The mortal life of Lester Papadopoulos
"I promised myself that once I achieved immortality again, I would assemble the Nine Muses and together we would create an ode, a hymnal to the power of bacon, which would move the heavens to tears and cause rapture across the universe. Bacon is good."
Those who read the final chapter of "The Blood of Olympus" sensed that they haven't seen the last of Percy Jackson. However, the final page described how Leo Valdez cheated death and ended Calyso's solitary existence in Ogygia. The son of Hephaestus had Latin roots, so it wasn't hard to guess where the lovebirds were heading. The demigods saved the Olympians, one more time, and Zeus wanted someone to be accounted for the war between gods and giants. It happened that Octavian, who let the Greek and Roman demigods fight each other, flattered Apollo without revealing his true intention. He didn't survive the war, which prompted the king of the gods to punish his son for the third time. And the god of the sun didn't like it at all.
Apollo became a fifteen-year-old teenager with acne and flab. He fell into Hell's Kitchen. A street urchin named Meg McCaffrey saved him from the thugs. It seemed liked a premise of a kitchen sink drama, but this was Rick Riordan in Monty Python mode.
Is it really wise to be running a dangerous obstacle course?
"The Hidden Oracle", which was first published on May 3, would be the first book in "The Trials of Apollo". Those who would have second thoughts about reading another Young-adult novel on Greek mythology must be warned about Apollo. He would be insufferable, but the mortals remained graceful and generous to him. He may not be immortal, but he didn't lose the self-importance that would make gods and demigods annoying to mortals. And he could be vain. Think of Britney Spears during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. Recall your favorite episodes of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". (Don't feign your ignorance.) Imagine your perfect self.
"Percy Jackson & the Olympians:, and its sequel, "The Heroes of Olympus", have that down-to-earth tone that would make Percy Jackson and the other demigods endear to young readers. There would be sarcasm here and there, but their virtues would prevail. It could uplift readers. On the other hand, Apollo would never stop complaining about the mortal world. It could be First World problems, it may also be Bette Davis playing Artemis. And Lester Papadopoulos would be the sun god's mortal name. It seemed like a common Greek name, which would make Apollo more depressed than ever. After all, he was the Justin Bieber of antiquity. (Adriana Lima might raise an eyebrow.) Riordan, a high school instructor, might have been a huge fan of soap operas. And this was what his Greek saga was all about.
Apollo became mortal, and he had no idea of his whereabouts after Gaea and the giants were vanquished. Greek demigods were departing from Camp Half-Blood, one by one and without a word. The seven demigods, who saved their fellow (Greek and Roman) demigods from the wrath of Gaea, were busy with homework. (They would earn their high school diploma next summer.) This would make Apollo more vulnerable, even with his (teenage) children by his side.
The sky turned dark once more. And one of the things that the god of sun still remembered was Athena's warning about Mount Olympus. It would migrate from New York to Rio de Janeiro, but Apollo wasn't interested in learning Portuguese. He didn't like being insignificant. He was afraid of mortality. He sensed another dangerous obstacle course.
