Saturday, May 12, 2018

‘The Burning Maze’ by Rick Riordan

It felt as though we were being chased by fire in October 2017, as we traveled Highway 29 -- away from the Napa Valley floor, up Mount Saint Helena, and into Lake County, Calif.

The complex of fires that raged that month has been called the largest in California history. I could readily imagine them as the earthly manifestation of an ancient Titan’s wrath.

Well, raging fires and other "natural" disasters form a backdrop to the action in this latest adventure in Rick Riordan’s Trials of Apollo series. Traveling through the Labyrinth, Apollo, Meg, and Grover the satyr emerge in southern California where new perils await.

I was excited to read The Burning Maze, which recently arrived at my library.

I don’t want to give too much away, but this book seems to mark a pivotal point for the god Apollo — who, readers will recall, has been relegated to Earth in the body of a gawky adolescent boy, complete with an I.D. that reads, “Lester Papadopoulos.” Apollo’s father Zeus cast him down to Earth and set him to rescuing ancient oracles from a consortium of Roman emperors.

This latest series from author Rick Riordan is an entertaining saga. I’ve long been a fan of Riordan’s work, beginning with his initial series for young readers, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The books combine characters out of mythology with likeable modern protagonists, and ably mix adventure with humor. And with a total of five oracles to redeem, I can look forward to two more books in The Trials of Apollo.

One nice touch, unique to this series, are the chapter-titles in haiku. Apollo, among his many talents, is a god of music and poetry, so these haikus are thoroughly in-character.

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