The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo Series #1)

by Rick Riordan

Overview

Favorite Greek and Roman demigods return in a new five-book adventure quest with a fresh twist: they’re helping Apollo regain his immortal status.


"A clash of mythic intrigues and centuries of pop culture to thrill die-hard and new fans alike."—Kirkus Reviews

• #1 New York Times best-selling series
• Rick Riordan is considered the "storyteller of the gods" because of his five #1 New York Times bestselling series based on mythology
• A continuation of the Percy Jackson saga, but it also stands alone
• A new take on Greek and Roman mythology from the point of view of a fallen god
• Brings back beloved demigod characters from the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series
• Introduces new demigods
• Villains are based on Roman emperors
• Features a diverse cast with people from all kinds of backgrounds and lifestyles
• Perfect for middle schoolers but can be enjoyed by older readers, too

How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favor.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484732748
Publisher:	Disney Press
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Series:	Trials of Apollo Series , #1
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	67,216
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Rick Riordan, dubbed “storyteller of the gods” by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five #1 New York Times best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and the Trials of Apollo, based on Greek and Roman mythology; the Kane Chronicles, based on Ancient Egyptian mythology; and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, based on Norse mythology. Rick collaborated with illustrator John Rocco on two #1 New York Times best-selling collections of Greek myths for the whole family: Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes. Rick is also the publisher of an imprint at Disney-Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents, dedicated to finding other authors of highly entertaining fiction based on world cultures and mythologies. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @RickRiordan.

Hometown:

San Antonio, TX

Date of Birth:

June 5, 1964

Place of Birth:

San Antonio, TX

Education:

B.A. in English and History, University of Texas

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2016
Gr 5 Up—Riordan's many fans will be thrilled with this return to the world of Percy Jackson and friends. Apollo has had his godly powers taken away by Zeus as a punishment for events in the previous series. Not only is Apollo now human but he's also a 16-year-old boy with acne and flab. The first-person narration is full of comments about the indignity of his new appearance and limited abilities, which adds to the humor of his often dark adventures. The story opens as Apollo falls to Earth and lands in a dumpster where he is attacked by a pair of street toughs. He's rescued by Meg McCaffrey, a new demigod who claims Apollo's service in his quest to redeem himself. Apollo and Meg recruit Percy Jackson to help them travel to Camp Half-Blood, where Apollo hopes to find help, but when they reach the camp, they learn about new threats against all the demigods. The protagonist discovers that he must restore prophecy by finding the hidden Grove of Dodona, which is the first step in defeating the newly revealed evil masterminds who are trying to destroy him. Riordan's characters continue to be an impressively diverse group, and he includes same-sex relationships between characters and has Apollo frankly discuss his bisexuality, which will be welcomed in libraries looking for books with positive portrayals of nonheteronormative relationships and families. VERDICT This latest has Riordan's signature wry narration, nonstop action, and mythology brought to life. A must-buy for libraries serving tweens and teens.—Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI

School Library Journal

2016-05-10
With more Mel Brooks-ian flare than a fourth wall could hope to contain, Riordan presents another expansion to his modern pantheon. Punished by his father, Zeus, sun god Apollo falls from grace—literally—first landing painfully in a dumpster and then, humiliatingly, into the service of a streetwise, 12-year-old, presumably white demigod named Meg McCaffrey. The now-mortal Apollo seeks help from Camp Half-Blood and its resident heroes only to find that there's been a plague of disappearances among the demigods, the camp has been cut off from the Oracle of Delphi and its quest-granting prophecies, and a sinister conspiracy is working tirelessly to destroy everything the former sun god holds dear. In his narration, Apollo alternately waxes poetic about his godly virtues (including his open bisexuality) and gripes about his current awkwardness and servitude to the enigmatic Meg. Egocentric to the point of rollicking self-deprecation as he tries to reconcile millennia of personal history as an immortal with his sudden fragile finitude, his voice overpowers any sense of his new 16-year-old white, acned form, and he continuously disrupts the narrative to remind readers of his dissatisfying appearance. Nonetheless, the wearying negotiation of inner and outer self will ring true for (im)mortals of any age as Apollo desperately works to save himself and everyone else. A clash of mythic intrigues and centuries of pop culture to thrill die-hard and new fans alike. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-17)

Kirkus Reviews

"A clash of mythic intrigues and centuries of pop culture to thrill die-hard and new fans alike."—Kirkus

"Riordan fans will find all of the key elements here: wisecracking narration, underdog kid turned hero (well, god turned underdog turned hero in this case), mythological core, and robust side characters who round out the field. This is familiar territory for Riordan, but the formula works so well, and Apollo is just so appealingly unpleasant, that there’s little to fault in this adventure."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Riordan’s many fans will be thrilled with this return to the world of Percy Jackson and friends. . . This latest has Riordan’s signature wry narration, nonstop action, and mythology brought to life."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher