Rick Riordan is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and two sons. To learn more about Rick, visit his website at www.rickriordan.com. You can find more of my reviews of Rick's works here.
Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth—a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.
Annabeth is a character we've known and watched grow from afar in the previous three Percy Jackson books. When she finally gets her own quest in The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick finally shines a bright light on Annabeth's character and motivations, setting her up for one of the biggest roles to come in the finale. Annabeth in this book is characterized as still unsure of herself. She doesn't believe in herself the way she used to in the previous books, and she is completely thrown off by the illogical nature of the quest. Despite Annabeth's uncertainty about herself, she is starting to become sure about one thing, and that's her relationship with Percy. After the events of The Titan's Curse, it seems they are closer than ever, or that Annabeth is more secure in their friendship to allow herself to feel more feelings for Percy. It makes me wonder how her uncertainty in herself and her certainty in her relationship with Percy are tied together. Sometimes when you don't believe in yourself, it's easy to believe in other people, especially the ones you are close to. I am certain that Rick has been building up to this turn for Annabeth, this moment where her relationship with Percy is what she falls back on when she doesn't believe in herself, and that it's important for both of their roles in The Last Olympian.
Grover is another character that we've known from book one that hasn't always had a moment to shine. We've known that Grover has been after Pan, but his quest for Pan has never been a sole focus of the Percy Jackson novels (one could make an argument for The Sea of Monsters, but I don't believe the purpose of that book was to advance Grover's quest. Go back and read my review of The Sea of Monsters for my argument on the book's purpose!). In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Grover is finally given a deadline for his quest and an ultimatum for his searcher's license. Some believe that Grover has been an afterthought—as a side character, he needed his own motivations to make him stand (his quest for Pan), but he's never had as much story time dedicated to him as he has in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Fortunately, Rick does give Grover some of that page time, when the team is reunited and finds Pan together. A small portion of this novel, yet one that provides insight to the future and to the powers of what the half-bloods are capable of, this interaction with Pan is still impactful. Not only does it give Grover new purpose, and an ability to do something big in The Last Olympian, but it also gives Rick the opportunity to build the suspense for The Last Olympian. Always deliberate, I believe Rick provided Grover the exact right amount of time to grow and fight, proving that characters don't need to have the page all the time to still be inspiring role models.
In The Titan's Curse, I discussed how Rick jumped a bit over death and grief, despite how the third book had the most mentions of death. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick rectifies that and begins an important dialogue on death and grief. With a big war on the horizon, and with a death toll already ticking upwards, Rick needed to go back to Nico's struggles with his grief before broadening the discussion to all the half-bloods affected by the war. Once Nico and Percy are reunited, they have a chance to understand what Bianca would have wanted out of each of them, and to talk about her decision. Nico goes through many wrong turns before ending up at the right spot—something I am glad Rick decided to do. Being misguided, especially at a difficult point in someone's life, is relatable and realistic, and allows Nico to come into his own character, and to realize what he is meant to do for the war. After Nico comes back to Camp Half-Blood, we learn that two other characters have also died: Lee Fletcher and Castor, son of Dionysus. This is incredibly heart wrenching, especially once Dionysus talks to Percy about losing his son and experiencing that grief. In this moment, not only do the campers suffer grief, but it is seen that the gods are capable of the same emotions for their children. This sets up perfectly the reactions and interactions the Greek gods will have with their children in The Last Olympian, the book we know will have the biggest war, and biggest death toll.
And speaking of Rick setting things up for the future, he does that intensely with Hera's appearance on Annabeth's quest. Much of the foreshadowing I talk about in this paragraph is not related to The Last Olympian, but rather the Heroes of Olympus series. With Hera's appearance, we learn of her motivations of keeping a family together, and how she used Percy and Annabeth's quest to maintain that her family stays together at the cost of human life. Hera's toying with Percy and Annabeth, stating things like "it's not your time to choose," hints at the power Hera has over their lives. Once Annabeth puts the last nail in the coffin by snapping at Hera, we know that Hera will hold a grudge against Annabeth. It is only in the Heroes of Olympus series that we find out what Hera does to Annabeth to make her pay. Another small (and potentially less significant, but still fun) bit of foreshadowing we receive is Percy's trip to Calypso's island. While not explicitly foreshadowing, Rick does show us what it would be like for a hero to end up with Calypso, leaving a big "what if" spot open for another hero to fill, should Rick choose to return to Ogygia in the Heroes of Olympus series. All in all, Rick knows what he's doing with his storytelling in The Battle of the Labyrinth. The stakes have been elevated, and he is no longer just telling Percy Jackson's stories, but the stories of everyone involved in this crazy, lovable, violent world.
If you're ready to find out what is going to happen next, then pick up the last book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Last Olympian. Full of twists we won't expect and moments that will make us more emotional than we every thought we would get, the last book in this series is sure to shock, excite, and thrill. Stay tuned for my review!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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