The Trials of Apollo #5 – The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan.
This book earns itself a whole 5 stars.
I love greek mythology, so when I first heard about and read Percy Jackson I fell in love. A modern reimagining with new stories and adventures. The series has two continuing series, The Trials of Apollo being the latest. And now it’s over.
It follows Apollo being cast down and made mortal. He has to earn back his godhood. He befriends and is enslaved to Meg, a little demigod whose adopted father happens to be Nero, the big bad emperor.
Fast forward to “present,” it’s the final chapter, the last struggles that Apollo has to face in order to regain his godhood. But does he want it anymore? Only 6 months have passed since he became mortal and so much has happened that Apollo has drastically changed for the better.
The voice that Rick Riordan gave to Apollo as a mortal, Lester, was so good. He was wimpy and whiney and sassy. His inner narration was entertaining. That was probably the biggest pro about this series. Apollo was fun to read. The situations he got in were okay. Meg wasn’t too bad. It did feel like she didn’t get quite enough depth like Apollo, but we only know what he wanted to tell us since everything was from his one point of view.
It might not be weird, but it probably is, that I just wanted more Percy Jackson. He was such a prominent character in the first two series, and now we barely see him. We see his mom a lot more, which is pretty good. Sally Jackson! And her cooking. Apollo loves her baby, too. That’s sort of weird…but adorable. He’s becoming more human and learning selflessness, to care about others.
This journey for Apollo is probably one that a lot of humans need to take to learn those same lessons. Even Nero should have! Granted Apollo was never evil like Nero…just self absorbed. So, it was satisfying to watch Apollo be so selfless and willing to die to make things right in the end.
SPOILER from the previous book. SPOILER SPOILER :
in the previous book Jason dies. I did not feel anything for his death the way I probably would have felt for Percy or Apollo dying. I didn’t dislike him, but I didn’t care. Maybe I should reread that series with him again. It sure put Apollo through the ringer though and it was beautiful to see his emotions about it throughout the book and how he comes to grips with it.
End spoiler
So, that’s a basic non spoiler reviews for The Tower of Nero, minus that last part that spoiled the previous book. The end!
Rachels Books 