Review: The Mark of Athena


The Mark of Athena
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Before I write my thoughts regarding this book, I would like to thank Toby for giving me a copy of this book. I was about to buy my own copy. Thank you for allowing me to save money. Thank you also for the bookmark. I know it's free, and it just comes with the book. Nonetheless, I appreciate it. The bookmark I use is just a small card of the periodic table.

On to the review.....

I have to say once again (as I have said this for most of his books) that Riordan managed to seamlessly weave ancient Greek and Roman culture. Perhaps, the most unique thing this book has offered to the Heroes of Olympus series is the team dynamics. In most, if not all, of the previous books (both Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson and the Olympians), groups who do a quest only have 3 or 4 members. Having 7 or 8 (including Coach Hedge) members this time around is new. It is also worth to note that only the Greek demigods' perspectives were explored in Mark of Athena, which is actually fine though it would be nice to have Roman perspective in the future.

I also like how the book played with Athena/Minerva to explain the root of the strife between Romans and Greeks. I thought it was a good plot device since I really didn't know that much about Minerva. It's true that she didn't really seem prominent as opposed to Athena who had a major role in most Greek stories.

Anyway, this book turned out to be great. It's been so long since I read a book in only one or two sessions. I really enjoyed the book. It was nice to see a lot of references to pop culture. Although there's this one tiny bit that slightly annoyed during the early parts of the book. Teen drama. I know that it's perfectly normal since all of the seven are teenagers (it makes the characters more realistic if there's teen drama, I guess). It became bearable as the story progressed until I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it.

Other than that, this book is enjoyable, and I recommend that you read it if you're interested in stuff like mythologies or if you just want to have fun :D



View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

by Ego or by Love?

During one Chemistry class, my teacher discussed the principle of codependence where one's happiness is dependent upon the happiness and approval of one's peers or constituents. This is simply equivalent to the social needs indicated by Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Sir had a valid argument. Why be dependent on others when you can be happy with yourself? Then, it struck me. Can we really do away with codependence? Is it not inevitable that when some people become happy because of what I did, I'll become happy too? After some time, I concluded that we can't really do away with codependence, but the question is, are we codependent by ego or codependent by love? Codependence becomes detrimental when it is done for one's ego, but I believe that when it is done out of love, codependence becomes enriching. As human beings, it is almost impossible to live in this world alone. We constantly need companionship. We steer away from the path of loneliness becau...
Read more

Review: The Philippines: A Past Revisited

Image
The Philippines: A Past Revisited by Renato Constantino My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excerpt from Ch. 18: "When there is an attempt to understand society not in terms of myths and theories but in terms of the concrete experiences and sufferings of the people, history acquires practical significance. For only if they are armed with a concrete understanding of Philippine reality can the Filipino people act correctly to change that reality. And this understanding can come about by a systematic and patriotic effort to synthesize the experience of the past in order to obtain a concrete vision of the future. History, then, should serve the purpose of integrating seemingly isolated facts and events into a coherent historical process so that a view of the totality of social reality may be achieved. Only then can facts be really understood and not be merely known; only then can this understanding of facts become an understanding of society; only then can history b...
Read more

Believe to feel

We often complain. We often think we don't have enough. We're often so consumed with the idea to acquire more. What foolish and ungrateful beings we are. In hindsight, no matter how we look at it, things could have been worse. At the end of the day, we can do nothing but to be grateful. Why are we so concerned with having more and better things? Is it human nature? Is this really what we are? Beings with insatiable hunger for more. I don't want to continue feeling this way. I want to feel contented with what I have. This greed poisons my very being. It's turning me into something I don't even want to think of. Why do some people always seem to have it all? Why? What do they have? Love. Can it truly fill that gap? But, you do know it's hard to feel the love when everything around you is a mess, when things couldn't possibly go worse as it is and when things seem hopeless. To feel love, one must take a leap of faith. To feel love, one must learn to see thi...
Read more