There's a lot to learn about mythology here and, on a deeper level, about how a god like Apollo can get corrupted by power throughout his long, immortal life - the humbling experience of being mortal makes him so much more likable by the end of the book. And, for extra credit, reading the Apollo chapter in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods helps when our 'suddenly mortal and very unhappy about it' narrator Apollo recounts key moments of his godly life. The storyline picks up after the war at the end of the Heroes of Olympus, and many old favorite characters make cameos or are mentioned. It helps to read them both before digging into this first book in the Trials of Apollo series. Did you follow that? The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series came first, then the Heroes of Olympus. Parents need to know that The Hidden Oracle is the first book in a series that's a spin-off of a Percy Jackson spin-off series. Plus Snapchat, Xbox, Call of Duty, YouTube, Oreo, Prius and VW, Wikipedia, and more get quick mentions. A Neil Diamond song keeps the bad guys away. Nas, the Village People, and other musicians discussed. Mentions of Apollo's godly life include his sadness over the loss of past loves, especially the loss of the discus thrower Hyacinthus, killed by a vengeful wind and a discus to the head.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Dryads sacrifice themselves to stop a fire with mentions of the great fire of Rome and how tens of thousands of people died. A mention that two satyrs die of wounds and that a main character's father was killed.

Teens disappear, and one girl is carried off by giant ants and wrapped up as food for later. Some teens are kidnapped and almost burned as torches, with talk of how Christians died that way in Roman times and were fed to the lions. Many teens are injured and healed, luckily for them, by children of Apollo - one leg is reattached. Many fights, some against other humans with a broken and bloodied nose, the rest against magical mythological creatures including myrmekes (humongous ants that really put up a fight), a giant walking statue, deathly looking spirits carrying deadly diseases.

The trials of apollo 1