With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy-after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera-it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. The characters continue to evolve in their new circumstances, new obstacles are revealed and tackled, and the suspense cranks up in regards to the overall story arc.Annabeth is terrified.

In the end, The Mark of Athena is a strong book, especially for a mid-series installment.

These seven teens have been thrown together because of circumstances, and are told they should not like each other, but end up great friends and find that, though each has unique skills, each person is valuable. This is an important theme, especially for middle- and high-school students. This book is about getting along, working as a team, and putting aside differences and conflicting beliefs in order to work toward a common goal. The stakes are higher here in this book, and the cliffhanger leaves the reader screaming.īesides the exciting plot, there are solid themes present. We also get to see how one of the original homes of the gods, Rome, affects both them and the demigods. We meet new monsters and deities, as well as get some clarity on how the gods have two personalities, Greek and Roman. Much of the plot is travel-centric, which reminds me of the second Percy Jackson book however, this one is more original. I also love getting to see how different characters-some of whom have only just met-get along (or don’t, sometimes). It’s a slightly unwieldy cast size, but Riordan balances them all excellently. All seven main characters, plus Coach Hedge the satyr, get a chance to shine and have character development, which is admirable. There are four characters with points of view in this book, but Riordan does a good job giving us the right person’s perspective at just the right time. Along the way, Annabeth must grapple with the fact that she has to tackle a possibly deadly mission alone meanwhile, Nico di Angelo has been captured by giants, and his time is rapidly running out. Now that the Roman and Greek camps know about each other, everything should be fine, right? Unfortunately, an accident leads to the newly formed group-Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo-racing off on the quest to Rome with little warning or preparation. The Mark of Athena is the middle novel in Rick Riordan’s five-book series, The Heroes of Olympus.

The mark of athena series