The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

"Look, this is going to sound weird. Do you know anything about Greek myths? [...] All those monsters," I said, "all the Greek gods - they're real."

-The Battle of the Labyrinth

When I was a kid, I loved Greek mythology. I had a book called D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths that I read over and over again. If you had told me that the Greek gods were real, I would have been really, really excited. (Clearly, I hadn't thought through the ramifications of having to worship the kind of fickle deities who might consign you to, say, push a rock uphill for all eternity.)

I definitely tap into that part of myself when I read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, of which The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth book. Percy Jackson is an ordinary kid living in New York who discovers at the age of 12 that he is the son of Poseidon. Accordingly, every summer he goes to Camp Half Blood to train himself to fight the kind of wicked monsters that populate the Greek mythological scene. Over time, he discovers that the Titans (the original gods overthrown by the Olympians) are trying to reclaim their power, and a prophecy suggests that he might be the one who has to stop them. If you're saying to yourself, "Hey, isn't that a bit of a Harry Potter ripoff?" the answer is yes, it sort of is.

Although Riordan does a great job of capturing the voice of a young teenage boy, his stories never rise to the level of Harry Potter. I've never found myself as emotionally invested in Percy's world - in The Battle of the Labyrinth this was particularly evident, as a fight plays out that is quite reminiscent of the invasion of Hogwarts in the 6th Harry Potter book. The Hogwarts invasion had me in tears; The Battle of the Labyrinth's big fight didn't resonate the same way.

That being said, the Percy Jackson series contains some interesting ideas - I particularly like the concept that having ADHD and/or dyslexia is linked to being a demigod. I also appreciate that the series is a great introduction to the characters of Greek mythology, and Riordan showcases a lot of them. Kids reading The Battle of the Labyrinth, for example, become well acquainted with the story of Daedalus. There are also a host of entertaining (and occasionally surprisingly complex) characters, including Nico di Angelo, the tormented son of Hades, and Grover, a satyr who embarks on a quest to find the god Pan.

One quick note: In an earlier post, I extolled the virtues of reading YA books while travelling. Well, I took The Battle of the Labyrinth to read on the train this weeked. My neighbor was reading The Yiddish Policeman's Union. The man across the aisle was reading Slaughterhouse Five. I was definitely dragging down the row's standard for highbrow literature.