Note some spoilers for previous Heroes Of Olympus books
You know how sometimes you read a book in November and don’t write the review until March, but you still want to do an adequate review for the book because you LOVE the series? That. Right now. You see, I really loved The Mark Of Athena by Rick Riordan, the third book in the Heroes Of Olympus series. I never got around to writing the review though, because I am super lazy. But better telling you about why this book is fantastic late than never.
Why Did I Immediately Grab This Book On Audible/Stalk Audible For It:
Are ya kidding me? I loved the previous two audiobooks in the Heroes Of Olympus series. I loved Ella the Harpy. I loved seeing Percy again. I wanted to be BFF with Piper, Jason and Leo. And do not even get me started on Festus the dragon. So, of course when there was a release date of The Mark Of Athena, I knew that I had to watch Audible and hope that it would show up on release — because I am one of those people that has to do a series in continual format, which means audiobook.
What’s The Story Here:
There’s a prophecy in the first book, The Lost Hero that says seven demigods are going to come together. YO! All seven of them have FINALLY come together in book three. And holy heck so much stuff goes down with this book. Camp Jupiter, the Roman version of Camp Half Blood is gearing up for battle. Unfortunately, the demigods fly Argo II into Camp Jupiter which makes the residents think they are under attack. This does not bode well for their visit. Annabeth is given a mission by her mother, ‘Follow the mark of Athena. Avenge me.’ because Athena is kind of the reason there’s bad blood between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. And so, the demigods have to find the doors of death which are open and releasing dead people into the world and close them. No big deal. 😉 Of course, Annabeth isn’t the only character, Percy’s there but he seems kind of distant. Leo is focusing on the ship, but also feels like a blast from the past to Hazel. Frank is not getting along with Leo. OH and there’s a potential love triangle.
How Is The Writing:
While I did not quite love The Mark Of Athena as much as I loved The Son Of Neptune, it still wasn’t bad. Quite the opposite. I mean, yes sometimes Riordan can be a bit wordy — in that the books are very, very long. But honestly, I think there’s so much plot with you know seven starring characters, that it has to be long to give the characters the full development they deserve. Perhaps I am wrong about that, but seriously, I can’t imagine how thinly plotted this book would be if it was only 250 pages. I think that because there’s plenty of action and plenty for the demigods to do in order to fulfill the prophecy that The Mark Of Athena goes by very fast. Never a dull moment and all that. Also, also, totally worth reading for a few kissing scenes and lol, the part at the aquarium. You’ll understand when you get to that part.
What Did I Think Of The Narration:
Joshua Swanson narrates the audio version of The Mark Of Athena, produced by Listening Library. At this point, regular readers probably know that I like Joshua Swanson as a narrator. He does a great job with accents and with giving the characters different voices. He really makes a long audiobook seem short –and that’s a good thing if you are impatient like me. Like, I wasn’t staring at the clock thinking OH 3 HOURS LEFT LET’S DO THIS. I think if you want to start this spin off series, audiobooks are definitely the way to go. The Mark Of Athena is 15 hours and 8 minutes long.
Sum It Up With A GIF:
Basically my reaction for the whole entire book, including the colors in the background.
Disclosure: Purchased copy.
Other reviews of The Mark Of Athena by Rick Riordan:
Dark Faerie Tales – “definitely worth the 400 some pages!”
It’s A Book Life – “Riordan brings us another exciting adventure”
Wholly Books! – “Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!”
Books by Rick Riordan:
The Lost Hero
The Son Of Neptune
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I actually just finished reading this on Saturday! It was such a great addition to the series. I loved seeing all the demigods working together, and that ending just left me yearning for more!
I totally agree. I loved seeing the prophesied gods working in concert to achieve something.
AND OMG YES WHAT HAPPENS NEXTTTTTT!
Ella the Harpy is The BEST. Love her.
This book was a lot of fun. You can just tell Riordan has a blast with the stories.
I’m not that big a fan of Swanson as a narrator (listened to the first book on audio), so I’ve only listened to the first one on audiobook, but the books are just as awesome in paper form.
Word. Ella the Harpy appreciation society up in here.
I love that you say that it’s obvious Riordan has a blast with the stories, because I agree and I think that really adds to the fun factor of these books.
It’s interesting how different narrators work for different people. I am glad to hear though, that the books are just as good in their paper form! 😀
This sounds like a good one for me to listen to! Well, not this one specifically, but the audiobooks for Rick Riordan. I’d need to go back to the first Percy Jackson series. I didn’t really like them when I read the first two, but I bet they’ll be WAY better for me on audio. 🙂
Yeah — given what I know about you and how often you listen to audiobooks, I think you’d like this series on audio. It’s full of action. The character voicing is great.
Also. I haven’t listened to the original Percy books via audio, so I can’t say one way or another how they are.
YAAAAAYY!!!!! I friggin LOVE these books. Love ’em. I have a big soft spot for the original Percy Jackson series, but this series is SO LEGIT, I can’t even deal. I think my feelings about the books in this series are a little reversed from yours–I thought The Mark of Athena was the best one so far–but I know that we both still feel insane amounts of love.
I read the print version, which is HUGE, but I’ll have to check out this narrator. I totally agree, though, about there being so much action. You can imagine how quickly I read this book!
I was really feeling Percy and Annabeth in this one. I was like, “Aww, they’re growing up so fast!!” Remember when they used be 12 and were all friend-awkward? I’m enjoying how much their relationship is growing. AQUARIUMS FTW.
I cannot even think of how the House of Hades is going to go down because HOLY WHOA.
I hate to confess this, but I’ve only read 2 of the books in the original Percy Jackson series. I KNOW. I will have to fix that ASAP. Yet, I think I like this series much more. Like you said, so legit.
YES, I felt all of the love.
The action is awesome.
OMG OMG OMG PERCY AND ANNABETH FOREVER AND FOR ALWAYS.
Dude, I cannot wait for House of Hades. AHHH.
For some strange reason I got a third of the way through this book and then just stopped…I guess more books came and I read those instead. But still, I’m ashamed that I haven’t finished this yet! But I’m still angry that people on Tumblr spoiled the ending. Grr
Awww, that happens to me a lot — I get pretty far in a book and stop because other book seem to be more pressing at the time.
OH MY GOD, I hate when people do that. Super annoying, but it’s still worth reading even when you know what’s going to happen.
Good to hear you liked this book. I’ve been on the wait list for this audiobook ever since my library got it. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series. It’s too bad the book wasn’t as fantastic as the others, but I guess there’s always ups and downs with series like this. I’m looking forward to reading it. 🙂
HOW did you manage to write a review on this book when you read it in November? I read The Mark of Athena in December, and I don’t think I could write about it now. Anyway, I agree that it was so much fun to see them all together, and though it was loonnnnggggg this book was so much fun and readable. I was also able to follow every character, despite the fact that there were so many of them. Interesting choice to only feature certain ones (I think all the Greek demigods had voices). I LOVE Nico and I’m glad to see him back here. I think he’s one of my favorite characters from both series. I’m interested in this guy reading all the audio parts. How did that work with the girls? Did he try different voices? I can’t wait for the next one! Percy! Annabeth! AAAAAAHHHH.