The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo, Book One)

I bought the Trials of Apollo book for my teenage daughter as she loves Rick Riordan books.I asked her if it's as good as the Percy Jackson books. She shouted the following reply at me: How do I know if it's as good I've not read it all yet! I asked our resident translator what this means, my wife replied it means she likes it.

Judging from my 10 year old son's excitement and that he declared "this is the best book so far" (he has read the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series so far) along with randomly reading out lines he likea at me, I am going to give this book a 5 star review and say it is more than worth the money.

This was a birthday present to my grandson he loves this author he said the book was great need to get him the next one in the series now .

(Reviewed first on For The Love of Fictional Worlds)After Harry Potter, it was Percy Jackson that pretty much hooked me - in fact, till today, these two are the only worlds that I will always have an hankering to go back to!So when Like Queen Rowling, when Uncle Rick comes out with a new series (with a tease about the appearance of Percy Jackson!), you don't say WHATTT?? YOU JUST FREAKING PRE-ORDER THE HELL OUT OF IT :DAnd that's exactly what I did! :PJust a little heads up though, it would be better if you read The Percy Jackson Series and the Heroes of Olympus Series (in THAT EXACT reading order!), for there are characters that make re-appearance (YAY!!) and circumstances that are referred to, that you can only get the reference if YOU HAVE READ the aforementioned series :DThis new series is about the God Apollo, - and when you have a God turned to a whiny, pubsecent teenage boy, you know you have a gold mine in sarcasm, humor and repartee that Uncle Rick is so famous for!Here's the thing - after a while, all the demi-gods stories tend to blend into one another, even though I adore Percy Jackson and the subsequent Heroes of Olympus Series (I need a re-read!), Sword of The Summer, became my least favorite of all.But just when I think Uncle Rick has reached his pinnacle, he throws The Hidden oracle at me :PApollo isn't much of a human being - suffering from the narcissism and fallacy of being a GOD, he is entitled, whiny and absolutely irritating - AND I LOVED HIM!!I mean, not as a character, but the fact that Uncle Rick made it so that he was literally unlikable at the start and for most of the story - I am not kidding - Apollo, as a God of Haiku and War was an ass but as a teenage boy, he is absolutely UNBEARABLE!!For now that he has to survive Zeus's punishment, he has more than a prophecy to fulfill - he has a journey to make and things to understand. - not that he knows this of course.And Camp Half Blood isn't exactly complete without the appearance of old favorites - seriously, I had tears in my eyes when I realized it was Percy that Apollo went back to for help - though it was weird to view him from a third POV - honestly guys, it was such a trippy experience!! I KID YOU NOT!For those who believe that Uncle Rick lost his charm after The Sword of Summer (YIKES!) - YOU NEED TO READ THIS - because this book, in my opinion is one of the best works by Uncle Rick - it has a protagonist that you just can't help be irritated with, it has a bit more angsty and a plot that is intended for a bit more mature audiences.Coupled with the typical snarky Uncle Rick style of writing - you literally have a winner!!

This was a present for my son who reads this series; he was very happy with it.