The Trials of Apollo, Book 1: The Hidden Oracle
Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Edition
Written by Rick Riordan
Disney-Hyperion Books
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016

Apollo, Greek god of the sun, music, art, poetry, prophecy, healing, and plague, and the most perfectly, perfect god (according to himself), has gotten himself in trouble once again with his dad. When your dad is Zeus, god of thunder and king of all Olympians, the punishment can tend to be quite long, arduous, and definitely on the unpleasant side. And is there anything more unpleasant than becoming a teenage mortal boy? Apollo needs help and there’s only one place that can really help him – Camp Half-Blood (yay!!), in The Trials of Apollo, the first book The Hidden Oracle series by Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan.

With this first installment in a new 5-book series, Rick Riordan has done it again with his thoroughly enjoyable mythical world. He chose one of the best gods to be the main character, Apollo, who is so full of himself, he actually is one of those macho teenage boys on the inside. Unfortunately, he’s been turned into one of those gawky, insecure teenage boys on his outside. Although I do love the heroic Percy Jackson, not having the spotlight on him did not detract from the story at all. And he was in it enough to satisfy diehard fans.

The humor throughout the book is rampant, with new characters highlighted for their quirks (advertising geyser – you’ll see). We severely dislike Apollo at the beginning, because we really want him to get over himself, and his constant waiting for others to worship and/or praise him. His gradual “humanizing” make us start to feel for him, as he starts to feel for others. That journey towards humanity is so enjoyable.

She was fortunate to have met me. (I know that last statement seems obvious. Everyone who meets me is fortunate, but you take my meaning.)

The “she” is a particular standout new character, Meg, a bratty demigod child who bosses Apollo around as he is her slave now, a usual penance requirement.

Another fun quirk are the haikus at the beginning of each chapter. Haikus are very powerful, you know.

My bus is in flames
My son is older than me
Please, Zeus, make it stop

As these are Apollo’s trials, it is not a spoiler to say the adventure does not quite end at the end of this book. Fantastic read for both adolescents and adults, and I cannot wait for the next one.

Trials of Apollo, The Book Two The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan is set for release on May 2nd, 2017.

Official book synopsis:

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 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.