Percy is back for another battle with the forces of the Titan Kronos, and this time it starts with a visit to another school. His mom has been seeing a man named Paul Blofis, and he's a teacher at a School in New York. Percy has applied to the school, and is going in for a tour when he sees a familliar red-haired girl. He tries to avoid her by going in the side door, but she finds him anyway, and they are soon attacked by two cheerleaders who are actually Empousa, demon-women.
He and Rachel Dare are saved when the Empousa set off an explosion, and they manage to get away in the confusion- and with the help of Annabeth, who isn't happy to see Percy with another girl. But as he bids Rachel goodbye, she writes her phone number on his hand and asks him to call her. Still, he remembers something the Empousa said to him and he and Annabeth hurry back to camp.
There, he meets a warrior named Quintus, and his pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. Quintus has been engaged at the camp as a teacher for swordwork, and with him, he's brought not only Mrs. O'Leary, but some crates that move and rattle. But more important is the trial of Grover. Despite having been a searcher, he's been unable to find the God Pan, and the council wants to make him give up trying. Grover tries to protest, but the council only gives him an additional week to find the God, which is nowhere near enough time.
Percy is also having dreams again, this time about Nico, who is taking advice from a ghost-man and raising the spirits of the dead. The Ghost has convinced him that he can trade a spirit for a spirit, but it has to be one that has cheated death- which means that Nico will want to trade Percy's spirit for his sister's. And it's not only dreams that Percy is seeing Nico in. For some reason, he is getting them through Iris Message as well.
During a preparation battle game at the camp, Percy and Annabeth are cornered by three Scorpion-like monsters and dive into a rock cleft to hide. But this isn't just a rock cleft- it's an entrance to the Labyrinth, which now underlies the entire US. And Grover realizes that Luke has been seeking Ariadne's thread to use the Labyrinth as the perfect invasion device- once his soldiers are in the Labyrinth, they can come out anywhere- even into the middle of the well-guarded Camp Half-Blood.
To stop Luke and Kronos from using the Labyrinth, they will have to seek out Daedalus, master of the Maze. He's been hiding in the maze from his own fate for 2000 years, after having been cursed by Athena for killing his own nephew in a fit of jealousy. Annabeth is handed the quest to find him, because she's been studying Daedalus and his works. With her, she chooses Percy, Grover and Tyson to go, despite the standard being only three on a quest- even if more go, usually only three come back.
She also goes to the Oracle, and recieves a prophecy, part of which troubles her greatly, and she won't repeat it to anyone, not even Percy. But even for Demigods like Annabeth and Percy, the maze can do worse than kill them. It can drive them insane, like it did the Half-Blood named Chris, who was Clarisse's boyfriend. Now he raves about string and the maze.
Once inside the maze, though, Annabeth and the others are completely lost. All of Annabeth's readings don't help her in the Maze. She tries heading for the older parts of the maze, but they always seem to end up in places that aren't much help. To find Daedalus, they must find Hephaestus, and to do that, they must find their way out of the maze. But one exit takes them to Alcatraz, where they rescue Briareus, a hundred-handed one from one of the monsters of Kronos. Tyson looks up to Briareus, but it seems like his hero-worship is misplaced- Briareus is too scared to fight against Kronos, or even to escape from his prison- until he has the help of Tyson, Annabeth and Percy!
Another turning takes them to a ranch owned by Geryon, a three-bodied monster who looks after several supernatural animals for their owners, among them being the Cattle of the Sun, the man-eating horses of Augeus, Hippalektryons- creatures half horse and half rooster, and others. But Geryon doesn't just look after them, he's also selling them for meat, something that none of the heroes can stand. So when Percy agrees to perform the same task as Hercules did- clean the filthy Augean stables, will his mouth finally be bigger than his ability to perform such a task? And even if he can clean the stables- will Geryon keep his word? And can they convince Nico, who is staying at the Ranch, that Percy wasn't really responsible for Bianca's death- or will it take Bianca to convince him?
Their trail eventually leads them to Hephaestus, who tells Percy he already knows how to navigate the maze, but he also needs their help-finding out who took over one of his workshops under Mount Saint Helens. If they do that, he'll help them as much as he can. And while Tyson and Grover go off to find Pan, having felt him in the maze, Percy and Annabeth must tackle whatever is hiding in the Workshop.
In the end, it all comes down to Daedalus, and using Rachel Dare- a girl who can see through the Mists that protect the Gods and the Half-Bloods, to track him down. But can they convince Daedalus not to give Luke the string? And what will happen if Daedalus has already decided to help Luke? Is there any way that the battle can go their way?
Wow, I ripped through this book in only a few hours. I wanted to savor it, but the story came fast and hard, and carried me along like a rushing river. So much happens in this book, and we see how much the war is going to hurt both sides. Percy gets asked some hard questions, such as "Are you on the side of the Gods because you agree with them, or because one of them is your Dad?" and has to decide for himself what the answers are. Luke's fate is up in the air, but seems to be bad nonetheless.
And we learn more about Percy's friends. For instance, how Annabeth was concieved, and that was just... strange. Percy seems to be almost a one-man force for policing the monsters, and I wonder what he is going to do with his life after the battle with the Titans is over. What will he do with his life? What are all of the half-bloods (the ones that survive, anyway) going to do? I can guess that Annabeth will be some hotshot Architect, but Percy? What is he good at besides fighting monsters?
I suppose all these questions will be answered in the last book. I want to savor that one, too, but I proably won't be able to if it's as good and fast-moving as this one. I can only hope that all the characters involved have a good and happy life, but I'm not so sanguine that all will survive. Highly recommended.
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