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The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4 (by Rick Riordan)

common sense media says

Thrilling fourth Percy Jackson sets war in motion.


parents & educators say
  • 60% say violence is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the violence level is a bit higher here than previous books in the series, and includes injuries and deaths from a variety of ancient weapons.

Educational value: Ancient Greek myths and characters are woven in throughout. 
Positive messages: Themes of friendship, loyalty, and doing the right thing, and paying for bad choices throughout.
Positive role models: Percy is still a great leader here and makes a decision to fight with his friends instead of living forever in harmony on Calypso's island. However, Annabeth seems to have the tools to navigate the labyrinth at the beginning of the book -- she studies for months -- but still lets Percy take the lead and make most of the key decisions during her quest.
Violence: The violence level is increasing a bit from the first three books in the series: some major battles with deaths and injuries of characters and monsters by sword, spear, arrow, and club.
Sex: Percy has a crush on Calypso and makes Annabeth jealous.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Cereal, store, soda, fast food, ice cream, car brands.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about where the series is heading. What do you think will happen in the final book? How can Percy and his friends defeat Kronos' massive forces?

  • Why do you think the series is becoming more violent? Is it necessary to the plot?

What's the story?

What's the story?

As the ultimate apocalyptic battle between the gods and Kronos draws near, Percy and his friends discover that Camp Half-Blood is first on Kronos' hit list, and that the invasion will come through a secret entrance to the Labyrinth, which now lies under the entire U.S. So Percy, Annabeth, and Grover venture into this forbidding and constantly shifting underground world, seeking Daedalus, Pan, and a way to stop Kronos' forces.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

As the denouement to this five-book story arc approaches, BOOK 4 veers from the formula of the first three, growing larger in scope, darker (though still with plenty of humor), and more powerful. The story is on the rails now, gathering speed and excitement as it gets closer to the coming apocalypse. Author Rick Riordan is also delving deeper into the mythological underpinnings of the world he has created, a world in which the gods, heroes, monsters, and locales of Greek mythology have moved with the heart of Western civilization to the U.S., and updated for the 21st century.

The most fascinating of these updates is Riordan's concept of the Labyrinth, which now spans the entire country underground, with entrances and exits scattered from coast to coast. At its heart is the brilliant inventor Daedalus, who has found a way to preserve his life but lost his soul, at least for a time. This entry also mines more philosophical ground than previously (though never at the expense of the action), such as the natures of the gods and what it means to act in their names. Up until now the series has been great fun, but little more. Now as it begins to grow, like the Labyrinth, larger and deeper and more complex, it's even more fun.

From the Book:
The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school. But there I was Monday morning, the first week of June, sitting in my mom's car in front of Goode High School on East 81st.

Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of BMWs and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take me to get kicked out of this place.

"Just relax." My mom didn't sound relaxed. "It's only an orientation tour. And remember, dear, this is Paul's school. So try not to ... you know."

"Destroy it?"

Book themes & details

Book Details
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Publication date: May 1, 2008
Number of pages: 361
Hardcover price: $17.99
Paperback price: $7.99
Read Aloud: 9
Read Alone: 10

This review was written by Matt Berman
 
 

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What parents & educators say

10
Based on 5 parent & educator reviews:
  • 60% say violence is an issue

Most useful reviews by all members

HamstersRock
teen, 14 years old
 
Perfect for everyone!!!!
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER!!!!!!!!! :)

HamstersRule
kid, 13 years old
 
Perfect for everyone
Once again Rick Riordan has done it!!!! Another graet amazing book!!! In this Prcy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson go on a quest to find Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth and also Athena's son. But Grover on that quest is also meanwhile still very much searching for Pan. Guess what this is one of the best books ever! If had the chioce to read this book read it!!!! P.S. Percy and Annabeth begin to show their true emotions, I guess Aphrodite was right in The Titan's Curse, Percy and Annabeth might have a romantic future. Read the book to find out!!! :)

MASSICLIKPERCY ...
teen, 16 years old
 
EPIC BATTLE OF THIS LABYRINTH, PERCABETH, SATYR, ANNABETH RULES I AM HALFBLOOD, I HATE MR. MEATY (PERCABETH, ANNABETH, LOVE)
There are only TWO THINGS in this AMAZING ME WORLD THAT EPIC KICKS HARRY POTTER AND JUSTIN BIEBER BUTT: ZELDAAAA AND PERCY JACKSON! aND ANIME!!! Wait, that was three. But who freaking cares??? YEAH!!! I'm epic!! I AM the biggest fan of them two in the world and who ever says that i'm not well you're like, let's see, hmmm....BIEBER! I'm the next link! AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON LIVING RIGHT NOW IN THIS PERCYWORLD. PERCY JACKSON SIRIS HAS A NEW BOOK???? NOTHING CAN MAKE ME HAPPIER!!!! Cause you guys, guess what. **only keep reading if you understand the series** i am 1/2 blood, dauter of aphrodite, pretty girl in common sense media, my picture is better than you. Plus i am from the legend of zelda world, hyrule, so don't be jealous me cuz i come from 2 1/2 worlds KK??? I LOVE ALL THE ZELDA AND PJO FANS!!!! Keep reading you SARIAS! (PERCABETH) And for some people who support grovhalia (get it grover thalia) OMG LOL what ur thinking? my 4 bffs support grovhalia!!! news at camp halfblood: chariot races are almost coming, i'm racing with a girl named Mia, i'm glad i'm not the driver phew!!!! HAHAH are you jealous??? I am such proud of myself, i am such total halfblod. PERCABETH Look at my picture now. It's Annabeth. WOW i luv camp quarter blood it's weird everyone there's grandparents are gods and their parentshalf! I met this girl there named Thilie, similar to Thalia and they said they actually do like nothing at camp 1/4 blood they never get to go on quest or anything. Anyways this whole comment had a subliminal message. Ill reveal it right now: support grovhalia. buy the percy jackson series. serious it will affect u. And it's true, if you read this while saying my username "MASSICLIK, MASSICLIK" listening to ancient hero (please go listen to it on youtube, malons. It will epic you to death. Seriously, i can't sleep anymore) and reading this book you will fly up into the sky and kill monsters without dying and scream "EPIC!!!" (Sarias song will be playing in the background, look it up you RUTOS!!!) Want another one. (edit) and right now i was looking 4 anime on utube and i found soul eater black paper moon opening 2 TAT SONG IS SO EPIC!!!! AND in the opening you see people flip around and i was like "those are percy, annabeth, and grover!!! I also watched an animme where people were inside a LABYRINTH just like THIS ONE MY PEEPS but except it was shorter...Dang... ANEYWAYS the girl's sister was actually a GUN and she flipped her sis backwards...Then her sis turned into a human and lifted HER up and she turned into a gun and i was like "MAN, THAT'S EPIC!!!" But one of them almost died because a mummy thing that looks like the ORACLE...Oh well i'm gonna stop talking about that because it's OFF TOPIC so just go google and type in "patti thompson gun" OR JUST "patti thompson" but be warned because peeps put weird stuff up and y'know and yeah.... SO ANYWAYS *PERCABETH* Percabeth 100% total will happen/ i predict the future/ ZELDAXLINK/ i hate mr. meaty/ Midna BOOOOM! Everything explodes. Oh wow that actually made no sense, you see, like most of my revies but this one was totally crazs. bye. check out my profile now!!! And spread the news, pj fans: Annabeth is now on this website! I checked out her reviews and spread the word. Now YOU do your part and spread the word. EVERYONE VISIT HER PROFILE! HER USERNAME IS Annabeth_Chase! If you don't visit you're a kronos traitor loser mr. meaty butt face! I love you MALONS, SARIAS, RUTOS!!!

Sasuke_Sakura
kid, 12 years old
 
Yay!!!
Yay never give this book away its to majorly awsome

petucker2
teen, 15 years old
 
READ THEM ALL
I heart this book no doubt! this is the best book eveah. u wont know till u read them

Lala33
kid, 11 years old
 
It's good for kids that could understand the way it goes.
I love it! It's an amazing series!

Gaga4GaGa
kid, 13 years old
 
The best one!!
This is the best one in the series!!!! Nobody is missing!!! The plot and the dialogue are richer than in the others, and Rachel is a cool character.

jennwhitmer
parent of and 2 , 5 , 7 , 8 year old
 
I enjoyed the story, and it's action packed. The biggest problem is with the way the demigods were conceived. There is a lot of talk about the gods sleeping with humans to make the demigods. Until your child is ready to understand babies out of marriage, this book isn't for him.

rachealle
kid, 13 years old
 
Best Book Ever!!!
What I Think: Awesome book. I have read this series twice now, and This was my faovorite book of the series. I would recomend reading this to younger siblings if they are the kind of kids who are always interested in what you are interested in. Summary: Percy Jackson is a demigod, or half-human, half-god.his father is The Sea god, Poseidon. His friend, Annabeth, has recieved a quest to go to the Labyrinth. She must find Deadelus and convince him to help her to help to save the camp. If you are going to read this book, read the other ones in the series first. Also, there was alot of killing monsters and a few deaths, so it is a bit violent. I think that if you are going to let an older kid read this book, that's ok. But if you are thinking of letting a smaller kid read it, you should know that they might not really understand it because in one part, Annabeth is being REALLY friendly to a kid (whose name I can not remember), and Percy gets kind of jealous. Have fun reading!!!

the cool half ...
teen, 15 years old
 
THE EPIC BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH, PERCABETH, SATYR, ANNABETH RULES whatever
Yaaay guess what i am actually writing from Camp Half Blood right now! I know i'm a QUARTER blood but still they accepted me YAAA! And since my parents are Aphrodite/Apollo i have a place in BOTH cabins it's awesome to be a quarterblood. And i LOVE this book. Totally agree with the girl two spaces below me. Percabeth will 100% happen/i predict the future/i hate mr. meaty BOOOM! Everything explodes. BTW, never heard of camp 1/4 blood. Whatevs. I'm good where i am! TTYL!

Bbbbbbbi
teen, 15 years old
 
Very suspenseful!
This is the most suspenseful in the series yet!! It has a lot of action, and violence. It gets a bit scary at times, especially about the labyrinth and its creator's history. I love this series!! I still haven't gotten a chance to read the last book, The Last Olympian. If anyone has, is it really good?

percy jackson fan
kid, 11 years old
 
I loved it! My fave book besides the 5th. It's really awesome, with lots of great spine chilling details!

jj44
kid, 12 years old
 
good
I love this book, but not quite as much as the fifth one

ohya
parent of 14 year old
 
my favorite after #5

sek98
teen, 14 years old
 
A great installment ot the series!!!!!!!!!!!!
The battle of the labyrinth was amazing. It was funny like them all, and it has more action than the first three books. The Labyrinth is very cool and it has some very strange monsters. All in all Percy Jackosn is very well done, and I would reccomend it to anyone 8 and up.

pebchristian
parent of and 7 , 9 , 11 year old
 
THE BEST SERIES EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The series is awesome. This particular book is well handled, excellantly written, and darkly comical and a pinch of violence.

avidreadingchic97
teen, 14 years old
 
an awesome serise but this is kinda a let down but still awesome
i love ths book !!!! it wasnt my favorate but i do really like it but i havent read the last book yet so i think the last one will be my favorate and with the kissing and mess nothing is wrong with that its just younger kids may not understand as well as older ones.

 
proceed with caution
this series is really dark. i think you should read them and know your child's limits before allowing them to read them. they are very engaging, but they affected MY dreams. I have one child who can handle such things and another who would be too affected.

Hundav1
teen, 16 years old
 
Well that's kind of silly...
I'm not really sure why there's a star under the "Sex" category and it says that Annabeth is jealous of Percy's crush, because THAT IS NOT SEX PEOPLE! There's nothing wrong with it, it's a cute little crush and there is one little kiss that's totally sweet and innocent. Minimal description of pretty minor violence, as usual. Nothing language-wise to worry about. It's sort of funny when they curse people in Greek because it means something like "Go to the Crows!" or something to that effect. Either way, it's a really cute book and one of the best of the series. I only put 10 & Up because I think that's probably about the age it will start interesting kids more. P.S. If your child is liable to have nightmares over minor things, just read it during the day since the ending scenes with Kronos could scare them a little bit late at night.

Books rule
teen, 14 years old
 
I got lost in this book!
Epic! Rick does it again. He captures modern everyday life with mythology. One of my favorites in the series. There is more violence, but blood and gruesomeness is not very detailed. Though this book is very detailed. I would recommend this series/book to anyone.

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