The Trials of Apollo

When the second Percy Jackson series, the Heroes of Olympus, ended, Rick Riordan promised he wouldn’t make an epilogue for the series. During promotions for the final book in the series, he said, “I hate epilogues. It's like nailing the coffin shut on the story, allowing for no further growth and leaving no room for the readers' imaginations.” But it turns out he really should have been more specific, because apparently the thing he only dislikes epilogues is when they explain the characters’ entire lives and ruin any future possibilities for the characters. But he seems perfectly content exploring those possibilities himself - especially now that he's announced a new series set in the world of Percy Jackson.

The Trials Of Apollo is set to start from where The Blood of Olympus left off. Apollo has been acting up, as he had in so many of the old myths, and Zeus threw him down to earth in a completely mortal body in a fit of rage. He has to come to Camp Half-Blood to get help to survive until he can become immortal again.

The reaction to the new 5-book series, set to come out on the 3rd of May, was immediate and explosive. When he announced it at a Magnus Chase book tour, the screaming and cheering filled the room. Soon after, the internet lit up with a flurry of activity on the subject. While there were a few people expressing disappointment with what seems like a way of capitalizing on the success of his previous books, the majority of the reaction was extremely positive.

There are lists and lists of what fans want to see in the next book. Since it centers around Apollo, Will Solace is a fan favourite. A son of the aforementioned god and the leader of Cabin 7, he’s a minor character that appears again in the Blood of Olympus, where he’s revealed as a possible love interest for Nico Di Angelo, another fans’ darling. A flurry of activity about their possible romantic future has sprung up, also increasing the two characters’ individual popularity. And since Will is the son of Apollo, the main character of the coming series, he is likely to have a larger role in the next five books.

Another character that is being re-visited in fans’ comments is Alabaster C. Torrington. He was a character in Rick’s son Haley’s short story The Son Of Magic, a story set in the Percy Jackson universe. Although they aren’t technically Rick’s characters, a lot of fans liked them a lot and wanted to see them used in the coming series.

Apollo himself, of course, is also the subject of much speculation. He’s portrayed in earlier books as a kind of a show-off, although he actually isn’t that talented at music or poetry, two of his spheres of influence (incidentally, all the chapter titles of the new books will be in bad haiku, probably one of the most exciting things about the whole series), and so lots of self-centered hijinx are expected. But there’s more to Apollo than that. Several fans have pointed out that in the old myths, Apollo is bisexual. Near the end of his last series, Nico was introduced as the first gay character in the whole franchise, and, as previously stated, Will Solace was submitted as a possible partner for him. But fans are very excited at the possibility of moe representation for the homosexual community in the coming stories.

Of course, others have pointed out that Apollo is actually the dad of some of the demigods, which will probably make his situation a whole lot more awkward, especially after the emphasis in the previous books about the gods ignoring their children. A lot of the Apollo campers may be resentful towards their father. And since, stripped of his powers, Camp Half-Blood’s his only hope, this god has certainly landed himself in quite a tricky situation.

So it seems we may have a lot to look forward to for this next series- or at least the Percy Jackson Fandom thinks so. For everyone’s sake, I sincerely hope that the Trials of Apollo will be an amazing ending to a much-loved fandom.

P.S. A conundrum to all you fans- when Apollo comes to camp, which cabin should he belong to. His own? Or, going by parentage, Zeus’s?







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