The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5) in The Dusty Bookshelf

Jul 08, 2014 Karen rated it it was ok

Shelves: middle-grades-reading-list

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but this book wasn't as god-awful as the other four. Which is a shame, because it was quite the chore to wade through the first four to get to this one. It still wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. There were moments -- that I'll grant -- but every time, Rick Riordan would do something crass. He would make a lame joke that really wasn't funny, he would insert a really bizarre and juvenile metaphor, or he would make the characters do something ju I can't believe I'm going to say this, but this book wasn't as god-awful as the other four. Which is a shame, because it was quite the chore to wade through the first four to get to this one. It still wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. There were moments -- that I'll grant -- but every time, Rick Riordan would do something crass. He would make a lame joke that really wasn't funny, he would insert a really bizarre and juvenile metaphor, or he would make the characters do something just really awkward. It was like he couldn't stand elevating his work to that level of maturity so he had to constantly throw in butt jokes. But the bad writing didn't stand in the way of the story as much as it normally would this time.

There was a little character development. What? Really, you say? I know, but there it was. Luke got some nice backstory, and instead of being a the whiny teenager he was who would just constantly bang his fists on the table and throw a tantrum when things didn't go his way like a cartoon villain from a 1950s TV show, it was like he was a real person with conflict and depth. It's too bad Riordan waited until the last half of the last book to do something he should have really been exploring since the beginning, but alas. Ethan Nakamura was kind of nice, too, even if he also was too little too late. Clarisse wasn't too bad, though I was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper disappointed in who was the spy. It was like that was almost interesting, and then, nah, that would have been too much to deal with.

This is one of Riordan's big flaws. He shies away from deep, real conflict and sorrow. Yeah, people die in the end, but is there anyone we really, truly care about? Not really. And like 30 pages to wrap up all the loose ends? Too much. I would have preferred a three-page wrap-up. It was all just too perfect, you know? I know it's for kids and whatever, blah blah blah, everyone always uses that as an excuse. All of my favorite kids books do not shy away from dealing with real adult issues like death, loss, and sacrifice. But at the end of this book, everyone gets along, everything is happy and hunky-dory, and nary a cloud mars the sky above. Gag.

I do have one last gripe with Riordan. So the whole point of saving Olympus is, apparently, so that Western Civilization doesn't get wiped out. Okay, first of all, who cares? Apparently Riordan, because he thinks that Western Civ is solely responsible for "all that's good about life," and he specifically lists "art, law, wine tastings, music, video games, silk shirts, black velvet paintings". Let's digest these things. First of all, this list suggests that if Western Civilization collapses, then those things will cease to exist because they belong only to Western Civ. What complete and utter bullshit. Yup, because the rest of the world has no art, no law. . .let's take a moment and remember who saved some of those things when the Greek and Roman civilizations fell and incorporated it into their own, studying and using that knowledge and preserving it so that when Europe got its head out of its ass they could put it to good use again. That would be the Arabs. And don't even get me started on the civilizations of the Indians, the Chinese, various African cultures, Polynesia, and various Native American cultures. One thing I detest is Eurocentrism and Rick Riordan has really excelled at that patronizing, vaguely racist standpoint. In his next series, he'll take up the white man's burden of educated them backwards natives. We should also take the time to mention that video games were largely invented/refined in Asia and, again, silk is from Asia, so without thousands of years of Chinese inventions and advancements silk would have no place in Western Civilization at all. And you may say, again, well, they're kids, so they don't understand the full implication of these ideas. Sure, maybe not yet, but kids pick up on themes and they hone in on what you're trying to say in their subconscious. Kids are more likely to pick up on this than you think, and then the next step is imitating. What kind of message are we trying to impress upon our children? From my standpoint, I can latch on to very few positive messages to come out of this book series.

I'm glad it's over. I didn't enjoy this series, from the writing to the plot to the characters, but I'm glad I got through it and can be reasonably informed in discussions about it. Plus, my kids had been bugging me to read it for what felt like an eternity, so now I can go back and tell them that I have read it. Will I pick up his other series? Doubtful. Will I ever revisit this one? Probably not, but I am a big fan of rereading, so you never know. My husband kind of likes these books so maybe in twenty years when we have kids the right age to read them, maybe I'll read them with my kids. But probably not, because I have better kids books to read with them.

Would not recommend. ...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Dana (dana_reads_books13) rated it it was amazing

*** just started reading today on my plane trip. I just finished 4. I'm very interested to see how it ends!

Great ending. Great book. Great series ...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Diane ~Firefly~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, deity-angel, ya

Good ending to the series. Lots of things happening, book gets a bit darker with deaths of people you know. But some good pulling together at the end.

I enjoyed this series and am happy I read it. If you like Greek mythology at all (or just a fun adventure tale) I would definitely recommend this.

(view spoiler) ...more

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