Introduction
Welcome back! This week we are diving into Rick Riordan’s fourth installment to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Battle of the Labyrinth. This book was first published by Disney Hyperion on May 6th, 2008, following The Titan’s Curse. While my Character and Plot sections will not contain spoilers, my personal Thoughts section will, so if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading any of these books in their entirety yet, I would encourage you to do that first. If you’re okay with having them spoiled, then forge ahead and enjoy!
Characters
Nico di Angelo
The mysterious child of an outcast god has left camp Half-Blood to take on a mission. Nico’s past is nothing short of tragic, and his parentage makes it difficult for him to fit in with the others, so he takes to associating with some more spirited companions. He continues to learn his powers and abilities throughout this book with one goal in mind. He wants revenge. He is stubborn, knows how to hold a grudge, and tends to have tunnel vision, missing the forest for the trees and making himself an easier target for manipulation.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Rachel returns from the previous book in a big way. Though she does interact with Percy in the beginning of this book, she really comes through at the end. Like Percy’s mother, Sally, she has a gift that the demigods need, much to their frustration. She is brave, witty, blunt, and selfless. She and Percy eventually become good friends, especially as she is one of his only links to the mortal world.
Plot
Percy is finally starting high school, but not even orientation can be normal for him. Things go wrong, and even help from an unexpected friend isn’t enough to keep him out of trouble. When he makes it to camp with Annabeth at his side, they discover that things are changing as Camp Half-Blood continues to prepare for the inevitable war. In this book, Annabeth is tasked with the quest: explore Daedalus’ infamous labyrinth and make sure Luke can’t use it to invade camp. With Tyson, Percy, and Grover at her side, they all descend below ground to look for the only person who can navigate the maze and discover a way to slow down Luke in his quest to resurrect the titan Kronos. At the end of it all, war has officially arrived, and we have only one book left to bring a close to this series.
Thoughts
The almost love triangle between Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel coupled with Luke’s betrayal and Annabeth’s continued feelings toward him makes it difficult for Percy and Annabeth to see eye to eye on some things. I’m going to be honest; I am not a huge fan of the love triangle aspect. It seemed so obvious to me throughout the series that Percy and Annabeth would end up together that adding Rachel to the mix seemed like unnecessary conflict. Especially when there was already plenty of conflict with Luke, Kronos, Nico, Daedalus, and the many monsters faced throughout this book. Or maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me wishing for something to feel a little less complicated. I will say this, while the love triangle is not my favorite plot addition, I do love Rachel being introduced as a character. Giving her true sight - the ability to see through the Mist - was a brilliant move, and I love the spunk she adds to the story. She does tend to make Annabeth a bit irrational, but that is the intention of the love triangle, so in that aspect it was written very well.
Alternatively, I did like the pairing of Grover and Tyson in this book. Despite being afraid of one another, they end up growing closer and helping each other when they need it most in the ever-changing maze. Their character development as individuals was also well done here, especially considering neither of them were main characters. Tyson forges his own path and decides who he wants to be after meeting and being disappointed by his hero, Briares. We already knew he was brave and powerful, but it’s amped up in this novel. This book is where Grover gets his major development. After thousands of years of searching for Pan, a satyr has finally found him. Grover has achieved his life-long dream by not only becoming a searcher, but being the one to find Pan. And when Pan finally passes on - one of the most emotional moments in the book, and one of my personal favorite parts for the degree of emotion within it - Grover is gifted with some of his power. He matures in a matter of pages, but it works for him, and he truly becomes the leader he was meant to be, which only continues in the next and final book of the series.
Nico di Angelo is a wild card in this story. His intentions are never completely clear to us, and his relationship with Percy is left somewhat up in the air even by the end of the book. We spend the entire story thinking he’s trying to trade Percy’s soul for Bianca’s, only to find out he wants Daedalus’ instead. The depth of his hatred for Percy for what happened to Bianca - especially given how young he is - is incredibly sad. Percy puts it best when he makes note that Nico is too young to look that angry. As if that wasn’t enough, Bianca will only appear to Nico with Percy present to explain things. The sheer heartbreak of the entire situation is just astounding, and Riordan did an excellent job writing a difficult situation.
Once again, the plot again is good and has some classic Greek figures included - my personal favorite being Calypso, but having Daedalus hiding in plain sight the entire time was wonderful - but I still find the emotional aspect to be stronger than the plot. Luke is a compelling villain, especially at the end when he merges with Kronos, but the emotional hold he continues to hold over Annabeth even after the last book is almost more intriguing, and Percy’s reactions to everything sells it. Is Geryon’s ranch a cool branch in the story? Absolutely, it’s one I always look forward to, but mainly because we finally get a Percy and Nico confrontation. Yes, I love these sections, but the feelings explored within them are what I anticipate most. I’m not saying that’s a good or bad thing, it’s simply the way I feel about this book.
The emotion and relationship dynamics explored in this book are about as layered as the labyrinth, making it an incredibly anticipated read for me. While I don’t necessarily think that this book is as emotional as the third and fifth books, I do think it has a few very key moments that I always look forward to rereading. The book was well-paced, and it does contain some of my favorite moments of the series. Overall, it provides a great reading experience and beautifully sets up the last book, which is why I would rate this one a 9/10.
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