Easy to recognize as a cousin of Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: it has the same
authentic young voices. It does feel darker and heavier, even if the humour is just as strong. The
romances are a bit unnecessary. It’s good throughout, but it becomes great towards the end. Bast’s
return brought a lump to my throat.[1]
I’ve only read this once before, so I enjoyed rediscovering everything. It’s nice that Rick Riordan
created a very different set of characters to overcome the limitations of his past work. That sort
of growth is rare.