The Last Olympian

Last updated
The Last Olympian
Lastolympian.gif
Cover of first edition
Author Rick Riordan
Cover artist John Rocco
Series Percy Jackson & the Olympians (book 5)
Genre Fantasy, Greek mythology, young-adult novel
Publisher Disney Hyperion [1] [2]
Publication date
May 5, 2009 [2]
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover), audiobook
Pages381 [1]
ISBN 978-1-4231-0147-5
OCLC 299578184
LC Class PZ7.R4829 Las 2009b [1]
Preceded by The Battle of the Labyrinth  
Followed by The Chalice of the Gods
The Lost Hero (from The Heroes of Olympus) 

The Last Olympian is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology by Rick Riordan, published on May 5, 2009. [3] It is the fifth novel of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and is the direct sequel to The Battle of the Labyrinth . [3] The Last Olympian revolves around the demigod Percy Jackson as he leads his friends in a last stand to protect Mount Olympus.

Contents

Upon release, the book received highly positive reviews from various critics. It was also the #1 USA Today bestseller, [4] the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, and #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller. [5]

Plot

While Percy Jackson is on a drive with Rachel Dare, he is approached by Charles Beckendorf, and the two head off to attack Luke's ship, The Princess Andromeda. Kronos, hosted in the mortal body of Luke, is not caught off guard because of a spy at Camp Half-Blood, and Beckendorf is killed in an explosion. Percy awakens later in his father Poseidon's underwater palace, which is under siege by the Titan Oceanus. Percy wants to help fight, but Poseidon sends Percy back to Camp Half-Blood to hear the "Great Prophecy". Once there, Percy informs the camp of the spy and learns that the Olympians are fighting Typhon. The following night, Percy leaves with Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, following a lead on how to defeat Kronos. After visiting Luke's mother in Westport, Connecticut, and talking with Hestia, Percy procures a blessing from his mother. He then descends into the Underworld to bathe in the River Styx and take on the curse of Achilles. Despite being betrayed by Nico in exchange for information on the boy's mother, Percy is successful and uses his new invulnerability to defeat a small army of Hades's minions.

Percy emerges from the Underworld in New York City, leaving Nico behind to convince his father to join the fight against Kronos. Percy calls the campers to help defend Olympus, as the gods refuse to end their struggle with Typhon. Just before the battle begins, New York City is affected by a powerful sleeping spell from Morpheus, Hecate, and Kronos. Despite being joined by Thalia's Hunters of Artemis, the Party Ponies, and a few other allies, the Olympian army struggles to hold back repeated assaults by the Titan army. Camp Half-Blood suffers 16 losses out of the original 40 campers. Annabeth herself is badly injured when she saves Percy from an attack by Ethan Nakamura that would have hit Percy in his Achilles' point. Even after these setbacks, Percy refuses a chance to surrender offered by Prometheus and entrusts the Titan's gift of Pandora's pithos to Hestia. The campers successfully defeat Hyperion, further enraging Kronos. Rachel Dare, who has been experiencing inexplicable moments of prophecy, arrives to warn Percy of a drakon that can only be killed by a child of Ares. The campers do poorly against the drakon until Silena Beauregard arrives disguised as Ares's head counselor Clarisse and breaks the cabin's boycott of the war, getting badly injured in the process. The real Clarisse arrives in a fury and kills the drakon by herself. As Silena lies dying, the campers learn that she was the camp's spy but chose to right her wrongs after her boyfriend Beckendorf's death.

Percy contacts his father and asks Poseidon to join the fight against Typhon; he reluctantly agrees. Driven back to the blocks surrounding the Empire State Building, Percy and his friends make their last stand to protect Mount Olympus. Even when Hades arrives with Nico and an army, Kronos still manages to enter Olympus. Percy attacks Kronos without either side gaining a significant advantage. In an Iris message-vision, the combatants are able to see Typhon approaching New York, only to be defeated with the aid of Poseidon and his cyclopes. Ethan Nakamura rebels against Kronos but is killed. When Kronos attacks Annabeth, Luke is able to regain control of his body, and, with Percy's help, he injures himself at his mortal point and apparently kills Kronos. As he dies, Luke tells Percy that Ethan was right; the war was caused by the resentment of unrecognized gods and unclaimed children. He dies peacefully, and the Fates carry his body away.

The gods rewards several heroes who were instrumental in defeating the Titans, including Thalia, Grover, Annabeth, Tyson, Clarisse, and Nico. Finally, Percy is called forward. Zeus offers him the greatest gift of all time: immortal godhood. Much to the Olympians' shock, Percy instead asks the gods to swear on the River Styx that they will claim all demigods by the time they turn thirteen, have cabins built for the children of all minor gods and Hades, and give amnesty to innocent Titans and their former allies such as Calypso. Percy also relieves Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades of their oath to not have demigod children. Privately, Hermes reveals to Percy that Kronos is not dead but is instead hopefully spread so thin that he can never form a consciousness again, let alone a body, as the Titans cannot die any more than the gods can. After the meeting, Percy discovers that Rachel plans to become the new Oracle, and he rushes to camp with Annabeth and Nico. With Apollo's supervision, Rachel safely becomes the new Oracle and speaks the next Great Prophecy. Annabeth celebrates Percy's birthday, and the two begin dating. The gods keep their new promises, and Camp Half-Blood slowly returns to normal. The fallen demigods are honored with the end-of-summer's bead. [6]

Reception

The New York Times called the novel "both exciting and entertaining." While the review notes that the pace sometimes bordered on "frantic," distracting from weaker plot points, the book as a whole remains "clever" and "enjoyably hair-raising." [7] The non-profit Common Sense Media warned parents that this final book in the series contains more violence than the previous entries, but praised the book overall, giving it five out of five stars. [8] Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book positively, observing that "Riordan masterfully orchestrates the huge cast of characters and manages a coherent, powerful tale at once exciting, philosophical and tear-jerking." [2]

Main characters

Sequel

Another Camp Half-Blood Chronicles series has been released, titled The Heroes of Olympus . The Lost Hero is the first book in this series by Riordan, and was released on October 12, 2010. Though it is not directly related to Percy and friends, there are many references and appearances of these characters and it still serves as a sequel. Its sequel, The Son of Neptune , portrays Percy as one of the main protagonists. The Son of Neptune is followed by The Mark of Athena , The House of Hades , and The Blood of Olympus .

A sixth book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, titled The Chalice of the Gods and set between the events of The Heroes of Olympus and its sequel series The Trials of Apollo , [9] was announced in October 2022, with a release date of September 26, 2023. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 The last Olympian (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). ISBN   9781423101475 . Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan". KirkusReviews.com. May 5, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Percy Jackson children's book series ending next year". The Seattle Times. September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  4. ↑ "USA Today Best-Selling Books list". USA Today . May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The Last Olympian – Rick Riordan". 30 March 2016. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  6. ↑ Riordan, Rick (May 5, 2009). The Last Olympian . Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Disney-Hyperion. ISBN   978-1-4231-0147-5. OCLC   299578184.
  7. ↑ Devereaux, Elizabeth (May 28, 2009). "The Gods Must Be Crazy." NYTimes.com. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  8. ↑ "The Last Olympian: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5". www.commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  9. ↑ "Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods | Rick Riordan". 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  10. ↑ Jones |, Michael M. "Rick Riordan to Return to Percy Jackson Next Fall". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
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