The Mark of Athena: The Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

I continue to find great joy in Rick Riordan's books. The Heroes of Olympus series builds significantly on his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In this third book, the demigods of Camp Halfblood must join forces with the demigods of Camp Jupiter on a world-wide quest. The Greeks and the Romans must work together, which is no small task as they were not even aware of each other! Moreover, an incident in the beginning of the book causes war to break out between the Greeks and Romans. Seven demigods (from both camps) are chosen for this quest: Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo. In this quest, the demigods work to fight the rise of Gaea and save Nico di Angelo. In addition, Annabeth must go on her own quest to follow the Mark of Athena in the hope of finding and saving the Athena Parthenos. It is believed that this statue will help bring peace to both the Greeks and Romans by uniting Athena with her Roman form, Minerva.

There is a lot going on in this story, and it takes the characters all over the United States, across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and on to Rome. In the past, I have frequently given Riordan's books five stars. I'm giving this one only four stars for one main reason: the number of characters is starting to get a bit challenging because its not always easy to remember who is Greek and who is Roman. In addition, the relationships between and among the demigods are becoming rather complex. The only way I could remember which demigod was which was by thinking about who he or she was dating--or not dating. In some ways, this caused the book to slip a bit into the teen romance genre, which is not what I enjoy about the series. While I understand it's a common part of growing up, I am hopeful that there will be just a bit less emphasis on it in subsequent books in the series.

No, I don't re-listen very often, and Riordan does a good job of making the marking events memorable especially as you read next entries into the series.

Great historical tie-ins and doesn't give us the "lite" versions of mythology. The characters get to shine in seperate moments, allowing more of their personality to be revealed. I just wish I knew more about Jason!

He keeps things moving and engaging, He has fun with the voices, even if they aren't all that dynamic (you can always tell it's Swanson, you never get the feeling he "transforms" into his characters) He make distinct differences between his characters (with maybe the exception of the giants, but that is understandable) Swanson also handles all the difficult names and locations which could easily get butchered.

Simply because the book is relatively short, yes I would listen in one sitting. But the book isn't so engaging or edge-of-the-seat that I felt like I "couldn't put it down".

As a series, the Heroes of Olympus is not as good as the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but is fun, and continues the stories of the main characters, and the story is good enough, you want to know what happens next.

I did not like his performance in the first book of this series, but I think he has really improved.

Yes! It was very good!

Fantastic story line. I loved seeing both Anabeth's and Percy's point of view.

Its childish considering the characters are teenagers not fifth graders.

Yes! The end keeps you waiting and you cant stop there!

He sounds like 34 different people!

Well of course! I mean what else are you supposed to do during a five hour drive?

No

As always, an interesting story with humor and mythology.

I'm glad that Riordan has continued his mythology series, and has woven in characters from the original Camp Half Blood series into this new one. This was an interesting storyline, though I feel his best ones were found in the original Percy Jackson books.

Certainly the Riordan mythology series work well as audiobooks -- the characters and humor translate well, and the reader did a good job with the different voices, and building excitement. That said, my personal preference is for the other narrators used on the Riordan books.

No. But it was suspenseful.

Neither my 10 year old son nor I have liked this series as much as the original Percy Jackson series or Riordan's Egyptian mythology series. Nonetheless, this installment was well done. My son wanted to zip through it. He keeps pestering me about the next one, so despite being a tad off from the Riordan highwater mark, it is still the most exciting series going to him.

Once again Rick Riordan has delivered. This series has been great fun for both myself and my daughter to listen to. The mythilogical references are great conversation starters for us and have ignited an interest in my daughter.

I would compare Rick Riordan's books to Harry Potter, engaging and entertaining for all ages.

Another wonderful series to listen to this is the second to last book of the series and I have listened to all of his books and own them all and would suggest it to anyone who loves books about the Roman and Greek gods and their mortal children

Yes, I enjoy listening to books while I drive, walk, crochet and work around the house. It is a great way to keep up with all the great books written.

Yes, it was a fun book with good narration. A definite listen if you have read or listened to the first two in the series.

I rarely have the opportunity to listen to a book in one sitting, especially one this long. But this book would hold my interest if I were listening to it on an extended car trip.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Great series for all ages. Writer is witty and the story is very interesting. I love to hear about the Greek and Roman gods in a modern day setting.

I love this series of books, I can't wait for more. The way the pov bounces from person to person draws you need and you can't wait to get back to find out what happens next, while you can see what coming on some things it is a teen series so I let it pass,