Jayson’s Reviews > The Hidden Oracle > Status Update

Notes:
(1) I'm essentially finished. I've only got the glossary to read, which I'll get to later because I'm a completist.
(2) For me, this is on the border between 3 and 4 stars. What made me round up was actually Apollo's narrative voice, which I'm sure people are split on.
- I wasn't annoyed by it and found it entertaining. It's colorful, like when Percy narrates, not bland like Jason or irritating like the Kanes.

Notes:
(1) I'd planned to finish the final 60 pages in one sitting. However, my body's betrayed me and sleep beckons.
(2) This hasn't been the usual Riordan book. Most notably, nearly everything happens at camp.
- We don't get the standard cross-country road trip and its chain of side-quests along the way.
- It's mostly been about rescuing abductees from monsters. St. George and the dragon stuff. Nothing spectacular.

Notes:
(1) Nero being The Beast isn't a mystery. Anyone who's read any sort of commentary on the Book of Revelation will know "the number of the beast" is actually code for Emperor Nero.
(2) Not to spoil anything, but SPOILER WARNING, I totally guessed the identity of Meg's step-father.
- When it's mentioned that he's a particular type of person, and only one person of that ilk is named in the book, it's pretty easy.

Notes:
(1) The "deadly little girl" trope is one of my pet peeves. It's rarely done right.
- Meg isn't exactly Hit-Girl. She's a pudgy, somewhat dimwitted 12 year-old with zero training. Nor does her godly parentage naturally confer any martial ability.
(2) "Sweet Caroline" isn't exactly the usual Riordan pop culture reference.
- Usually his references are so current and fleeting they go in one ear and out the other.

Notes:
(1) Apollo's bisexual, and has had around 33 girlfriends and 11 boyfriends.
- You'd think it'd be a lot more since he's literally ancient, and given all the kids he's spawned.
(2) Chiron: "Even the archaic form of communication known as e-mail is strangely unreliable."
- Wouldn't you expect archaic things to be unreliable?
- And since when is e-mail "archaic"? Though, apparently, here Facebook is cutting edge.

Notes:
(1) Definitely a middle-grade tone to this book so far.
- A main character is 12, and there's lots of juvenile humor: pratfalls, food-fights, crotch-kicking, etc.
(2) Whenever I see "nosoi," I think "no soy."
- "I am not" in Spanish, or the bean/milk/protein alternative.
(3) The POV reminds me of Bartimaeus from "Amulet of Samarkand."
- Not just in style and tone, but they're both ancients in the modern world.

Notes:
(1) There's a lot of slipping on banana peels for humor... which might be funny if banana peels were actually slippery on pavement.
- Seriously? how did that gag become a thing?
(2) In my head, Apollo has an upper-class English accent.
- All the better to accentuate his snobbery.
(2) I can already tell Meg's going to annoy me.
- She seems quirky for the sake of quirky, and her personality's all over the place.

Notes:
(1) I could have read this last year but I wanted to refresh my memory with audiobook rereads of the previous books.
- I never imagined the 10 books would take me 9-1/2 months, but that's all down to not having to drive as much as I did, and then driving a lot (I finished the last 3 books in 2 weeks just listening in my car).
(2) Buddy-read with Jenny.