Book Review: The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2) by Rick Riordan

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BOOK review

Started on: 2 January 2021
Finished on: 15 January 2021

 

The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2) by Rick Riordan

 

Title: The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo, #2)

Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 414 pages / 432 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2017
Price: Rp 191,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 5/5

*for those who haven't read the first book, this review may contain spoiler. 

Review for The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1) by Rick Riordan here.
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"We only fail when we stop trying."

After a series of life-threatening events at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo (a.k.a Lester Papadopoulos) must embark on a journey across North America to accomplish his next quest. He's accompanied by Leo Valdez and Calypso this time around to face the next emperor who's part of the Triumvirate. As he faced various enemies along the way, Apollo is also forced to confront his past mistakes to finally obtain the dark prophecy regarding his future.

"It's not how long you live that matters. It's what you live for."

"Everything living deserves a chance to grow."

Finally finished the second book in this series! The Dark Prophecy is definitely more exciting than the first one since Apollo have to face enemies who are more dangerous and vicious. It's especially interesting for me because I love going on an adventure with Leo Valdez again after so long—because he's my favorite character from The Heroes of Olympus series. It's also very fascinating to see the dynamic between Apollo and Calypso because they seem to hate each other at first 🤣 Thankfully, their relationship gradually got better along the way. The Trials of Apollo involves a lot of characters that appears in Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series. As I said in my previous review, I didn't remember every little detail meticulously, so it was quite unfortunate. I think I will be able to enjoy this series to the fullest if I remembered them all.

Hopefully I'm not spoiling the story too much when I say that apparently Leo and Calypso won't be tagging along with Apollo the rest of the adventure. But I'm glad to see Meg McCaffrey rejoining the club! Meg has proved herself to be a very strong and skilled demigod when she helped Apollo in completing his quests. For now, we know that Meg will continue to be Apollo's companion in the third book as the dark prophecy said. And this time around, Apollo actually made quite a lot of contributions in defeating the enemies as well. Turns out, he gets a sudden surge of energy whenever he feels the urgency to help the people he cared about—which is a little bit outside of his character that constantly thinks about himself (and Apollo admits this fact as well 🤣), but it's still pretty sweet nonetheless.

"Being productive. Ugh. It's such a human concept. It implies you have limited time (LOL) and have to work hard to make something happen (double LOL)."

One of the parts that I remember the most from this book is the tragic story of Apollo's son, Trophonius, and his brother, Agamethus. It was a very dark tale that causes Trophonius to turn into the Dark Oracle. It always fascinates me how Rick Riordan was able to use these kinds of mythology as part of the story that he writes. There's also the story of Hemithea, who gained immortality when she jumped off a cliff and prayed to Apollo. The author emphasized on the theme of LGBT again through Hemithea's character who gave up her immortality to be together with Josephine, who used to be part of Hunters of Artemis. In this book, we're also introduced to Britomartis—a Greek goddess that Apollo used to hit on 🤣. She's a rather interesting goddess because she likes to pull dangerous pranks on other people that involves explosives; only Leo was able to spot those pranks early on. Truly, reading Rick Riordan's books is one of the most enjoyable way to learn mythology 🤓.

Another 'character' that I want to highlight is the Arrow of Dodona. I find every scene when the Arrow of Dodona makes an appearance is a hilarious one because it answers Apollo's questions in Elizabethan accent. The story itself has progressed significantly. We finally met the second emperor of the Triumvirate Holdings and obtain the dark prophecy for Apollo's next quest. I'm glad to see Apollo's character developing through the series of events that he experienced together with his friends. He became (slightly) more compassionate about others instead of only thinking about his own well being. Looking forward to see how his character is going to end up by the end of this series 😊.

"I remember something Marcus Aurelius used to tell his son, a quote that later became famous in his Meditations book: Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness."

I am currently reading another book, but after that I'll immediately start reading the third book in this series, The Burning Maze. According to the dark prophecy, we'll reunite with a lot of old friends from the previous series—which is really exciting! As usual, Rick Riordan's writing is entertaining and easy to read; I enjoyed the humor and had a few good laughs while reading it. I can't wait to see what crazy adventure awaits Apollo and Meg in the next book!🥳

 

by.stefaniesugia♥ .