The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan is the final book in The Trials of Apollo series. In it both Apollo and Meg have to confront their own past. Apollo by finally facing the Python and Meg by facing Nero. It starts out by going full circle with the two of them traveling back to New York, where their adventure first started, and reuniting with their allies, old and new. They meet Percy’s younger sister, Estelle, and Meg’s old mentor, Luguselwa, as they try to figure out how to best take out Nero. Eventually, they join forces with Will and Nico, along with Rachel Dare later on, in their assault on Nero.
While I am happy to see the outcome of Apollo’s quest to regain his godhood I am also sad to see the end of the series. As I have mentioned before I am actually a big fan of Rick Riordan and have been since before he finished the original Percy Jackson series. I hope that the hints present in the book actually lead to further stories in this universe. If so, I can’t wait. Back to the book though. I found it fascinating to see how Apollo and Meg had to circle back to their beginning in order to finish their quest. This kind of ties in with an overarching theme that was present in the series as a whole. I think I discussed this some with the previous book. The need to reconcile the past and the present in order to embrace the future. Apollo has had to face various people and events from his past in order to grow as a person. Meg has had to do similar things, though to a lesser extent. This ultimately leads the two of them to facing some of their biggest issues from their past. Apollo has to face the Python and reclaim the oracle of Delphi and Meg has to face Nero, her abusive stepfather. Both have to do this in order to free themselves from their past and become who they want to be. Apollo has come to the realization that he needs to be the kind of god that actually cares about the people who worship him or believe in him and that means he has to be the kind of person who personally fights the Python, even though he has no godly abilities currently. Meg has to face Nero in order to believe enough in herself to fully turn her back on what she was raised to be. In both cases they do this so that they can hopefully have a better future and be a better person in the future. This coming together of the past and the present is also reflected in the book in other ways. I mentioned earlier that they are working with Will, Nico and Rachel, as well as Luguselwa. Will, Nico, and Rachel are all characters that have appeared previously in this universe and are also mentioned previously in this series. Luguselwa is a completely new character who only appears in this book. A combination of old and new allies as they face their past in their present. I like the way this theme plays out. There were a few other ways this was present as well. We see the reappearance of Nico’s ability to shadow travel and Rachel’s tendency to throw hairbrushes at the enemy. By the way this is one of my favorite scenes from The Battle of the Labyrinth and I was thrilled to see it reappear. However, it also introduces Will’s ability to mimic the sun and actually glow. Take all of this together and it makes yet another incredible book in this universe. It definitely deserves a full five stars.
As you have probably gathered by now I would recommend that people try this book. I know it is aimed primarily at younger readers but I think that it would also appeal to older readers, especially if they happen to enjoy fantasy or stories about mythology. I am not sure if it would appeal to people who don’t already appreciate those genres, though I recommend that you try it anyway. One thing to keep in mind though before trying the book. This is the fifth and final book of this particular series. This series is the third series of five books based in the Percy Jackson universe, the previous ones are Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series. You can try this particular book first but I would recommend starting at the beginning in order to have a better understanding of this world before you do. It is a very unique world and has a lot of background detail explained in the earlier books. As always let me know what you think of the book and the series as I look forward to hearing your thoughts. I wonder if anyone else was as sad as me to get to the end of the series.