The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)

by Rick Riordan

but the truth is we gods are a little in awe of you mortals. You spend your whole lives knowing you will die. No matter how many friends and relatives you have, your puny existence will quickly be forgotten. How do you cope with it? Why are you not running around constantly screaming and pulling your hair out? Your bravery, I must admit, is quite admirable.

From the awkward way he walked, I assumed he was Sherman Yang of the recently kicked crotch.

Check your spam folder The prophecies might be there No? Well, I’m stumped. Bye

To complete the illusion, hinged front panels swung closed, giving him fake human legs. Normally those legs were fitted with slacks and loafers to augment his “professor” disguise, but today it seemed Chiron was going for a different look. “That’s new,” I said. Chiron glanced down at his shapely female mannequin legs, dressed in fishnet stockings and red sequined high heels. He sighed heavily. “I see the Hermes cabin have been watching Rocky Horror Picture Show again. I will have to have a chat with them.”

Will and Nico sat shoulder to shoulder, bantering good-naturedly. They were so cute together it made me feel desolate.

“Hey, guys!” Leo spread his arms for a hug. “Sorry to leave you like that. Bad news: I died. Good news: I got better!

Practice makes perfect Ha, ha, ha, I don’t think so Ignore my sobbing

“What did you do to them?” “Nothing,” I said. “Half the trick to being a god is knowing how to bluff.”

Apollo, The god of *Truth*

Not all monsters were three-ton reptiles with poisonous breath. Many wore human faces.

Disappearing would’ve been less painful than facing my failures.

Instantly, they changed into gold rings—so small, so easily lost, like a mortal life. I

I’ve found that when one is searching for danger, it’s never hard to find.

We found the queen ant. Hooray.

I wasn’t sure the demigods could see it, but every so often a beam of ultraviolet light shot from Athena’s helmet

IT DOES LITTERASLLY HAVE LASER EYES LIKE LEO WANTED!!!

The arrow quivered.

“I am offended!” I cried. “I am only indirectly responsible for this!

I’ve found that thinking often interferes with doing.

We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it’s going to be.”

I had spent too many centuries watching the same patterns of behavior be repeated over and over, all by humans who thought they were being terribly clever and doing something that had never been done before. They thought they were crafting their own stories, but they were only tracing over the same old narratives, generation after generation.

I don’t know about calling the whole quest thing Apollo’s trials, though. I think we should call it Leo Valdez’s Victory Lap World Tour.”

been trapped on an island for thousands of years. I don’t know how long this mortal life will be, but I intend to live fully and without fear.”

“Singing is good for the spirits. You should never miss an opportunity to sing.”