Alone he must descend into the dark. Rick Riordan gives us the final book of Apollo’s quest.

The Greek gods gather in Mount Olympus to watch if Apollo will succeed on his quest or fail. As Lester Papadopoulos, the sun god must face his nemesis Python in order to restore the power of the prophecies. But the last of the triumvirate stands on his way, Nero. And the evil Roman emperor is waiting in his tower.

The Greek demigod series of author Rick Riordan comes in full circle with “Trials of Apollo: The Tower of Nero.” Here, the god Apollo, a.k.a. Lester Papadopoulos, comes back to New York to face the last emperor of the Triumvirate, Nero, and his nemesis Python. Prophecies abound, a grand battle with the help of the Camp Half-Blood, and a reckoning of Apollo on whether he will be reinstated as a god or fail as a mortal.

Gone were the old-fun quests brought to us by Percy Jackson and the other demigods. But the Trials of Apollo has had some fun moments (and lines courtesy of the Arrow of Dodona), with Lester bemoaning his fate and his immortal recollections of the mythological creatures he knew on his life as a god. The battle in the Tower of Nero is not that spectacular compared to the last book (The Tyrant’s Tomb) and is a little bit messy and sloppy. The great thing about this last installment is how cool the last prophecy was unveiled.

Geek Rate

Mortal Worthy (3 out of 5 stars). It’s been more than 10 years since I first read a Riordan book, and here we are still, with his latest book. Riordan’s world of mythologies never ceases to amaze us, with Apollo’s story contributing to the storyline which started Percy Jackson. The magic of this series is in how it introduces the readers to the creatures and the immortals of Greek mythology. And if Riordan comes up with another book related to Apollo and Percy’s story, I will not complain.

Reignell Francisco

I’m a Filipino content creator with passion for travel, history, football, and anything on TV. Visit my YouTube channel onelostgeek for my travel stories. Business inquiry: geekgodreview@yahoo.com