The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

It's Percy Jackson's last summer at Camp Halfblood, and even before he gets there, things go right to heck. First, he's sent out on a mission with Beckendorf, a half-blood of Hephestaeus, to take out the cruise ship Princess Andromeda, which Kronos is using to bring a bunch of monsters to Manhattan. They set bombs in the engine room, but are caught on their way out. Percy escapes as the ship explodes, but Beckendorf isn't so lucky. And before Percy escapes, Kronos, in Luke's body, taunts him with the knowledge that there is a spy at Camp Half-Blood.

This brings Percy to his father's kingdom, where Typhon's minions are beseiging it. Percy can barely recognize his father, because hs's aged so much that he looks like an old man. And why is that? Because the Kingdom of Poseidon is under attack, and could be losing- Poseidon's appearance reflects the state of his Realm. Percy barely gets time to speak to his father, and to his brother, the Cyclops, Tyson, before he must return to Camp Half-Blood.

There, he gives the sad news to Beckendorf's girlfriend, Silena, and she's devastated by his death. Her friend, daughter of Ares, Clarisse, helps her, but Silena needs to be alone. Percy also meets his friend Annabeth, daughter of Athena, who takes him to see the Oracle and finally lets him read the prophecy of the Chosen one- the prophecy that just might be about him.

Meanwhile, the Ares cabin has declared that they aren't going to fight in the war against the titans because of a dispute with the Apollo cabin over the flying Chariot that campers from both cabins had captured from the forces of the Titans. Chiron awarded the Chariot to the Apollo Cabin, and the Ares kids are sick of being ignored, so refuse to fight with the others.

But as Percy and his fellow campers are in Camp Half-Blood, the Typhon, the ruthless engine of destruction, is making his way cross-country, and the Gods themselves have left Mount Olympus to try and stop him, leaving Olympus essentially undefended. But Percy feels that the fight with Typhon is a trap, and that the Half-Bloods need to defend Olympus so that Kronos can't sneak in the back way while the Gods' backs are turned.

But first, who should appear but Nico, the son of Hades, who tells Percy that to defeat Luke, he must understand where he comes from. So Percy and Nico travel through the shadows, and on Mrs. Murphy, Percy's Hellhound friend, to find Luke's mother, a woman who seems completely crazy, and who thinks both Half-bloods are her son, Luke, who promised to be back for cookies and a Peanut-butter and Jelly sandwich for lunch.

Now the house is filled with burnt cookies and decaying peanut-butter and Jelly sandwiches. There is also an abundance of plush stuffed creatures from all sorts of Greek myths, and it's clear that Luke's mother knows something about the hidden Greek Gods in the world. But how would Hermes, god of messengers and clear thought, fall in love with a crazy woman?

The answer to that may lie in the Kingdom of Hades, but when Nico goes there with Percy, they stop by to see Nico's Dad, who promptly imprisons Percy in a dungeon cell without a door- because he doesn't want the rest of the Greek Gods to succeed. He thinks they need to be taken down a notch, but Percy asks if he thinks Kronos will just stop there. Hades doesn't answer, but soon Nico shows up and tries to find out the truth about his mother.

He also tells Percy that Luke bathed in the River Styx, and that for Percy to defeat him, Percy must do the same. But the River Styx does leave one weakness, in a place the hero chooses, and while Percy is under the water, he must focus on something human to keep him centered. Percy decides to bathe in the river and focusses on Annabeth as his anchor.

Afterwards, he and Nico continue to retrace Luke's path and discover why the children of the minor gods are backing Kronos: because he has promised them representation and equal standing with the children of the major Gods. And Annabeth has much deeper ties to Luke than Percy ever realized. And with Kronos drawing ever close to New York, Percy must return to defend Manhattan Island and the seat of Olympus- along with all the other half-blood heroes. But can he do all that, uncover the spy, and defeat Luke and Kronos, who has taken over Luke's body, all without dying? And meanwhile Percy must remember the prophecy, which says the Chosen one will make his choice by dying, and either save Olympus or destroy it. But can Percy make the right choice when the time comes, or will the choice not be his to make?

I loved this book, which was an exciting, action-packed conclusion to the series. So many things happen in this book, but while some questions are answered rather matter-of-factly (i.e. Is Percy really the Chosen One? What happened to Nico's mother?) Others get a more rounded-out answer (Does Percy really have to die?), and other mysteries are presented and answered entirely within the volume (Why was the Oracle cursed by Hades?).

The war (for a war it is) breaks out into open battle in this volume, and there is a lot of fighting. But it's not just straight fighting, because some of the Gods are on the side of Kronos, even if only nominally, and Percy must convince them to fight on the side of their brother and sister Gods (since the Greek Gods were all related by being Children of Kronos or one of the grandchildren of Kronos. We also meet the real last Olympian (who turns out to be completely unexpected, because this person has never been directly mentioned before, and several items and creatures from Greek Myths make their appearance, like Pandora's box.

The ending is a triumph, which should leave fans of the series feeling exhilarated and yet looking forward to more adventures with Percy and his friends. For while this series of adventures are over, Rick Riordan says that this is only the first Camp Half-Blood series he was writing, so we shall soon have more to look forward to. While the question of whether Percy will remain the focus of the series or the next series will introduce a new main character remain unanswered for now, I can only say that this book was as enjoyable as the first book in the series, and has only gotten better with each volume.

I look forward to reading the next Percy Jackson series, and all fans of these books will certainly do the same. If this book is going to be the first one you pick up- don't. The books need to be read in order for the ending and most of the mysteries not to be given away and for readers to be introduced to the characters. But this is another series I would definitely recommend to young teens or older kids who enjoy reading adventure or mythology. Highly recommended.