In 'The Burning Maze', Apollo & Meg's quest to free the Oracles from the Triumvirate takes them to California. There they discover that saving this Oracle may be harder than any other yet. This Oracle is imprisoned in a burning maze protected by the third emperor's army. While not as smart & strong as Nero & Commodus, this emperor is certainly the most sadistic & unpredictable of the three. Often enough our heroes use cleverness to escape, but words won't distract this emperor from taking his prey. He has no master plan or hidden desires. He only wants to kill. And that makes him terrifying. Thankfully, Apollo & Meg do not have to face his army alone. Along with Grover & some familiar faces, both of them set forward to rescue the Oracle. But, will they be able to do it without coming face to face with the emperor?
This is the best book of the series so far. Firstly, the writing was incredible. Unlike the first two, there were no pacing issues & all the dialogue was gripping, interesting & fun. All the characters were developed beautifully. I especially enjoyed the development of two of my least favorites in The Heroes of Olympus. In this book, Rick managed to make me love them. I also loved how Rick used this book to highlight one of the biggest world crisis right now: global warming. I find it incredibly important for authors to use their voices to educate the future generation on important world conflicts. Lastly, I also enjoyed that the stakes were raised in this book & that, after twelve books, Rick still managed to surprise me. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because, in my opinion, one crucial plot point was rushed & underdeveloped.
After this book, I am now a hundred percent convinced that all fans of Rick's previous work, mythology lovers & middle-grade readers need to read this series.
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