The Mark of Athena- The Mark of Series Gone Bad

House of Hades, the fourth installment of Rick Riordan’s second series set in the Percy Jackson universe, Heroes of Olympus, was released yesterday. Watch as the internet explodes in the next couple of days as Riordan fangirls gush over the new book following the dramatic cliffhanger of Mark of Athena. I know I haven’t reviewed The Lost Hero or Son of Neptune, but I read those before this year, so I won’t review them. Yet.

Before even touching this one, you should definitely read the two previous novels in this series (The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune), and I would even recommend reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series before that. This is definitely not a standalone novel. Picking up right where The Son of Neptune left off, The Mark of Athena now features members from both Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter, and together they must embark on this dangerous quest and cooperate to defeat the giants and prevent oncoming doom onset by the Earth Mother Gaea. If that sounds weird to you, you haven’t even come close to the weirdness of Greek/Roman mythology.

To these Percy Jackson fans, Rick Riordan can do no wrong. While I found his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series interesting and fun (quick reads-you’ll breeze right through ‘em), they had so much in common with the Harry Potter series and- oh, you want me to list some of them? Allow me to draw some lines.

	Harry Potter	Percy Jackson
Main character	Harry Potter Black messy hair, green eyes Sometimes sarcastic humor Dreads summer (when he’s not at school) Strong-willed, down-to-Earth, brave, leader More of the brawn than the brains “The Chosen One” Missing both parents Solves “mystery” and fixes things before school ends Has supernatural abilities Hates bad family members- The Dursleys	Percy Jackson Black messy hair, green eyes Sometimes sarcastic humor Dreads school year (when he’s not at camp) Strong-willed, down-to-Earth, brave, leader More of the brawn than the brains Chosen One- at one time anyway Missing one parent Completes quest and fixes things before deadline, and before camp is over Has supernatural abilities Hates bad family members- Gabe Ugliano
Girl sidekick	Hermoine Granger Book smart Curly hair Eventually starts relationship with one of trio The straight-laced one, quick thinker	Annabeth Chase Book  smart Curly hair Eventually starts relationship with one of trio The straight-laced one, quick thinker
Boy sidekick	Ron Weasley Not so great with girls, but eventually gets a girlfriend Plucky comic relief Makes jokes to lighten mood	Grover Not so great with girls, but eventually gets a girlfriend Plucky comic relief Makes jokes to lighten mood
Twins	Fred and George Weasley Fun-loving pranksters who love mischief	Travis and Connor Stoll Fun-loving pranksters who love mischief
Movies kinda sucked?	Yes	Yes
Strong, evil bad guy	Voldemort, keeps coming back, sometimes works through other people	Kronos, keeps coming back, sometimes works through other people
School nemesis	Draco Malfow- bully	Clarisse La Rue- bully
Former good guy, current traitor	Peter Pettigrew Turned friends over to Voldemort	Luke Castellan Framed Percy and Co. and turned to dark side
Is one of trio scared of spider?	Yup- Ron Weasley	Yup- Annabeth Chase
Does someone own invisibility clothing item?	Indeed- Harry’s Invisibility Cloak from his father	Yes- Annabeth’s Yankee Cap of Invisibility from her mother

Okay, so maybe that got a little obsessive, but this was as much for my own curiosity as it was for your education. This is not to say that just because they have a few (okay, many) similarities, either of them is bad or that Rick Riordan’s series is inferior. This is merely to say that Riordan certainly borrowed some things from Rowling, maybe unconsciously or unwittingly, and they’re both fun adventure series for kids and young adults. Hell, my mom enjoyed both series.

 

This could be chalked up to the fact that every movie poster is the same these days...

This brings me to my main point—it’s good as long as it remains a fun adventure series. Mark of Athena has traded that fun, adventurous tone for romantic drama, strained friendships and over-the-top cliffhangers. Gone are the days of a trio on exciting adventures and danger as they fight to save their camp. No, now they have to save the world, and the cast has swelled to include more people to keep track of, more storylines, more drama and crushes.

I know for a fact that it’s not because I don’t enjoy romantic sub-plots; I can be a huge romantic sap if I want to be. However, when the adventure and action, which are the main points of this series, take a backseat for teenage angst, fighting over romantic partners and more time spent gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, I start to roll my eyes. What is this, Twilight? Look, someone even compiled all the staring scenes, and it's almost half an hour. Even a minute of staring is too much! 

I missed the times when romance came second to, I don’t know, saving the world??  Honestly, at one part, while they’re rushing to save the world on a deadline, Annabeth and Percy stop, take in a sunset, and spend a few paragraphs talking about how they wish they could just be together. REALLY? Wouldn’t it be a better time to yearn for that when people’s lives depend on you, as well as the fate of the world? Shouldn’t you be more focused on saving the planet than a sunset? Ugh. My eyes hurt from rolling into the back of my head so much. Just get over it, complete the quest, be heroes, then find appropriate time to make googly eyes at each other. How would you like it if Michelle and Barack Obama (that’s right, they rule together for some reason) put off making a decision on a nuclear war to share an ice cream sundae and wish they could just be a normal couple?  When did Indiana Jones say “This is a good time to make out with Marion, right when I should be stopping the Nazis from taking over the world and unleashing the horrible energy of the Arc!” Oh, right, NEVER. Because he prioritizes his time effectively. It comes with the job; save the world first, fall asleep as girl is kissing you second.

So what is the solution? Limit the relationship drama. I didn’t read this series for it to turn into fricking Grey’s Anatomy (do they actually do any hospital stuff?? I’ve never actually seen the show) with mythology.

 

Because discussing your relationship over brain surgery is always the best option...

Rating: 5 out 10 stars

You’d like this series if you liked Harry Potter, and you might also like… uh… the Hunger Games series I guess? Or if you’re into Greek Mythology, those stories by themselves are quite entertaining.