Daniel Yang

Daniel Yang
The Mark of Athena
Rick Riordan
Fantasy
Just Right
304

1.) I am currently reading The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. At the moment, three Roman demigods riding giant eagles lead an army of more Romans from the Roman demigod camp. They are trying to kill the seven children of the prophecy (Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhange), a mixture of Greek and Roman demigods. This is because Leo was possessed as the seven children were trying to get the Romans to side with the Greeks to kill Gaea (Earth)'s children. It is strange to me how Gaea is evil but it's true. Due to the fact that he's possessed, he fires at them from Argo II; a ship that Leo made out of his old metal dragon named Festus and other materials. The three Romans are lead by their augur, Octavian. Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper are coming back from a visit with Aphrodite, the Goddess of love. All the seven children are dividing and conquering (they spread out to complete more tasks). As they try to get back to Argo II, the Romans stop them in their path. When told to drop their weapons, Annabeth purposely throws her into the water knowing that's where Percy is located. She did this hoping that Percy will know that they are in trouble. The Romans approach the three girls but suddenly Percy bursts out of the water, sending the Romans flying, and gave Annabeth her dagger. In the mean time, Frank, who is shape shifted into a bald eagle different from the Romans', is carrying Leo and followed by Jason, who can fly. He is able to do this because he is a child of Jupiter/Zeus. The seven kids' crazy satyr, Coach Hedge, fires at the remaining Romans that which are assaulting Frank, Leo, and Jason. Unfortunately,  the cannonball explodes above the three demigods and sends them crashing into ruins of an ancient building. Tourists are running about the place making it hard for the Romans to surround the three demigods. Annabeth orders Hazel and Piper to board Argo II and let her help Jason, Leo, and Frank. Jason, having been one of the Romans, hesitantly fights them as he recalls the familiar faces of the Roman campers.

2.) So far the book has exceeded my expectations of its ability to keep me reading. The characters have a sense of humor, as always, and there's a problem that has never been encountered very often in the series: Since Hazel lived in the 1900s and was brought back from the dead, she remembers a boy named Sammy who she very much loved. Sammy looks exactly like Leo, which is no coincidence, so Hazel can't stay away from him. The problem is that Frank is dating Hazel so it makes the book more interesting to read. But it bothers me how Frank only sees Hazel and Leo doing romantic things, he never sees them just chatting so he is always suspicious of him. What is most exciting about the book, though, is how Percy and Jason work together. When everyone went back to the ship, Percy and Jason were at the top of it with their swords crossed. They did this to combine their powers to stir up a massive storm of wind and water. This is an amazing part to me because before this, they always competed with each other to see who was a stronger leader. They finally worked together to escape from the Romans. The author made the book full of surprises which keeps me from putting the book down.

3.) I think that theme of The Mark of Athena is revenge because the Romans are trying to kill the seven demigods due to the fact that they do not know Leo was possessed when he fired at the camp. Roman and Greek demigods have never gotten along. Athena requested her daughter, Annabeth, to avenge her with the mark of Athena. This is a quest where children of Athena try to find what the Romans stole from the Greeks. It is said that when they find out what the Romans stole from them, they will never forgive them and will seek revenge. Also, two giants stole a very important demigod and a friend of both camps so the seven children of the prophecy are on a quest to seek revenge on them and the girants' mother, Gaea. Even Gaea is trying to seek revenge on all the Gods, especially Zeus; Poseidon; and Hades, for killing her son, Kronos. It is a little weird, too, because Kronos is the father of all the Gods making the Gods Gaea's grandchildren. (The Gods killed Kronos because Kronos ate the most of them. Kronos's wife disguised Zeus as a rock that which Kronos ate. Zeus was raised in secrecy to a full grown, powerful God. He then saved his brothers and sisters by killing Kronos and cutting open the stomach. Kronos thought they would later surpass him, which they made him try to prevent that and triy keep the position as Lord of the Universe. Zeus later took that position because he was the main killer of Kronos). Many more characters seek revenge but almost every character do so therefore it would take too long to list every single one.

4.) Although all of the seven demigods have potential to be my favorite character, Frank Zhang is my favorite right now. He is really big with a baby face and is described in the book as a giant teddy bear. He seems like a very strong built person with a very nice personality. What surprises me about him is that he is frightened by Leo! Leo is very short with a silly face and defends himself with jokes when people are being mean to him. I only later realized he was afraid of Leo since he can summon fire. Frank's life is depended on a little twig that is extremely flammable which is why  he's so afraid of fire. If it were to be burned, his life would be destroyed. His life is more fragile than anyone else's in the book. Frank's power enables him to transform into anything he sets his mind to only if he is focused enough. It takes up a lot of his energy to do so and if he doesn't have enough energy, he is unable to transform. Since his life is as fragile as a twig on fire and he has limited ability to transform into creatures, his character is not too overpowered.

5.) All the characters have very detailed characteristics so it's hard to choose a least favorite character. The character I favor least is Coach Hedge. He may have funny characteristics, but he thinks he's the leader of the seven kids. He is probably the second or third weakest member and orders the kids around with commands that are not logical whatsoever. Once Percy and Annabeth (they're in a relationship) were chatting on the top deck of the Argo II during the night and fell asleep next to each other. They were supposed to be in their rooms because they have a curfew time thanks to Coach. He found out and didn't allow Percy and Annabeth to go on a mini quest (to make progress in the main quest) even though they were both needed. Coach Hedge is the reason that the mini quest was almost failed. He was also the reason that Leo, Frank, and Jason were shot down while attempting to escape from the Romans. The thing that bothers me most about him is that when he orders the kids around, they actually listen and take him seriously even though he's almost never focused or serious. He may be the oldest but he does not have authority.

6.) The book is very unpredictable and full of surprises but I predict that the seven kids will escape from the Romans. Percy and Jason would be extremely worn out from making the huge storm with wind and water. A very powerful monster will attack them and will overpower the seven demigods since their most powerful members, Percy and Jason, will be too weak to fight it. Maybe then the Argo II will be broken after they finally manage to kill the beast which will need Leo to fix it. This will make their quest delayed and schedule even more tight to save their friends and defeat Gaea.