The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo #1)

 
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The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo #1)
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Age Range
12+
Release Date
May 03, 2016
ISBN
978-1484732748
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After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, 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 favor. 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.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, 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 favor. 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.

Editor reviews

Hilariously Clever
(Updated: August 02, 2016)
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4.7
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When the great and mighty Apollo is cast from Mt. Olympus by an angry Zeus, he falls to earth and quickly realizes he is nothing more than mortal teen, Lester Popadopoulos––with horrible acne to boot. Stripped of his godly powers and everything that made him Apollo, he must find his way back into his father's good graces to return to his fabulous and perfect former self. But along the way, Apollo learns what it means to be mortal and realizes he might not have been so perfect after all.

This is my first time reading Rick Riordan, although I've seen the Percy Jackson movies and really enjoyed both. I'm such a huge fan of any story involving this level of mythology, so I'm kicking myself for not reading Riordan's many other books. (Hear that? That's the sound of fifteen more books hitting my TBR pile.) It was nice to be able to jump into this new series and not feel like I didn't know what was going on because I haven't read the others. I'm sure there were lots of clever little moments where knowing the other stories would have given a little more insight, but it wasn't necessary.

I absolutely adored the humor of Riordan's dialogue. The story is great for the intended Middle Grade audience, but there is so much hilarity that a child might not quite grasp yet, but a parent reading along with their child will find so much entertainment here. Occasionally, that humor falls a little over the top and the adult reader might find it a bit much from time to time. However, the Haikus at the beginning of each chapter might be my absolute favorite thing about the whole book. Funny and clever with a bit of insight at what's to come.

I love the way the author weaves what we know about various mythologies within this contemporary setting, but that is nothing new to Riordan's fans. Percy fans will be happy to see the young demigod make several appearances at the beginning and end of the book, but this is Apollo's story so he never seems to take the limelight, which I thought was a clever way to keep Percy fans engaged, while giving them time to develop a connection with Apollo. Kudos to the author for gently guiding his readers into a new series.

The ending came to a satisfying close with a good set up for the next book, but it wasn't quite the crescendo finish I was expecting. But then again, I am a fan of the cliffhanger and I seem to be the odd one out where that's concerned.

Fans of Riordan's books will find The Trials of Apollo an excellent addition to his other series, with the clever humor and adventure that is the hallmark of his brand, but newcomers can easily jump in with this series and discover their love for this amazing fantasy world where the gods still walk among us––sometimes in the guise of a pimply teen.
Good Points
The Haikus! They might be my favorite thing ever.

Favorite quote: "Is there anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?"
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A Rich, Brilliantly Written and Entertaining Tale
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4.7
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The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle is a hilariously weird and fantastical tale that keeps you thoroughly entertained right to the end.

Apollo is mortal. His father, Zeus, has punished him by casting him out of Olympus and leaving him on Earth in a mortal body of a teenaged, acne ridden boy. Oh, and don’t forget that he has flab now. No more six or eight packs for this guy. The horror! To get his godly powers pack, Apollo must go through a series of trials to impress his father in order to get back on his good side. But being his selfish, narcissistic self, he’s not inclined to agree to the dangers just yet. So he gets claimed by a 12-year-old demi-god and sets out for help. Not everyone is excited to see him though, and we can’t really blame them.

This book is a breath of fresh air. Apollo’s snark and humour make for some hilarious situations. His voice and narration keep you entertained, and engrossed, all the while revealing things about his character that either annoy you, or hint at character development. He doesn’t try to deceive anyone, nor hide his true intentions. He is outright about his selfish, narcissistic ways. He doesn’t pretend to be a good guy, always helping people out and sacrificing himself. No, he’s the one who sends others to do his dirty work. He’s self-absorbed, and his looks and powers are everything to him. So imagine his horror when he discovers that not only is he human, he’s an ugly human with flab, acne, and a horrible name. It makes for some hilarious situations!

Now, despite Apollo’s insistence, his situation is not that important given what else is going on. Apollo has enemies, a lot of them, which isn’t exactly that hard to believe because Apollo isn’t the best person out there. These enemies have used his punishment to their advantage, but they also underestimated him. Despite the light tone and atmosphere, this book is full of deceit, betrayal, lies, and pain. Evil plots are unveiled, ancient enemies are discovered, and Apollo goes through some major character-development, though he still has a long way to go.

This rich and deeply imaginative tale is brilliantly written and easy to love; you won’t want to put it down.
Good Points
Great character development, great writing, great plot
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It's funny, sarcastic, and it takes you to a trip down memory lane
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5.0
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WHAT I LIKED:

To say that this book is amazing might be the biggest understatement. Before we go down further, let me just say that Apollo has a special place in my heart. He's my favorite Olympian and I fell in love hard with his charms and wit in The Titan's Curse, which I have read several years ago.

Now that we have established that, let's go on. The first book in this epic new series from the Myth Master himself, offers a great new adventure for us mortals who love to pretend that we're demigods. Come on, you totally did it. If it makes you feel better, I wanted to be in Apollo's cabin. Anyway, it is a great feeling to be smacked right in again in this world. Camp Half-Blood felt like home to me.

The story starts with Apollo, who was cast out from Olympus by Zeus which turned him into a mortal, being bullied in an alley. He was rescued by Meg, a seemingly hopeless kid who turns out to be a demigod. As Meg claims Apollo's service, the two starts an adventure to Camp Half-Blood in order to remedy Apollo's situation.

This is going to be hard as I don't want to spoil this book for you guys, but the some characters from Rick's other books are here, most probably the ones you want to see so that is really a great treat for me.

The pacing of the story is consistent, yet I managed to devour this book for a day because it's really awesome! It is action-packed, thrilling, funny, witty, sarcastic, and nostalgic, a great starter for a series.

The characters are really well taken care of. Rick Riordan knows how to write his characters efficiently, each of them has their own unique abilities and wit. It was also great to see how Will and Nico's relationship grow, which leads me to my next point. Rick knows how to represent characters well. He's written POC and LGBT+ characters and the book proves how influential and empowering this is, especially for the younger generation.

WHAT LEFT ME WANTING MORE:

I'm definitely looking forward to the next book! It sucks that I have to wait for a year but I know it's going to be worth it. It deals with Apollo's character development and I'm excited to see more, especially with the other characters like Meg, since it's barely touched. I guess it's really good that this book focuses on his character first so we have a good anchor on him.

FINAL VERDICT:

Overall, this book did not disappoint at all. It is truly fascinating, captivating and an enjoyable read!
Good Points
A good book to get you back in this universe, Interesting and witty characters, sarcastic and charming banter, Huge character development
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2 reviews
Overall rating
 
3.0
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3.0(2)
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3.0(2)
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3.0(2)
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Why Rick Riordan Needs to Shake Things Up
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1.0
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I have always been a Rick Riordan fan, but am tired of reading the same things over and over again. I explain why more in depth below-

https://hangrycaterpillar.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-evolution-of-rick-riordan.html
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This book was amazing!
(Updated: May 29, 2016)
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5.0
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Before anything else, can we please just take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous cover? Believe it or not, the story inside the book was even better. Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors and this book was the perfect example to why.

Like all the other characters in Rick Riordan's books, Apollo was hilarious. I laughed so many times reading this book, my family probably thought I was insane :).
Even though he is a self centered, narcistic and arrogant asshole, especially in the beginning, I couldn't help but like him, especially when he started to realize that maybe he to isn't completely perfect.

A lot of characters from his previous series come up in this book to, which made me unbelievably happy every time. But apart from Apollo, there are also lots of other new characters and also a whole new set of problems.

I love the writing style of Rick Riordan's Books. The Trials of Apollo is easy and quick to read, entertaining, funny and still serious in some parts.

The only thing I don't like about this book is that it's over already. I really tried to take my time with it, since the next book comes out next year but I couldn't really do it. So now I'm damned to wait a whole year till the second book comes out. (Don't get me wrong: The book itself shouldn't be dragged out, that would ruin it, I just wish the second book was out already)

If you haven't guessed it yet I recommend this book to everyone. But first you should read the previous book series if you haven't yet, since this book does contain a lot of spoilers for Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus and also they are just awesome as well.

If you liked this review feel free to check out more on my book blog: http://meandmybookishwonderland.blogspot.de
Good Points
I love the humor in this book
Apollo is an amazing character
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