she takes Percy along for the ride - as well as Grover and Percy's Cyclops half-brother, Tyson.

This is the most exciting and action-packed book yet, as the darkness closes in. Real losses and horrors are experienced in this one, both private and large-scale. It is clear that the final battle is drawing near, the battle in which - according to the prophecy - either Percy, or Nico di Angelo, will have a pivotal role to play in either the victory or destruction of Olympus and the gods.

Highly recommended.

Rating: Very good

This is the fourth installment of the Percy Jackson series, and the most engrossing since the first one. Percy Jackson and his friends try to explore the Labyrinth in order to find the inventor Daedalus and prevent Kronos from controlling the Labyrinth. This book has a lot of the humor of the first three installments, but it does take itself serious at times. A lot of the plot threads like Pan finally come to end. I am glad that the series has not run out of steam, and I wait steadily for the final installment.

I've really enjoyed each of the installments of Percy Jackson's adventures. I bought this newest one before a road trip and finished it in one day. This is a series that captures the imagination and leaves you anxiously anticipating the next one. I highly recommend it!

This is by far one of the best series I have ever read! It ranks right up there with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. It's writing is so original! Somehow it manages to be sarcastic and funny and sound like a teenager without getting tiring. I finished it in two days and wandered around for about an hour wishing I was still reading it!

THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH is the fourth book of Rick Riordan's projected five-book opus, PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. The series began with THE LIGHTNING THIEF and has constantly picked up steam as it's progressed. I've been reading the series to my son, and we're looking at the fifth and final book coming out next year with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

We want the next book. We want to know how everything turns out for Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and the rest, but we don't want the adventure to end. Riordan's imagination and zest for action is matched only by his wit and humor. We've become fans and end up talking about the books and Greek mythology quite often.

If you haven't read the series yet, you've missed out on a lot. And you'll probably want to stop reading this review now. Otherwise you're going to trip across some spoilers for the earlier three books. Riordan's books, Percy's adventures, are an organic tale, growing and adding to canon with each new volume. Things just don't stay the same in Percy's ever-changing world.

Well, nothing stays the same except Percy's continuing bad luck with schools. At the beginning of this one, Percy's mom has a new boyfriend that gets Percy into a well-respected school that Percy normally wouldn't have a shot at with his past record of suspicious destruction. Sure enough, almost as soon as Percy sets foot on school grounds, he's attacked by demonic cheerleaders (the empousai, from Greek myth) and the school BURNS.

I couldn't help laughing throughout the section as I read it. Friends of Percy are going to be blown away by the sequence even though they're expecting it. My son and I kept cracking each other up for days afterward. These books just keep on giving!

The book turns more serious, to a degree, when Luke's plans to invade Camp Half-Blood are revealed. Luke, Percy's arch-enemy, is still trying to bring the Titan Kronos back to life so he can wreak vengeance against the Greek gods. Camp Half-Blood, because it houses and trains so many of the demi-gods - the children of the gods with mortal parents, is a prime target.

As always, Riordan establishes the roots of his story in traditional Greek myth. This one deals with Daedalus, the famed inventor that created the Labyrinth that housed the Minotaur. According to Riordan's story, the Labyrinth has become - to a degree - a living thing that continues growing throughout the world and time. I loved the concept and my son was totally engrossed in the idea that the world was honeycombed with magical tunnels. This is the kind of thinking I've come to rely on the author for.

There are other adventures that take place before Percy, Annabeth, and Grover find an opening to the Labyrinth and climb down inside it, but once they're in place the adventure kicks into high gear. They're chasing after Nico, the son of Hades, that no one else at the camp knows about. Percy feels guilty about the death of Nico's sister and doesn't want everyone weirding out about the younger boy. Percy still believes he has a chance to set things straight between him and Nico.

Grover's situation has gotten more dire regarding his hunt for the god, Pan. With all the failures Grover has racked up, the satyr community is thinking about pulling Grover's searcher's license, which means he can't continue hunting for Pan. A lot of things are at stake in this one.

Tyson, Percy's Cyclopean half-brother, stars in this one as well. I have to admit, Tyson is one of my favorite characters in the books. Tyson, with all his childish innocence, has won a special place in the hearts of my son and I. Every time Tyson's on stage we're just waiting to see what he's going to say or do. In this one, Tyson gets to meet Briares, one of the Hundred-Handed Ones, an ancient from Greek myth. Briares's reaction to his jailer is hilarious and I don't want to spoil it, but my son and I went around doing it for days, to the point my wife believed we'd taken leave of our senses. She hasn't quite gotten into the Olympian view yet.

In addition to all the great imagery and dialogue, Riordan continues piling on the Greek mythology in this one. I love how he twists it and brings it into our world. And he dangles each cliffhanger and reveal of the plot with evident glee and precise precision. This next year of waiting is going to be a long one.

The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth book after Titan's Curse in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It is all about the Olympian Gods being alive and well in the twenty-first century. The main character, Percy Jackson, named after the great Greek hero, Persius, goes into the labyrinth built by Daedalus, the great Greek inventor. He is sent on a quest to find out where his enemy is in the great maze. He comes out alive after a macabre chain of events. The Battle of the Labyrinth is awesome because of the action, the connections with Greek mythology, and it's a great follow-up to Titan's Curse.

The Battle of the Labyrinth is all about Percy's fights with Greek monsters. The first battle that Percy has is with two empousai. Two empousai, or vampires, dressed as high school cheerleaders attack Percy and his new friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. He kills one of them with his sword anaklusmos, or otherwise know as riptide, but the other vampire escapes. The next battle is with a sphinx, but, instead of a riddle, Annabeth has to answer game show questions. Percy's friend, Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, is insulted by how stupid the Sphinx's questions are and says, "I'm the child of Athena and this is an insult to my intelligence. I won't answer these questions." The Sphinx goes after her. Percy and his brother, Tyson, who is a Cyclops, kill the sphinx and saved Annabeth. The third best battle in the book is Percy's battle with a son of Nemesis. They fight for hours until Percy finally escapes. These are the best battles I can tell you about. To find out the best read about the best battles, you'll have to read the book yourself.

Percy Jackson and the Olympian books have many connections with Greek mythology but Battle of the Labyrinth has the most. Percy and his friend are trapped in the labyrinth, the great holding place of the minotaur. The same place where Theseus killed the Minotaur many, many years ago. Percy even meets Daedalus, the great Greek inventor who made the labyrinth. Daedalus doesn't even look that old. Percy is the son of Poseidon. It is interesting that Riordan didn't choose Zeus as his father. The reason is because he didn't want Percy to be too powerful. If Percy were the son of Zeus then he wouldn't want to strive to more greatness because he would already be the best.

The Battle of the Labyrinth is a good follow up to Titan's Curse. It answers many of the questions of Titan's Curse. For example, it answered that Nico di Angeleo is still alive. The characters from Titan's Curse were really great and Riordan didn't kill any of them in Battle of the Labyrinth. Also, in Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth plays a much bigger role. This is good because she is a most interesting character. She acts like she knows everything and is always blurting out facts. She is Percy's best friend and long with Grover a satyr. He is scared of everything. Rick Riordan said he is his favorite character to write about because Grover is scared anything and everything. He is the comic relief for

At the end of The Battle of the Labyrinth Riordan leaves the reader hanging for The Last Olympian. Nico tells Percy how to kill the enemy of the story, Luke. Also, I want to know if Riordan kills off any of the main characters. READ THIS BOOK! It is the best book you will ever read. I promise you will be satisfied with this book.
Score:10/10 of course I love this book

These books are always enjoyable. I've been a mythology enthusiast since I was a kid and am still a sucker for creative variations on Greek Myths. I had to particularly laugh at the Sphinx who ditches the traditional riddle contest for a standardized test. Her lines are classic.

"Think? How am I supposed to test whether you can think?, that's ridiculous!"

"If you won't pass, you fail. And since we can't allow any children to be held back, you'll be eaten!"

"My grading machine! I can't be exemplary without my test scores!"

OK, I'm a teacher. I probably found this much more amusing than the kids that this book is targeted toward.

Percy Jackson and his band of heroic friends continue their adventures their usual style. Grover and Tyson are our family's favorite characters.

*There will be spoilers*

This book is my favorite in the series so far! It was non-stop action from start to finish, and all of it was great. I devoured this book so fast! The series is really coming together, and I am sad that there is only one book left.

I really like how you find out the prophecy for each of the quests early on in the story, but it never ruins too much for you. Most of the time there are enough twists/new developments that the prophesy ends up not being what you first imagined. Rick Riordan did a great job of planning everything out, and he has put together such a great and complete, detailed series.

The idea of the labyrinth spreading across the entire United States is awesome! I love the detail that went into it. I also found the Sphinx(which is just one of the crazy creatures found in the maze) to be hilarious! I loved that instead of her customary riddles, she has been reduced to asking fact based questions and then the answers get fed into a scan-tron machine! And when Percy and company leave her, she is moaning about having to grade the tests by hand now. Too funny!

I loved how this series, is part mythology, part adventure, and part mystery almost. I love seeing the characters piece together the clues and figure out what they have to do next; where they have to go, or how they have to defeat a certain monster. It is a very engaging read!

Annabeth's jealousy was not too endearing for me, though. I felt bad that Percy had to put up with her standoffish-ness. I was so frustrated with her at the end, with the way she ended things with Percy.

Rachel was interesting, I still want Annabeth but Rachel seems so nice. I don't want her to get hurt either, however; she seems like a smart girl so I'm sure she is not oblivious to the situation between Percy and Annabeth.

I am loving how everything is coming together and the last book seems like it will be one huge, epic battle! I cannot wait to read it!

-Michelle @ bookbriefs.blogspot.com