Jayson’s Reviews > The Tower of Nero > Status Update

Notes:
(1) This ends with about 50 pages of tidying up and visits.
- Not that I'm complaining, it raised my opinion of the book.
(2) In the same way that the end of "The Blood of Olympus" hinted at this series, this hints at three books.
- A Greco-Roman/Egyptian/Norse crossover team-up.
- A Will and Nico book ("The Sun and the Star").
- A Percy/Annabeth/Grover road-trip book, quite possibly "The Chalice of the Gods."

Notes:
(1) I'm somewhat underwhelmed by how the whole Nero plot concluded.
- Essentially, Apollo doesn't defeat Nero by smarts or strength or doggedness, but by luck.
- It's literally a deus ex machina.
(2) By contrast, the fight against Python (the less focused-on final boss) was quite well done.
- Riordan's battles are always much better when it's as close to 1-on-1 as possible, and not a cacophony of chaos.

Notes:
(1) Apollo smells Nico's hair and kisses him on the head.
- If we're headed for a father-son love triangle, I'm out of here!
(2) I finally figured it out! For whatever reason, Riordan only uses the "step" prefix to refer to Nero. For all the kids, he uses "foster."
- Unfortunately, consistent as it is, that makes no sense.
(3) Seemingly, fasces act like horcruxes.
- So long as they're in tact, Nero cannot die.

Notes:
(1) Nero is referred to as Meg's stepfather... then 6 pages later Meg's called Nero's foster daughter.
- Which is it? Because this has got to be some sort of joke at this point!
(2) Riordan channels his inner George R.R. Martin with a shock amputation.
- Hopefully interminable food lists won't be next.
(3) I doubt Riordan even knows what dreams are.
- His version of dreams are all more like astral projections.

Notes:
(1) Rachel has issues with Python invading her mind.
- Sounds like she could use occlumency lessons.
(2) Apollo describes Rachel's affection to him as "sisterly," which is the same thing he said about Meg.
- Interesting, as Rachel and Meg treat Apollo quite differently.
(3) The troglodytes make skink soup, which I can only presume is called Cullen Skink.
- That's a Scottish soup joke, in case you're wondering.

Notes:
(1) Apollo refers to Meg as Nero's stepdaughter. Hmph!
- Well, Riordan using correct terminology didn't last long, only 40 pages.
(2) Chiron isn't at Camp Half-Blood, he's at a "joint task force" meeting with a cat and a severed head.
- This is clearly Bast from "The Kane Chronicles" and Mimir from "Magnus Chase." I know because I'm currently re-reading the former and just finished the latter's companion book.

Notes:
(1) Apollo refers to Nero as Meg's foster father.
- Finally! It only took Riordan five books to figure out foster parents and step-parents aren't the same thing! It was driving me nuts!
(2) Meg is given a smock dress to wear.
- I didn't have a clue what that was, I had to google it.
- Riordan must really be up on his ladies' fashion. Last book it was sweater wraps and long-sleeve tees, here it's smock dresses.

Notes:
(1) I went ahead and read the glossary first. It's something I like to do to get familiar with terms so I'm not flipping back and forth to define words while reading.
- I'm not inclined to flip to the back when I'm reading because it's not guaranteed a word's even in the glossary, and I don't want to risk wasting my time.
(2) I predict Annabeth will show up. She's the only significant character who hasn't yet.