The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3)by Rick Riordan
Released Date: October 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Format: Hardcover, 586 pages
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Goodreads Summary: Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.
And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?
Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.
Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare....
Cindy's Review: I have been literally waiting for this book for like a year and 1 month. When I learned it was nationally released on October 2nd, I was like yay! But, sadly it didn't come on time. And the teacher in charge of the book orders wouldn't pre-order it for me. ;( Either way, I finally got it on November 1st, 2012! ;)
To start of this review, I will state the big prophecy of this series:
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
The Mark of Athena kind of starts the prophecy. The Greek and Roman demi-gods finally picked the seven that shall answer the call, which is...
Percy Jackson Annabeth Chase Jason Grace
Leo Valdez 
Frank Zhang
These seven, basically the main characters in the first two books of the series, are united and followed the prophecy to Old Rome. They mainly went to Rome to save Hazel's brother, Nico di Angelo. Along the way, they found the real reason, or the more importantly reason, not that Nico isn't important, to go to old Rome.
Since Leo, Piper, and Annabeth left the impression to Camp Jupiter that they were attacking them, the Roman demi-gods are now chasing after them, demanding a fight. Only one thing could reunite them. The most famous Greek stature, The Athena Parthenos. In order to find this statue, the daughter of Athena must follow the The Mark of Athena. The only loop is that not one of the AOE, the children of Athena came out alive. But in order to win over the Gaea and the Giants, Camp Jupiter and Camp-Half-Blood must unite together and become one. In this case, Annabeth is the only child of Athena available.
So Annabeth is given a prophecy to follow. That is also the prophecy of this book:
Wisdom's daughter walks alone,
The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.
Twins snuff out the angel's breath,
Who holds the key to endless death.
Giants' bane stands gold and pale,
Won through pain from a woven jail.
To me though, there isn't as much adventure to this book as the last two books, nothing that life-threatening yet, except for maybe when Gaea is literally directly talking to them. Another thing I also noticed is that Annabeth isn't as strong as she used to be. She used to like rule over Percy, but now she's all cuddly and stuff. Reyna keeps on saying she sees 'warrior' in Annabeth. You haven't seen the old one, Reyna.
Despite everything, I really like Reyna. She can be cold and hard. But that's what makes so cool. I really like a strong female protagonist. Comparing Piper to Reyna, I'll probably choose Reyna. It's just, you know, Piper gets jealous, and like she needs saving so goddamn much, I'm getting tired of it.
Hazel seems like a quiet girl everyone would like. If I had to choose between Frank and Leo for her, I have no idea. Plus, Hazel is in love with Leo's great-grandfather, Sammy, not Leo. Either way, I find that Hazel pays more attention to Leo than Frank. I have nothing against Frank, and his powers are cool, he's kinda chubby though. LOL.
Percy Jackson also seems a little different. Since Annabeth got there, he became the whole worried boyfriend type. They seem so close. I don't want that kind of romance in this series. It's an adventure series. I like it how Annabeth and Percy were like when they fought against Kronos in New York. They were both leading the team and fought one another. Now, it's too mushy for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I love romance, except I didn't really expect it from this series. It's also that I don't want Percy Jackson to care though. But the book makes him sound like a mother. Eyebrows furrowed etc. I like them back then when they were fun and young again. And one more thing, PERCY JACKSON, DON'T GROW UP TOO FAST. I don't want him to get so old. I still need to catch up. lol.
Well. After the romance rants, here comes the rate!
Rate: (1-10): 9.999
Don't take that too seriously. I never give a book in the middle of a series a 10. It's just, if I give one a 10, I'll have to give the rest a 10. And it's hard to obtain 10's from me. I get the highest it can get 9.9, it's literally a 10 anyways. The only time I actually give 10's to a series is the first book in the series, like Delirium and Divergent. I wouldn't really give the sequels 10's though.
Enough of that. Because I can't wait to announce!!!!
COMING FALL 2013
THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS, BOOK FOUR
THE HOUSE OF HADES
WOOT! CAN'T WAIT!
Happy Reading~
9.999 seems pretty darn close to a 10 to me. I mean, I can't determine whether I like books with that much exactitude, so I'll just have to round to the nearest half-point. :p
ReplyDeleteI've been eager to read this book. I loved the first couple in the series.
Yes, you should, this series is by far the best I've ever read. Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteP.S These books are really addictive.
:D