The Battle of the Labyrinth facts for kids
The front cover of the first U.S. edition.
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| Author | Rick Riordan |
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| Cover artist | John Rocco |
| Country | United States |
| Series | Percy Jackson & the Olympians (bk 4) |
| Genre | Fantasy, Greek mythology, young-adult novel |
| Publisher | Hyperion Books for Children |
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Publication date
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6 May 2008 (US) 3 July 2008 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (hardback), audiobook |
| Pages | 361 |
| ISBN | 9781423101468 |
| OCLC | 180753884 |
| LC Class | PZ7.R4829 Bat 2008 |
| Preceded by | The Titan's Curse |
| Followed by | The Last Olympian |
The Battle of the Labyrinth is an American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. The novel was first published in the United States on 6 May 2008 by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Publishing Worldwide. It has been published in hardcover, audiobook, ebook, and large-print editions. To date, The Battle of the Labyrinth has been translated into 29 languages from its original English.
The book follows the adventures of modern-day fifteen-year-old demigod Percy Jackson, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood, Rachel Dare and Tyson attempt to stop Luke Castellan and his army from invading Camp Half-Blood through Daedalus's labyrinth by trying to prevent the Ariadne's string from falling into his hands.
The Battle of the Labyrinth received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the storyline, humor and action present in the novel. The novel was on the Amazon Children's bestseller list and Publishers Weekly Facts and Figures bestseller list. It was also the runner-up for the 2010 Indian Paintbrush Book Award. Fun
Contents
Plot
Percy Jackson attends freshman orientation at Goode High School, where he sees Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a mortal who can see through the Mist. She helps him fight two empousai and escape. Percy travels to Camp Half-Blood, where he learns Grover is in trouble with the Council of Cloven Elders for not having found Pan. During a competition organized by the new sword instructor Quintus, Annabeth and Percy accidentally find an entrance into the Labyrinth, which presents a possible invasion route for Luke. Annabeth is given leadership of a quest to find Daedalus and convince the inventor not to give Luke Ariadne's string, which would help him navigate the Labyrinth. She chooses Grover, Percy, and Tyson to accompany her. Before leaving, Percy learns that Nico plans to bring back his late sister (with help from King Minos) by exchanging her soul for someone who has cheated death - like Percy. In the maze, the questers face a number of trials including meeting Briares, the Sphinx, and Janus, before arriving at the ranch of Geryon and meeting Nico. They seek out Hephaestus, and after speaking to him they part ways; Tyson and Grover search for Pan, while Annabeth and Percy go to the god's forge in the volcano Mount St. Helens.
In the forge, Percy is almost killed by Kronos's smiths, but escapes by causing an earthquake that ejects him from the volcano. When Percy awakens, he finds himself on the island Ogygia with Calypso, a daughter of the Titan Atlas. Calypso tells Percy she is cursed to fall in love with every hero that lands on her island, but the hero can never stay. After Hephaestus tells him of events in the mortal world, Percy realizes that he too must leave. Back at Camp Half-Blood, Percy and Annabeth go to Manhattan to find Rachel, who should be able to navigate the Labyrinth. Despite being captured by Luke's minions, they eventually reach Daedalus's workshop and learn Quintus is actually the ancient inventor, living as an automaton. He informs them that, believing they could not withstand a Titan assault, he has already helped Luke. The group is discovered by Luke, who tells them Minos has been planning to exchange Daedalus's soul for his own. The four teenagers fight to escape while the betrayed Daedalus remains in the maze with his hellhound.
The quartet later discover the Titan fortress at Mount Othrys, and learn that Luke has been somehow possessed by Kronos. They run into Grover and Tyson, and discover the resting place of Pan, who speaks to them and passes part of his fading spirit into each of them. The group, minus Rachel, then heads back to Camp Half-Blood to fight. The Titan army floods out of the Labyrinth and appears to be winning until Daedalus arrives with Mrs. O’Leary and Briares, who kills Kampê. Grover scares off the remaining Titan forces by causing a Panic. After the battle, Nico helps Daedalus pass on, destroying the Labyrinth. After a memorial service for the dead campers, Percy leaves camp for the school year. On his fifteenth birthday at summer's end, Percy receives a visit from his father Poseidon, who gives him a sand dollar, advising him to "spend it wisely". Nico later appears to tell Percy his plan to defeat Luke once and for all.
Characters
- Percy Jackson is the 15-year-old son of Poseidon. He is the series' narrator. He joins Annabeth in her quest to go into the labyrinth to find Daedalus' workshop.
- Annabeth Chase is the 15-year-old daughter of Athena, and one of Percy's closest friends. She gets the quest to navigate the Labyrinth. Her feelings for Percy start to show but she is confused because of her lingering feelings towards Luke.
- Rachel Elizabeth Dare is a mortal who can see through the Mist. Her father is a wealthy businessman who buys the undeveloped land of the wild and builds developments upon it. Percy had previously met her at the Hoover Dam in The Titan's Curse, where she helped him get away from the undead warriors.
- Grover Underwood is a satyr and Percy's best friend. His life's ambition is to find Pan, the lost god of the Wild. Grover, Tyson, Percy, Annabeth, Nico and Rachel find Pan inside Carlsbad Caverns along with some extinct animals. He gave all of them except Nico words of wisdom, and then died. When he died, his essence entered all of the characters' mouths (except Nico), meaning a piece of the wild remained in their hearts. He gave Grover the famous battle cry, Panic, which Grover used to scare off the intruders in Camp Half-Blood. The word Panic is named after Pan because in the Titan war he let out a horrible cry that drove all the monsters back to where they came from.
- Tyson is Percy's cyclops half-brother. He now works for his father in Poseidon's palace, under the oceans, in the Cyclopes' forge. Tyson enjoys forging, and nicknaming mythical creatures they come across. He joins Percy and his friends in the Labyrinth.
- Nico di Angelo is an 11-year-old son of Hades. Upset that his sister Bianca died, he is slightly unstable, and attempts to trade Daedalus' soul for that of Bianca. He has a sword made of Stygian iron.
- Luke Castellan is a 22-year-old son of Hermes and traitor to the Olympians. His body becomes possessed by the spirit of Kronos.
- Daedalus/Quintus was the creator of the Labyrinth and son of Athena, and has made a total of five automatons in order to cheat death. He becomes the new swordsman at Camp Half-Blood under the name Quintus, but only to see if Camp Half-Blood is worth saving. During the intrusion of Camp Half-Blood, he is stabbed, but instead of blood coming out of the wound, golden oil leaks from his automaton body. He has a murderer's mark on his neck (a partridge), a brand that appears on all of his bodies as a curse from Athena, because he killed his nephew, Perdix. He owns a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary. After his death, he was assigned to build overpasses and bridges to help control traffic in the Underworld and according to Nico, he is happy with this job. Before he dies, he gives Annabeth a laptop containing all of the works he never had time to complete, as well as many of his ideas and theories.
Sequel
The sequel to The Battle of the Labyrinth is titled The Last Olympian and was released 5 May 2009. It is the final novel in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The Last Olympian was No. 1 on the USA Today bestseller list.
See also
In Spanish: La batalla del laberinto para niños
