The Mark of Athena-Jesse Shuter

Jesse Shuter-The Mark of Athena

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan is part of a series called The Heroes of Olympus. This series is a continuation of the very popular Percy Jackson series. The first Percy Jackson book became so popular that it had turned into a movie, and the second Percy Jackson book is currently becoming a movie. The series is one of the most popular series in America. The book is so interesting because it is a fun and easy way to learn about Greek and Roman mythology and history.

The book is about the two sides of mythology coming together to unite and defeat the oppressing Giant army. After the last two books Percy the leader of the Greek camp and a son of the Greek god Poseidon has been placed in the Roman camp; and Jason the leader of the Roman camp and son of the Roman god Jupiter was placed in the Greek one. Both of their memories had been erased and they both needed to lead a new group of friends into battle. Now they remember everything, and they are about to reunite with their old friends. Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, and Percy’s girlfriend, she and her new friends Piper and Leo along with Jason are returning to meet with Percy and his new friends Hazel and Frank. They get there and everything is going well but then Leo uses their ship to attempt to blow up the Roman camp. The Romans are infuriated so they chase the seven friends away. Leo quickly becomes the underdog and the outsider from this point on, he is the only one of the seven friends that is not dating another friend, and he is the most clumsy and awkward of them all. This quickly makes him a favorite to become the hero. 

The friends go on an adventure all the way to Rome, the home of their history. They run into a lot of trouble on the way and when they get there they need to defeat the Giant brothers. Meanwhile Annabeth needs to save a priceless item that was stolen from her mother, she needs to get it back and defeat a secret and powerful enemy to restore her mother’s honor. She needs to do this mission alone and keep it a secret from her friends, but they quickly realize that something is up. One thing that is so enthralling about this book is that there are so many conflicts and plot points that you never no what is going to happen next. All of the friends experience person vs. person conflict; person vs. society conflict; and even person vs. self conflict. A theme that is so captivating in this book is that each chapter comes from a different character’s perspective. This way the reader always knows what is going on and gets to learn about each of the characters and how they look at the situations that are happening to them and their friends. This book helps readers to understand the powers of friendship, and also it helps them to learn about Greek and Roman mythology.

Since this book allows you to understand all of the characters and their personalities; it becomes easy to relate to the characters. Sometimes I feel like Leo, and I feel like an outsider, even in my own group of friends. Sometimes I feel like Annabeth, and I need to be brave or take on a large responsibility to benefit my friends. I can connect to each and every one of these characters, and that is why this book is so gripping and it is so enjoyable to read. I love this book, ever since I started reading the Percy Jackson series, I have become emotionally invested in the characters and I always want to know what happens to them. The way that Rick Riordan writes it is so easy for anyone to enjoy the books. I also enjoy how he writes so visually allowing the readers to actually imagine what they are reading. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a series that they are willing to get invested in. However I would start by reading the other books first.

This book is so engaging because it is so easy to identify with the characters and it is an enjoyable way to learn about the Greek and Roman mythology and history. The book is so full of cliffhangers and conflicts and plot points that it is worthwhile to read the book.

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