Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth (Book 4)by Rick RiordanGood lords, I started this post a week ago today and never got past the title, image and series info (below). It feels like it has been forever since I have finished this book. When it really has only been a week.My thoughts on this fourth instalment of the Percy Jackson series: rushed and had problems with continuity. I was exited to read the book because I love stories about labyrinths and puzzles, but it was almost as though the labyrinth wasn't even there. For all the fear they tried to instill into the reader and characters about how dangerous and scary this maze was, it really didn't seem like they had any trouble with it at all. Every turn they ended up somewhere else and although they might have had a challenge to get back to the maze, it went very smoothly for the most part.One of my biggest frustrations was the fact that time in the labyrinth was supposed to be off from that of the mortal world. For instance when Percy and Annabeth fall into it the first time they are told they were gone for an hour when really it was only 5 or so minutes to them. So all this time they are spending in the labyrinth for the rest of the book? Shouldn't days have gone by on the "outside"? When this is all over and done with they still have July and August to spend at the camp. I honestly thought that they would have returned to camp at the end of summer based on the way time was supposed to go. But no. I didn't like that at all. Why even bother with all the warnings and make a big deal of mentioning the time thing only to just forget about it for the next 2/3s of the story?Although I did enjoy reading this book I did not like it nearly as much as I liked the first three in the series. Part of me wants to rush out and get that final book while it is still in hard cover to have some sort of closure, but the other part wasn't nearly as desperate for the next book once this one was over and might just be able to wait until August. My husband was going to get Book 5 with his gift card from Christmas only he forgot. Which is what I discovered when we came home one night to a parcel at the front door with a shiny new DnD encyclopedia thing and a book from Jim Burke. When I asked him about the fifth book he replied, "Oh, crap! I forgot!" So you know what? I'm very happy waiting until August because not only will the book not match the rest of my series, it's also $18. I don't feel like spending that right now.My husband and I have differing opinions on characters, too. He dislikes Tyson and Rachel Elizabeth Dare but loves Annabeth. I however love Tyson and Rachel Elizabeth Dare and do not care much for Annabeth. We both hate Grover and are of varying opinions about Percy. It's been fun reading this series with him and then finding out what we did and did not like. Normally we're very similar in our tastes, but these books are proving us wrong!Percy Jackson & the Olympians series