The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan

99th book of 2021

Fifth book in the Trials of Apollo series

Reading period: December 09th 2021 – December 13th 2021

Summary

It’s time to face the final trial . . .

The battle for Camp Jupiter is over. New Rome is safe. Tarquin and his army of the undead have been defeated. Somehow Apollo has made it out alive, with a little bit of help from the Hunters of Artemis.

But though the battle may have been won, the war is far from over.

Now Apollo and Meg must get ready for the final – and, let’s face it, probably fatal – adventure. They must face the last emperor, the terrifying Nero, and destroy him once and for all.

Can Apollo find his godly form again? Will Meg be able to face up to her troubled past? Destiny awaits … 

Trigger Warnings

War, death, violence, grief, toxic relationship

Rating

Review

It’s a great conclusion to this series as you go back to the beginning for Apollo to face Nero.

The only element that took me by surprise was the relatively slow pace of the book since the story is more character-driven than plot-driven. The thing is, we expect more of a plot-based book for the last book of a series. Still, as we go back to the start, we have a big part about the introspection of Apollo and how he changed throughout his adventure.

The battles are well-done. However, I would have liked them to be longer, as they are easily solved and concluded. On the other side, the before and the between battles are longer. Sometimes, you have so many elements that it can be overwhelming.

I found this series, but especially this book, a lot more mature as you have a big talk about a toxic relationship and its consequence for a child. But also about Apollo’s reflection about himself and how he wants to be a new god once he is back on Olympus.

This last book is a character-driven one and more mature but still concludes the series well.

Liz.