The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo Book 1)

All good - books delivered fine

Good

Rick Riordan does it again!Apollo is sent to earth as a mere mortal (and not an attractive one at that, to his complete horror!) by Zeus in punishment for his part in the action of the previous books (I won't say more because of spoilers). He finds the limitations of the mortal body mortifying and longs for his godly powers back. However, it becomes clear that he is on trial and must complete a quest before he will (possibly) be re-deified, or not. Zeus isn't talking to him and neither are any of the other Olympians, so he has no idea whether his current predicament is permanent or temporary, this time. Apollo knows that he has to complete a trial because his service is claimed by a demi-god called Meg who is a daughter of Demeter/Ceres and he has to obey her. Unfortunately, Meg has issues of her own and these become apparent as the book progresses and they seek sanctuary in Camp Half Blood, where the Oracle isn't working any more and where the woods have become deadly to the resident demi-gods. I was enjoying this so much that I didn't notice the compression of the pages and actually said, 'OH NO!' out loud when I turned the last page and realised the story had come to an end and I'd have to wait gods only know how long for Rick to publish the sequel ... :( Thoroughly recommended for fans of Rick's other work on mythology and anyone who enjoys a cracking good read.

This was a birthday present to my grandson he loves this author he said the book was great need to get him the next one in the series now .

You see quite a few old characters from Percy Jackson's books in this, but you still got a whole new set of MC's which was interesting to see.My first little love of this book was the chapter beginnings - they all had a small Haiku at the beginning. They were amusing little anecdotes that gave you an idea of what may happen in the chapter you were on, and they will also definitely give you a little smile whenever you start on a new chapter.When it comes to Apollo as a character he was one of my favourites out of them all - possibly one of my favourites from all the Percy Jackson books. He was funny throughout the whole book, and also gave me a few chuckles (I rarely laugh out loud when reading) and it was great to see his character development as he learnt to be more human - he slowly started to notice mistakes he was making in both his behaviours and actions and he started to change into a better person.

A fabulous start to a new series by Rick riordan, which everyone loves. The best things about this novel was the characters and also the structure of the story. By this is I mean it's about a God who's punished by his father instead of child find out their a demi God and has great potential for good. I really appreciated the change and not just in the structure but also the characters as with percy jackson he starts of shy and doesn't really believe in himself but on the other hand Apollo is all out cocky and realises he's not that power or all might in a human body. To conclude I would say I thoroughly enjoyed and are excited to carry on with the series!

It’s nice to see a change up in Riordan’s structure, by starting with comedy (the chapter poem things are brilliant) and then not focusing too much on demi gods but still having them part of the story. Having Apollo become a mortal teenager and focusing on him is brilliant and really works, I definitely enjoyed this. It’s not as strong as the end of the Heroes of Olympus series, but it doesn’t need to be - it’s still a good, fun story. It also felt a little more middle grade than HoO did which is a nice return to form, though that may just be Apollo coming across as immature ;)

This book is a new story line in the continuing saga of the interplay between the old Gods and the demigods from camp half blood. In it the God Apollo has been banished from Olympus and stripped of his powers. He has to prove himself before he can return to his home. It is a good read, perhaps not quite as exciting as the Heroes of Olympus series as yet but with lots of potential. However it links to Percy Jackson and his cohorts so it was good to catch up with them. I have read and enjoyed all of Rick Riordan books. It is a special skill for an author to be able to span the generation gap as well as he does. I am in the older adult category, but I highly recommend this book to all ages.