The Hidden Oracle Review: Apollo

Book: The Hidden Oracle
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: The Trials of Apollo #1
Genre: middle grade fantasy, mythology
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 376
Release: May 3rd, 2016

How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

Goodreads / Amazon / Kobo / iBooks

A very fresh beginning!

This book gets a hat tip for being able to pull me out of my A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas book hangover. Thank the gods for this book!

After the conclusion of the war with Gaea, everything has finally--finally--settled down for the demigods. That is, until Apollo crashes to earth as a mortal, punished by Zeus. Obviously there must be a mistake, since the idea of the god Apollo turning mortal is ridiculous. So Apollo embarks on a journey to find some demigods, hoping they'll be able to help him out until his sentence as a mortal is over. Expect that Apollo has numerous enemies, and now that he's human, it's the perfect time to get some payback... And to make matters worse, he finds himself bound to serve a demigod by the name of Meg McCaffrey...

Apollo was the funniest narrator I've ever read, and that's saying a lot since all of Riordan's narrators are hilarious. Apollo was a constant delight, mixing together ancient history (like Julius Caesar ancient), recent history (anywhere in the 1900s), and modern day facts together to confuse everyone. Given that Apollo was a god, he's slightly a--dare I say it-- narcissist. But his narcissism was what made him so hilarious, because he would constantly place himself on a high pedestal, only to be knocked down due to his mortality. He constantly underestimated demigods and mortals, and it was quite satisfying to see him make some absurd claim, only to have it backfire on him and prove him wrong. Definitely a good pick-me-up at how ridiculous he was, how he thought the world worked, and how wrong he was on practically everything!

The character arc of Apollo was very humbling. It really drove home the difference between gods and mortals, and how sometimes, being a mortal with flaws and only one life to live is actually a privilege, better than being a god. Apollo's opinions of mortals change so much from the beginning to the end of the book, seeing humans not as insignificant worshippers, but actual people, with personalities and their own uniqueness. Reading it, I feel a lot better being a mortal, and I'm glad I'm not a god!

You'd think that with such a vague synopsis, the story would be completely distant from the original books. You would be both right and wrong. What I liked in particular was that this series follows its own story, but still draws on aspects of previous books. The plot has little to do with the events of the previous series, yet is related just enough to make you smile at the references. It didn't feel repetitive, but it didn't feel like a complete break from the prior series either. Riordan balanced the new and old perfectly, giving way for the plot to go in a completely different direction, while bringing in familiar faces to remind us that everything, in some aspect, is connected! It's overall a very fresh, which is a relief!

My favourite pair in this book had to be Will and Nico. They had so much page time together, and if you didn't ship them before, you have absolutely no reason not to ship them. They were adorable in every and all ways!

All in all, a great book! The funniest Riordan book I've read, which will have you laughing at Apollo's ridiculous expectations of mortals, yet also feeling touched by how grounded he becomes. We get to see old faces and meet new ones, and I'm definitely curious to know where the story will take these heroes. Plus, we get a few references to Magnus Chase, which was nice for the fans who have been reading all of Riordan's book (guilty). The length was appropriate, the plot simple yet detailed and excellent pacing as always. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book!