The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)

my favorite from the series i’m so proud of annabeth that’s our girl

Took a little break after 3 days of just plowing through the first three books, so this one took a while. Fun read, as per usual. Though now I realize that Rick's writing for combat scenes are so swift and quick-paced, they begin and end so abruptly, almost. Although, again, I can't really expect much from children's books.

OMG WHEN I SAW THAT PERCy and Annabeth kissed I screamed. Like SCREAMED. OMG OMG OMG (I finished this a couple days ago just forgot to put it on here.) <3

This book was a welcome tone shift from what I've become used to reading throughout this series. The stakes are higher, and there's less room for error on a quest through the ever-changing Labyrinth. I loved seeing a different side of Percy as he dealt with the repercussions of previous actions and failures. I also especially appreciated the introduction of new characters, specifically Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Her usefulness came naturally and added some nice development and tension between Percy and Annabeth. Nico was a great addition to the story as well because I was never quite sure of his intentions, so following that journey and seeing how it could potentially come up later brought a new element. It felt like we were working towards the bigger picture in this book while also running away from Kronos and every monster in the Labyrinth. As they made their way through every turn, it felt like I was holding my breath with them. Percy finally using his powers in the stables and the mountain felt so rewarding. I also loved Calypso and the way he struggled to leave her behind. Had soo much fun, and I can't wait to read the final book because I think this series thrives when darker themes are explored.

the best of so far. loved every single page. percy and annabeth ?? HELLO ?? rachel tell me more anout you and NICO ?? MY BABYYYY !!! i'm so proud of my grover.

** spoiler alert ** Pan no?!

This book is absolutely incredible. What an exhilarating adventure.👏🏻

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan is the fourth in the Percy Jackson books. It expands the famed labyrinth of Minos into a worldwide, underground maze, death trap, and in the right hands, short cut between any two points in the world. It's also the way that Kronos's army plans to invade Camp Half Blood. Here the quest is straight forward, find Daedalus, the creator of the labyrinth and learn how to navigate through the structure without falling prey to any of its traps or monsters. Along the way Grover gets a chance to find the long lost Pan and Percy has more adventures that parallel those of Odysseus. My favorite part of the book was the labyrinth itself. I love how Riordan takes the old forgotten architecture of the world through out time to cobble together Daedalus's magical structure. I also like the way in which their mortal companion is able to spot the markings in every day locations that point to entryways to the labyrinth. What I'm not fond of is excessive use of flashbacks done in the forms of dreamtime visions. I understand the need to include background of the original myth for readers who may not be familiar with the story but the dream sequences were too long and too much of a disruption from the action for me. Parallel chapters of flashbacks and present day or alternating points of view between Daedalus and Percy as Riordan used for Carter and Sadie in The Red Pyramid would would have worked better. That said, it's still a fun and action packed installment in the series.

rachel carried idc

I think that it’s safe to say that this one does a great job at setting the scene and setting the starting pieces of what is going to be an epic final instalment to the Percy Jackson Series & What a Job the penultimate books does in once again throwing you right into the action with twists and turns along the way that you never see coming, It’s clear that Percy is in for 1 final battle and the questions going to be is he ready?!  

Another Summer is here and its once again for Percy going to be full of another quest; This time around its time for Annabeth who takes point in this one and they need to find Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth, to stop Kronos from attacking Camp Half-Blood. Of course, the Labyrinth is no regular maze. It shifts and deceives and there are a butt-load of monsters on every corner. We also get to meet Rachel; We were briefly introduced to her in the previous book but was fab to get to see more from her. The Big Question here is Can Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson solve the maze in time to find Daedalus before Luke does?

This series keeps getting better and better! The Battle of the Labyrinth takes a much darker tone and is more intense compared to the previous ones. At the same time, I feel this book has one of the happiest endings for a penultimate book in the series.

All that’s left to say is that the next book has some high standards to be met, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that Rick Riordan will be able to top it.

5 of 5 stars ----- [3rd time - April 2, 2020] The first time I read this series, this used to be my most favorite among the five books. I still loved and adored this as I always do and nothing can change that fact, but now I realized this is the book where I liked Annabeth the least compared to other books with her in it. I found her so frustrating at times. Her trust for Luke was sometimes irrational and it was exasperating when she was having her bitch moment because of that. Which comes to the next realization; that my negative impression for Luke is increasing the more I re-read this series. I mean I didn't like him, but I didn't hate him either. But right now, I'm not so sure anymore. But regardless of those points, this book will always hold a place in my heart. This is where Nico and Percy started having a casual talk again. Though they can never go back to how they used to treat each other, that's understandable considering how they both changed. Nico, especially. Oh, my poor Nico 😢😢 I'm so excited to finish this series again and one month seems so far.

Reread. Loved this so much! So much more world-building and you can see how much the characters are growing up

Alright y'all it's time for this hekkin thing. 5 stars on reread. I took notes. (view spoiler)[ *Dude these cheerleaders always stress me out *As an aside, I always picture this school being exactly like Worcestershire Academy from Shrek 3, anyone else? *Poor, unsuspecting Paul Blowfish 😔 *Jealously doesn't look good on you, Annabeth *Riiiight, you let Chiron give you a ride on his back 🤔 *OKAY BUT Grover is the first searcher to return alive in like, generations, right?? Why are they being so dumb and impatient?? *Tyson's fear of goats is completely valid. Have you seen their eyes? *shudder* *Grover's a good egg though, to be clear. *Oh my little emo child, I want to hug you (I'm aware that Nico would probably hate how much I love him, I've accepted that) *All the Percabeth moments *flappy hands* *Also good job Percy, Malcolm is completely convinced you guys weren't hugging 🙄 *Luke's last name has made an appearance ooooh *"I will treat them with respect" you know, McDonald's is objectively not good, but it slaps sometimes, so this makes a great deal of sense to me. *My scared face keeps coming back too, Briares *In my head, Minos looks like King Miraz from the Prince Caspian movie *"He had a normal head, which was a relief" indeed *"you think I would've gotten used to weird anatomy...but this guy was three complete people." Idk why, this made me laugh *"That man is wearing three shirts" 🤣🤣 *"He embarrassed people to death riding around in the moo-mobile" he's your dad *Also, did anyone else ever watch Wild Kratts? You know that Gormond guy? Spot five differences. *"doing the wave all by himself" I CAN'T HANDLE THIS GUY *Nico stop communing with ghosts and talk things out with your living friends *Percy's "mortal friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare," who HE'S MET ALL OF TWO TIMES *This Sphinx is reminding me how many angry thoughts I have about education (don't get me started) *Also if I'd been in this situation I would have failed right off the bat because I don't know the capital of Bulgaria 😬 *OMGOSH A KISS *Dudes, everything with Calypso makes my heart hurt *"Do you support the gods because they are good, or because they are your family?" oof *Hephaestus just casually reminding everyone how freaking powerful Percy is, you know, after BLOWING UP MT. ST. HELENS *"You're the son of the Earthshaker, lad. You don't know your own strength." I have the chills *"Daybreak is a good time for decisions." *"I can't" owwww ow ow ow ow *"No man ever finds Ogygia twice" OH REALLY HMMMM *Percy casually shows up to his own funeral *My guy, you can't just memorize another girl's phone number "by accident" and then wonder why your future wife is made at you *Ethan Nakamura is too metal for his own good *The fight against Antaeus really proves to me that I'm not nearly athletic enough to survive in the wild *Quintus being Daedalus is so obvious but also so interesting. His entire reason for being at camp was not to spy, but just to see the other side of the story (very child of Athena of him). *He ultimately is pretty stupid though. Hard to be wise when you don't know the whole story *SPEAKING OF THE WHOLE STORY NICO IS HERE *NICO SUPREMACY *"I am the lord of spirits! The ghost king!" "No, I am" AUGH STOP *Nazgul sounds* *It smells like evil and death, and Percy's immediately like "I gotta check it out" *Luke's body being in the coffin is the greatest twist of all time, even now I'm losing my freaking mind *Ethan why *Rachel Elizabeth Dare, actual legend *Okay, my friends and I have been having many conversations about the whole Luke/Annabeth situation. My friends mostly hate Luke, which is fair haha. I love it - Annabeth has clung to this image of Luke as the guy who saved her, who went on adventure after adventure with her, who came to Camp Half-Blood with her. She doesn't want to let go of that, especially after losing Thalia (and then "losing" Thalia to the hunters). She wants to be able to save him the way he always saved her, just like the old days, so she's not ready to give up on him yet. I love that so much. *The Pan scene is so serious and sad. *I'm observing a real turn-around in tone in this book. Sea of Monsters is noticeably cartoonish in its levels of comedy; Titan's Curse has some serious moments but still has healthy doses of humor sprinkled throughout. This book really doesn't have that; instead, each character is dealing with their own inner turmoil, and we meet several secondary characters who are going through their own things. The funniest part of this book is the bit on Triple G Ranch, and even there not only do the demigods not find anything about it funny, Eurytion is dealing with two thousand years of servitude and decides to betray Geryon because of it. Campers actually die in this book. *Cue the Battle of the Labyrinth *Also, Nico over here being too cool to live (stop it, sir) *Nico nooo come back *Also the fact that Pan ignored Nico and NONE OF US NOTICED (admit it) is devastating *It's me, okay, I'm the emo child, and Nico is the bomb dot com 😤 *I don't want to hear about Dionysus oozing anything (but if we were to discuss it, I bet it wouldn't be niceness *Okay, Percy has had three (COUNT EM) separate moments where he's confronted with the idea of immortality being completely undesirable. First it was Briares being alone for thousands of years without his brothers, then Eurytion commenting on how accepting the gift of immortality from Ares was the worst mistake he ever made. This last is a bit of a stretch, but the reminder that Dionysus was once a mortal is also interesting. *The theme for this book really seems to be expectations of others - Annabeth had this image of Luke in her mind that she foolishly hoped she could still save, and an image of Daedalus as being an honorable genius, Tyson reels after encountering the Hundred-Handed One in Alcatraz, Grover's entire life goal has been met and low-key dashed at the same time, Rachel grapples with her parents expectations but also with the realization that nothing she knew about the world is entirely true. And Percy has his expectations of others bucked at every turn - Nico turns his image of camp as a safe, welcoming place for all half-bloods on its head. Ethan reinforces this, and chastises him for his show of mercy. He meets Hephaestus and the god is lonely and bitter; he meets Hera, and the goddess only cherishes her image of a "perfect" family. He meets Antaeus and wonders about his own dad. Don't meet your heroes kid, they'll always disappoint you? This is an interesting tone to open up before the start of the next book. *Freaking Hera had to show up and ruin everything *Heroes of Olympus appears in the background* *Hera: You will regret this insult, Annabeth. Narrator voice: She would, in fact, regret this. *Paul is a good dude DO IT PAUL, PROPOSE TO THE WOMAN *Poseidon showing up is the most chaotic thing 😂 Paul is going to have a heart attack I think *"you Percy, are my favorite son." *dies* *Percy's serial killer trait is that he thinks Monopoly is a cheesy party game *"Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you?" tears in my ears *Get that boy a slice of blue cake *ONWARDS MY FRIENDS, TO GLORY AND FURTHER NONSENSE (hide spoiler)]

there is so much happening in this one. you get a feeling that even though the answer for many emerging in the books since the beginning riddles is near, they still remain unsolved. and i find it very fitting for the theme of labyrinth. you can also sense the thrill of oncoming fight despite many sad things happening, which makes me enormously excited.

** spoiler alert ** Actual rating: 4.5⭐ This book is kinda bland than the first 3 installments. Lack of actions (considering that the title says "BATTLE"), so much confusion because of forced explanation and representation. But I guess this is because the author is building up the next book (the final installment of the series) so this book is kinda down and relaxed. Nevertheless, I loved it. Who wouldn't enjoy the slow burn romance developing between Percy and Annabeth plus the petty jealousy and quarrels? 😻 I feel so proud of the other guys' achievement also. Grover finally found Pan, Tyson's character development is brilliant I'm super excited about the final book. I can't wait to read it but at the same time I don't want it to finish 😿

Alright! Forget everything that I said, I still love this series. I love this book. It really paid of in the end, OH MY GOD! First, this book made Percy a legitimate male species. Like, before, he was kind of separated in my pov. He isn't swayed by anyone but Annabeth. But! Here comes Rachel & Calypso. Boy was swayed, like he considers Calypso as a what-if, a could've been utopia. Rachel on the other hand is someone he cares for and likes to be around. Second, I didn't like their dynamics in this book. Like, Percy felt very disconnected from Grover or Tyson. But, all in all, I loved how everyone developed connections separately. Third, I would never not geek about Poseidon as a dad :( AND ALSO DIONYSUS REALLY CAME THROUGH ON THIS BOOK! And lastly, what can I say, this book really tugged my emotions and this was the first time it sunk-in to me that half-bloods do die & not everyone is like Percy :( I loved all the twists and turns that made me care about the characters. And also! The moments that melt my heart ahhh. So, all in all, 5 stars!

somehow less climactic than I remember it being

THIS WAS DEF MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL 4 I HAVE READ SO FAR....i really enjoyed this quest the most....also nico is my child i have adopted him he is so gie coded, loved seeing how annabeth and percy's relationship unfold and i love rachel, tyson and grover so much

MY FAVORITE BOOK SO FAR. OH MY FUCKING GOD. I LOVED THE PLOT. THE LABYRINTH. THE MYTHOLOGY. PERCY JACKSON. NICO. NICO. I WAS SAD AND HAPPY. I LOVE LIFE BUT I HATE IT. I LOVED EVERY SECOND. SO SO SO GOOD.

i love you percabeth

updating old archive.

the percabeth in this is everything to me.

Somehow this was even better than The Titan’s Course 🤩 I’m so glad we could see more of Rachel, I think she’s my new favorite character! I feel so bad for Annabeth 😭 And Nico? Omg, Nicoooo 😱 He’s even more powerful than Percy (and at such a young age). Loved the characters, loved the story, the angst, the dramaaaa. The book kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time, and the stakes felt so real!!! I can’t wait to read how the series ends, but I’m gonna take a quick detour reading The Demigod Files so I can let myself breathe a little. I’m so excited!!!