The Tyrants Tomb by Rick Riodan Book Review
“You mounted an amphibious assault on an enemy fleet,” I said, “for a pair of shoes.”
(pg. 387)
About
Author: Rick Riodan
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Series: Trials of Apollo book 4
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Synopsis
It’s not easy being Apollo, especially when you’ve been turned into a human and banished from Olympus. On his path to restoring five ancient oracles and reclaiming his godly powers, Apollo (aka Lester Papadopoulos) has faced both triumphs and tragedies. Now his journey takes him to Camp Jupiter in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the Roman demigods are preparing for a desperate last stand against the evil Triumvirate of Roman emperors. Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Tyson, Ella, and many other old friends will need Apollo’s aid to survive the onslaught. Unfortunately, the answer to their salvation lies in the forgotten tomb of a Roman ruler . . . someone even worse than the emperors Apollo has already faced.
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To all the Apollo fans,
Rick Riodan never fails to put a smile on my face with his stories. Never ever.
It was so cathartic to be at Camp Jupiter after all this time and I really liked how in this series, Rick Riodan really takes you everywhere and anywhere from Camp Half blood to Camp Jupiter and back. He really has this unique world and I am here for it! The beginning was kind of sad, but lighthearted in the way Meg and Apollo were racing across California to Camp Jupiter so they could find Reyna and also give Jason the proper send off he deserved. Anyone who thought that it would be an easy journey for them to get there, thought wrong because gosh gracious they went through a rollercoaster of hardships to get Jason to Camp Jupiter 😆. Couldn’t we have cut them some slack? 😂 I mean, we lost Jason already and this book is called the Tyrant’s Tomb, things are morbid as is, so I felt like Meg and Apollo deserved a peaceful drive to Camp Jupiter. But that wouldn’t make for a good story, but still, they deserved it.
They were able to transport Jason back with the help of who I think is a new character, Lavinia. I absolutely adore her character, she has so much spunk and finesse in her. She kind of reminds me of Meg, but older. She also reminds me of the students that teachers don’t like, but deep down see the best in. Reyna was always hard on her, but Reyna liked her. Lavinia also surprises you in the best way and her banter with other characters is hilarious. She’s such a spark of fun in this book and I really hope we get to see her again or somewhere along the series because there’s something so interesting about her plot line. I love how she is the daughter of a dancing god and how she has a hilarious obsession with shoes and bubble gum.
What really cemented the idea that Jason’s character was really gone (besides him being in a coffin) was his send off. Rick Riodan created a beautiful moment to capture Jason’s essence as a hero. I loved how Apollo sang the fall of Jason song to commemorate him and how everyone balled their eyes out. I would have liked to actually hear the song that honored him because he was such an essential character in Rick Riodan’s universe and I would have liked to cry my eyes out too! The utter love and respect everyone at Camp Jupiter has for Jason is beautiful. It really highlights how impactful Jason was on everyone. When trying to escape the eurynomos with Lavinia, she looked at Meg carrying a pasteboard diorama thing and she asked her if that was some sort of school project. I’m over here, tearing up because Meg was carrying Jasons’s model for the temples he wanted to build—-his last promise. The fact that Meg and Apollo actually remembered meant a lot. So after they got to Camp Jupiter and had the send-off, everyone was even more determined to build Jason’s last wishes. They all bonded and focused with such zeal and determination. Whoever said that Rome wasn’t built in a day obviously hasn’t met Camp Jupiter demigods.
With the new characters, came older characters who were familiar.
And it made my heart glow to see Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Tyson and Ella again.
Hazel, our good pal Hazel, I missed her. I kind of forget her backstory a bit, but what Rick Riodan does so well in his books is set up the stage and incorporate information that the reader can understand even if a person hasn’t read the previous books. It’s helpful in moments like these. I also highly missed Frank, our big teddy bear, Frank. I honestly forgot about his stick of death that he got from the Heroes of Olympus books. At the end of that series, Frank got a firewood stick from Gaea and his fate was that if the stick burned up, Frank would pass away, again highly morbid. To see how Frank was living with that thought over his head was interesting. In some ways, I agreed with Hazel and how Frank had a death wish. I felt like he would throw himself into multiple battles or harmful situations because he felt that his life was tied to a piece of wood, so it didn’t matter. He would rather go down fighting. I commend him for his bravery, but I also thought he should have taken into consideration how other people in his life might have felt about him throwing himself around in dangerous situations. Hazel is an old soul and she cares about Frank a lot and if she lost him . . . that would hurt her without a doubt. AND I WAS NOT HERE FOR ANOTHER JASON AND PIPER SITUATION. I was NOT. 😆
Speaking of Piper, I really thought Piper and Leo should have gone with Apollo and Meg to Camp Jupiter to send Jason off because they were his closest friends and I think it felt off that they weren’t there to see him. But I also understand that they were both in vulnerable places and might have not been ready to see him off.
It was also a fun time to see Tyson and Ella. They are the iconic duo 😂. And you just gotta love Tyson’s bubbly spirit. I couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that Ella tattooed all the prophecies on him and how much Tyson enjoyed it. The funniest part was at the end though, when Apollo was trying to summon godly help and he had to read the prophecy from Tyson’s underarm 😂. What a great place to put such a thing. I’m wondering how does Ella tattoo all the prophecies on Tyson? Aren’t there a lot of prophecies? Where does she put them all? What happens if she runs out of space? Why does she want to tattoo them on him in the first place? I don’t know or I don’t remember, but I adore Rick Riodan’s humor. Because at least Percy Jackson never had to say, I went on a great quest because I read it off my brother’s armpit 😂.
Reyna, Bellona’s daughter, was a prophecy just waiting to happen; we were going to meet her eventually. There’s still a lot I would love to know about Reyna because she’s such a strong-willed, authoritarian character. And I RESPECT a young, female leader. Go her! But there’s also this tension Apollo has with her because of a warning he heard from Venus who told him to stay away from him. So he felt uncomfortable meeting her for the first time because he felt like he had to stay away. However, he also felt like he could help her beat her fate. Reyna was given the fate that no demigod could fix her broken heart. Apollo thought that he could because he wasn’t a god at the moment and that maybe he could mend her heart as Lester.
Kind of a weird situation and I didn’t fully get why he would get all blushy and nervous around Reyna like he had a crush on her. Did he? Or did he feel like he needed to have a crush on her because he was supposed to help her?
I feel like Apollo as Lester can attest to this: Out of all his years of living, him asking Reyna to be his girlfriend as Lester was the most embarrassing moment of his life 😂. I was embarrassed for him!
But when Reyna paused and her face contorted in laughter, I was in hysterics! I was also grinning to myself because I have never seen Reyna that jubilant about anything, but Apollo gave her a grand old time to let loose and laugh. I understand Reyna in a lot of ways with this. I am someone who probably takes things seriously and doesn’t laugh as often as I should and I think it’s because of how we were hardened by the world to feel the way we do. So to feel Reyna’s joy, even if it was laughing at Apollo, it was a cheerful moment and I was here for it. It was cuter how she let Apollo down easily because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Because gosh only knows her laughing at him might have 😅.
Later on, Reyna and Apollo have another moment to talk about what her fate meant in how Reyna felt like her laughing was fixing her heart. She knew she didn’t need a man to be happy and that she was strong on her own. She took her fate into her own hands and didn’t know she would be okay without Apollo making her feel like that. I admire Reyna for that because a lot of people think that relationships will mend them, when really it starts from within. And I liked how she mentioned how she wasn’t opposed to dating, but how she knew it wasn’t her cure all. So when she swore to the Hunt at the end, I smiled. It seemed like such a right fit for her given her point in life. She was an independent woman who knew her power and wanted to figure out who she was. I think she could back out of the Hunt if she wanted to really date at one point in her life, but I also think that this is the fate Reyna was truly meant to have. To be powerful on her own terms.
But back to the present moment with Meg, Apollo, and Reyna. They were going to the Sutro Tower to find the soundless god, Harpocrates. This made a lot of sense to me because I was wondering how did the Triumvirate hinder the communication lines between all demigods. Well, they captured the soundless god, put him in a tower, and amplified/projected his power to stop all communication. Actually a pretty smart idea, but very immoral to put a god in a box and chain him down for your own personal use. Harpocrates deserved better.
When climbing the tower, they were met with ravens and the backstory behind ravens was interesting. I never knew Cath ravens used to be white doves that were turned into black angry birds because Apollo found out Koronis, a girl he dated, was cheating on him.
“Reyna stared at me like she was contemplating another kick to my nose. ‘That story is messed up on so many levels.’
‘Just wrong,’ Meg agreed. “You had your sister kill a girl who was cheating on you?”
‘Well, I–‘
‘Then you punished the birds that told you about it,’ Reyna added, ‘by turning them back, as if black was bad and white was good?'”
(pg. 252)
The honest to gosh back and forth that Reyna and Meg had was hilarious 😂. And good for them for putting Apollo in place for his actions because that was highly wrong of him to have his sister kill a girl that cheated on him. Kill? That’s harsh. And his sister? That’s bizarre. And then he ‘shot’ the messenger with the ravens? *Shakes head* And to think people believe that having a friend text that person’s girlfriend/boyfriend to break up with them is the worst thing a person can do 😂. Don’t get on Apollo’s level.
Oh, and to add to that was the whole curse he put on the Cumaean Sibyl, which was beyond horrific. Curse a girl to grow old, but weather away because she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life with you? H-A-R-S-H is an understatement. The fact that the Cumaean Sibyl was now reduced to a jar was achingly sad. All I kept picturing was that spinal cord thing from the Spongebob Chocolate episode, but all pebbly like in a jar 🤪. Yikes.
But at least she had a thing with Harpocrates, so she was able to find love. I also respect the Cumaean Sibyl for not being bitter/resentful to Apollo and what he did to her. She chose to leave with love and forgiveness and if that doesn’t speak volumes, then I don’t know what doesn’t. I also liked how Meg and Reyna stood up for Apollo in how much he changed. Harpocrates isn’t Apollo’s biggest fan because Apollo used to tease him, so naturally Harpocrates wanted to hurt him the way Apollo hurt him. I get it. But Meg and Reyna showed him all the good things Apollo did and it emphasized how much Apollo really had changed. We are not perfect people, not even former gods. We screw up, we make mistakes, but it’s how we learn from them to be better. People change people and Apollo spending time with humans who have such resiliency, compassion, and depth taught him more than he could have ever hoped to learn from this journey. And I thoroughly believe that this series is his redemption as a better person. I really do. Because as much as Meg and Reyna joke about how much he “sucks,” they also see the good in him. That made Harpocrates also see that good and I respect him for his sacrifice. His last words to Apollo were: Make this worth it. Don’t fail. And those are pressure-heavy words, but I also feel like it came from a place of Harpocrates believing in him as much as everyone else was. And much like Apollo talked about, it’s kind of interesting how a former god would just fade out of existence and choose to sacrifice himself the way he did. I hope Harpocrates is in peace because he deserved it. I also liked how that was the way he went—he chose it—-because Apollo or Reyna actually taking his life as the prophecy said would have felt heinous when he didn’t do anything wrong.
Speaking of beliefs, this reminded me of how Frank honored him enough to call him Apollo when everyone else didn’t. It’s weird because in my head I still see him as Apollo even if he is actually Lester. But Frank doing so, emphasized how much he believed in him. I also enjoyed the quick heart-to-heart Meg had with Apollo before climbing the tower. The night before, Lavinia recruited Apollo and snuck out with him to this secret dryad meeting where Peaches was. Peaches, we haven’t seen him/her since Indianapolis. I wondered where he/she was. I’m still curious as to where he/she was and how he/she got to Los Angeles. then again, he follows Meg around, or I guess used to. So before climbing up the tower, Apollo told Meg how he saw Peaches and Meg said she knew because she felt that Peaches was back. And they also had this awkwardly cute moment where Apollo was like:
“‘I was also going to say that you’re important to me and I might even love you like a sister, but–‘
“I already know that, too. . .s’okay, you’ve gotten less annoying too.'”
(pg. 243)
That’s the closest thing to an “I love you,” we will probably even get from Meg and I’m fine with that 😆. But they really do have a sisterly relationship bond that I admire. I can’t imagine Meg without Apollo because they really are a team. I can’t see the day when they go their separate ways, I really can’t.
So with Harpocrates and the Cumeanan Sibyl sacrificing their lives, I assume the iris messages and communication waves are back. But they have bigger things to worry about: the attack on Camp Jupiter.
Gosh, they really do need a vacation!
From one thing to another they went from the tower to the battle.
Meg went where the unicorns were to battle Tarquin’s zombies and Reyna was passed out somewhere with a broken leg because driving through LA traffic is no easy feat. But Apollo went to Tyson and Ella to go ask for godly help. In the beginning of the book, Apollo was given the hint that he could ask for godly help if he summoned it. Because he fulfilled the prophecy with Harpocrates sacrificing his life and all, he could do so. I knew when he had the chance, he would summon his sister, Artemis, or the Roman version, Diana. There’s nothing like sibling love. The prophecy didn’t work at first and gave false hope to Apollo and everyone, but I knew that Diana would show up at the right moment. Just you wait.
In the meantime, Apollo went to help people in any way he could and that meant helping Frank Zhang. FREAKING FRANK wanted to pull a Jason and I was about to combust 😆.
How dare you FRANK!!
The end battle where Apollo and Frank face off Caligula and Commodus had me covering my eyes, but then peeking through it to watch how things played out. Because Frank was asking to get demolished when he challenged Caligula and Commodus. He sounded so sure of himself that he would beat them, which by all means, he can be confident and I trust in Frank’s strength, but did I think he would beat two roman emperors with Apollo, the Lester human? No.
So when Frank told Apollo that he would give him a signal to go, I was like, Frank’s up to something and I knew it, I knew it. I knew at one point he would tell Apollo to go and then he would sacrifice himself and burn to ashes to save his camp and to save Apollo. I was NOT here for another JASON. When Frank said “times up,” and pulled out the firewood and raised it to Caligula’s face and said:
“If I’m going to burn,” he said, ” I might as well burn bright. This is for Jason.”
(pg. 357)
I wanted to SOB right along Apollo. NOT ANOTHER JASON!! Not another Piper situation! I could not.
But then Frank and Caligula burst into flames and I just could NOT. But I do give credit to Frank for going out with a bang and for making it a firework level spectacle worthy of Jason. The fact that he said, “This is for Jason,” really hurt my heart in the worst way because took Caligula’s life the way he took Jason’s. And it was a full circle moment if you asked me. I just didn’t think Frank should have been the casualty of that. I mean, couldn’t we have just blown Caligula up and then Frank fly away as a hawk or something; he can shape-shift.
When Apollo left, you could feel the pain in his heart—the burden. And I love the character arc we get to see with Apollo, I truly do. Because throughout this whole series, he has become more human in understanding how precious life is. On this journey a lot of people have sacrificed their lives and that weighed heavy on his chest, which made him more compassionate. As a God, he did all these atrocious acts and didn’t see the wrong in it, but being on the mortal side of things, he realized how horribly he was acting. To recognize your faults and to want to be better is such a good quality and I’m glad that Apollo was learning from this experience. It goes back to that moment when he was with Reyna, Meg, and Harpocrates. I really do have high hopes for Apollo when he returns to Olympus because I know he will be better and honor all the demigods in the right way.
Apollo found himself racing to help Meg because he couldn’t help Frank any longer. OOOOH, but when he saw Hazel and Hazel knew what Apollo didn’t say, I felt that. Hazel’s horse Airon went to go look for Frank on the off chance that he was alive, but you know after Jason, I was feeling pretty hopeless 😅. I didn’t wasn’t to be disappointed again.
What was so powerful about this scene though, was when Apollo literally sang in a killing rage. My gosh, that’s powerful as heck—the god who can sing, using his voice to harm people. Then the green orb things that was supposed to be fired at Camp Jupiter went up into the sky. They didn’t go to Camp Jupiter, but fell back down on the ship! I was laughing my head off. Serves them right for bringing such a destructive force to harm others, but that literally backfired on them. I was laughing when Tarquin’s zombies looked at Apollo and Apollo went “BOO!” to them and they ran away 😂. I could only imagine how they saw an acne-hormonal teen who killed people with his voice and who seemed like he had the power to destroy all those ships. I would feel oddly terrified too.
Apollo ran back to Ella and Tyson because he saw the battle with the zombies was kind of slow and realized it was a diversion to get the prophecies on Tyson. So he went to the bookstore again and I was laughing at how Tarquin was scared of Aristocrats and calling the cat all the names. You gotta love the humor cats bring to books. Then Tarquin was about to defeat Apollo, but then at the last minute, Diana came and shot Tarquin in the middle of the head. Didn’t I tell you? Always at the right time 💜
They had a cute little reunion of secretly missing each other. What really got me hyped up was the fact Frank was alive!!! Rick Riodan didn’t do us dirty again. Thank you very much 😂.
Apparently Frank beat his fate by also taking it into his own hands like Reyna. He knew that he was scarfing himself and that made him in charge of his own destiny. I’m still confused as to how that makes any sense in the way that his destiny was tied to the firewood and Gaea because does that mean if Frank never owned up to his fate that he would have combusted along with the fire? What really saved him from that? And how did he come out of that unscathed? I mean, the guy literally burst into flames, wouldn’t he at least have a broken arm or something? 😂 Demigod magic never ceases to amaze me.
I also enjoyed the heart-to-heart we had with Thalia because that was something inevitable that needed to happen. I was surprised that Thalia didn’t rage against Apollo or was angry at him. She knew her brother was a hero and would do anything to protect those he loved, so she knew that it was okay. That Jason would have wanted it that way. I just found it sad how she didn’t get to go to his send-off or that she didn’t see him one last time. I would have been sad as Thalia. She didn’t even get to know her brother more. While talking to Thalia, Apollo bonded with her in relating to what it’s like being a sibling. Apollo missed his sister and Thalia would always miss her brother. The only difference is that Artemis was immortal and Jason and Thalia were not and when realizing this, it humanized how fragile and strong people are in what they endure.
Again, adding to his character growth and compassion.
Don the faun also added to that, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t realize how important Don the faun was in this book. But I loved the way Apollo showed the utmost respect and compassion to Don and called him a hero. I think past Apollo wouldn’t have thought a faun would be considered a hero, but it emphasized how he was beginning to understand what a hero really was. How he wasn’t.
With Reyna joining the hunt, the new praetor role went to Hazel, rightfully so. All hail Frank and Hazel! They will make great praetors.
The ending was highly bittersweet and one of the hardest goodbyes yet. It just seems disconsolate how often Meg and Apollo have to be up and moving to go on this quest. I really feel like they deserve a break and to really just live in the moment, but you know prophecies don’t wait for anyone. I love how they had cake for Lester’s birthday on April 8. It’s funny how they still found the means to celebrate after all they went through, but when there are hard moments, i think it’s good to celebrate life and each other. They did win so much more.
It was tough saying goodbye to Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Thalia, Tyson, and Ella, but I hope we will see them again when this is all over. I also will miss Lavinia because again, such a firecracker and a good person. She was actually the one who staged the coup by tampering with the green orbs on the ships. I mean, give credit where credit is due! 👏🏼 People really shouldn’t underestimate Lavinia, especially her love for shoes 😂. I can’t believe she managed to get them!
At the end of their journey, Meg and Apollo receive a new prophecy on how they have to go back to New York—where it all started. Such a full circle moment. That’s where we will see Nero again and take him down. It’s also where we will see Python, which I always said we were leading up to him with this series. I think it’s fitting to end where they started and to see how Apollo hopefully gets reinstated. I’m curious as to what Apollo will do as a changed person and a god.
At the end of their journey, Meg and Apollo receive a new prophecy in how they have to go back to New York—where it all started. Such a full circle moment. That’s where we will see Nero again and take him down. It’s also where we will see Python, which I always said we were leading up to him with this series. I think it’s fitting to end where they started and to see how Apollo hopefully gets reinstated. I’m curious as to know what Apollo will do as a changed person and a god.
It’s also bittersweet to know that this is the last journey Meg McCaffery and Lester Papadapolous will go on together. I hope it isn’t the last we will see of Meg and Apollo.
I think in the next book, we will see Annabeth, Percy, and Grover again and go to Camp Half blood. I think Apollo will find his way back to Mouth Olympus by defeating Python in a surprisingly humane and compassionate way because it would only seem fitting given who Apollo is. I also hope Meg gets the closure she needs because she deserves it.
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about?
Any predictions you have for the final installment?
And in honor of Lavinia, what’s your favorite type of bubble gum? 😊
Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this.
And as always, with love,
Rating
4.54 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: A great reunion of old characters we know and love. It was interesting seeing how they were all doing after the war with Gaea and how their fates worked out for them. Also love Lavinia’s character and would love to see more of her 💜
Plot: With the series coming to a close, I liked how we are starting to get answers to things that we have been curious about since the beginning and how we are finally working our way up to how Apollo finds his way to Mount Olympus again as a God.
Writing: Hilarious, heart-felt, and heroic as always
Action: Ten Words: Let’s see what else we can throw at Lester next 😂
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