Jesus Rey
English IV, 5th
3/2/15
Novel Final: The Mark of Athena
1. The Mark of Athena.
2. Rick Riordan
3. I chose this book because the series is fantasy based on Greek and Roman mythology, with which I am obsessed.
4. On July first Gaia (or Gaea), the Greek/Roman figure representing the earth, will kill Nico DeAngelo. In doing so, she will snuff out the only hope of stopping her plans from destroying ancient Rome and reconquering the world for the Titans.
5. The main characters, the present day Heroes of Olympus.
6. Aside from the apocalyptic problem created by Gaia, the book is riddled with conflict. The Heroes each face moral conflicts, such as one feeling fears of being the "7th wheel," completely useless to the other 6. One was faced with finding her mother Athena's lost artifact, which has been hidden since the Romans laid seige upon Greece. To top it all off, the Greek and Roman camps are on the verge of a civil war.
7. The Demigods (the half immortal children of the Gods and mortals), save Nico DeAngelo and learn that they must journey to Greece and to Tartarus (the deepest pit in the Underworld) to find the two halves of the Doors of Death, which must be closed if Gaia is to be stopped. Athena's artifact is found in the secret catacombs under a parking lot in Rome which is atop a hidden entrance to Tartarus. The statue is retrieved but in the process two of the Heroes, Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena), fall into the pit. They promise to find their side of the Doors of Death, telling Nico and the others to find its counterpart in Greece.
8. I haven't exactly gone on a journey to save the world so the conflict of Gaia conquering the world isn't one I could relate to. However I can relate to some of the moral dilemmas the characters face, for example: Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason Grace (son of Zeus) meet and are both the leader type, each one used to leading their respective groups. When they are put in the quest together there is a bit of a clash as they both expect to be the "main role" in a sense. For a while through the book they hold tension and even have a bout at one point, although they eventually work together and become friends. I can definitely relate to the whole "fight for the position of Alpha Male" shtick. It happens any time two guys full of testosterone and ego meet, and I'm in high school. 'Nuff said.
9. The Demigods retain powers and attributes from ther Godly parents, for example the son of Poseidon can breathe underwater, talk to sea life and horses (in Greek mythology Poseidon made horses out of "seafoam", weird but cool nonetheless), and manipulate water among other things. The son of Zeus can fly, control lightning, ETC. Who doesn't want awesome God powers? I certainly do!
10.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading fantasy or science-fiction type books. It is a part of a 5 book series which is the sequel to another 5 book series, so they will last a long time reading. Each book is about thirty to
