The Hidden Oracle

We stopped reading this once we figured out it was pushing the LGBTQ agenda, which is constantly in all media forms these days. Wish I had know before purchasing them. Very unnecessary and not pertinent to the story line at all.

I am a big fan of Rick Riordan, or at least I’m a fan of his first books. However, this book pushes the LGBTQ agenda so much the child I purchased it for stopped reading it. She said it was making her uncomfortable that the author was focusing on sexuality so much in a children’s book. She felt the storyline was “meh” compared to the Percy Jackson series and the Kane Chronicles and she said the gender issues were starting to be the focus of the book. It’s very disappointing because she enjoys the mythological aspect of Riordan’s previous books but unfortunately this one falls short. Hopefully Riordan goes back to focusing on the mythology and humor in his future work.

I am a fan of Riordan. I enjoy how he takes ancient mythology and relates it to the modern world in a way that intrigues young and older minds alike and inspires kids to learn more about ancient histories and civilizations. This first book of the new Apollo series was much anticipated by both myself and my son (age 12). That anticipation may have been a disservice, however, as the story did not quite meet the high expectations. While the Percy Jackson and the subsequent books brought the reader into this mythological cross-section with relatable characters, Apollo falls short of establishing this relationship. He is frequently far too depressed and, for lack of a better description, whines too much in self pity. While I realize this is an internal struggle for Apollo, it is not so dissimilar to the feelings of inadequacy Percy often felt, yet because of better development, the reader was drawn into Percy’s feelings rather than just being annoyed by them. It is never a good thing for the reader to find your main character annoying. I did finish the book and I am hoping Apollo’s inner whine struggle will abate, or at least be relatable n the future installments. My son did not finish the book. And that is saying something, as he is an avid reader and huge fan. He easily reads two books a week and loves all the Percy Jackson, Olympian, Roman, Egyptian and Nordic books by Riordan. He was greatly disappointed and would probably disagree with my giving the book three stars. However, I stand by the three stars, admitting this is not Riordan’s best work, but the research is excellent, the plot moves sufficiently, he did create characters I care about and he did provide adequate conflict, even if the resolutions were sometimes over simplified. It is an okay read if you are patient enough to get past Apollo being a little too Apollo. I do hope the next book is better, but this one does not leave me in a rush to pre-order it.

Garbage, absolutely garbage. Rick riordan has failed miserably filling his child friendly books with crap that sould not be introduced to, anyones mind really. Do not read, repeat do not read.

Two thoughts about this book:

1. We started with this book (I read this to my 4th grader) and it would have been better if we started with the Percy Jackson books by this author since those were written before this and has characters reappearing in this book. This was recommended to us by the school librarian because we had just finished the Harry Potter series (which are fantastic). Im not sure hed recommend it if he had read it himself.

2. Given the age range this book is supposed to be geared to, I thought a lot of it was hugely inappropriate for a childrens book. I ended up having to frequently skim over parts since the Apollo character – in every chapter – liked to reminisce about his past lovers, both male and female, and all the illegitimate children that came from those flings and how he never cared about the children or had any interest in them. It was constant to the point where I was reading the book and thought to myself that the author is randy and just needs to get laid. It was that bad. For an elementary age school book, I did not think it is appropriate for the main character to clearly be a horn dog that would sleep with anything, male or female. At one point in the book, there was an entire paragraph about Apollo fathering a child with a man and that it was possible because he was a god and gods can do that. Um…yeah.

The thing is, not only is it inappropriate for a young reader, but it makes the character unlikable even to the adult reading the book. To me, the main character came off as a whiny man whore who spent the majority of his time complaining that he missed being a god and how much it sucks to be human.

I would definitely not recommend this book for the age range it says its for. Maybe high school or junior high. Many people seem to love this book, so this is just the opinion of a mom who finished reading this to her kid. Again, in case you think Im being a prude, this is the first book Ive ever had to skim over stuff.

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