” While the other three were full of thrills and chills this one throws up zombies and puts Apollo’s life in danger.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Lester Papadopoulos aka Apollo in better times and Meg McCaughey reappear still trying to save the world from the tyranny of the three emperors, in this particular case Commodus and Caligula who have allied themselves with an Undead emperor from the days when Rome was just founded.
While the other three were full of thrills and chills this one throws up zombies and puts Apollo’s life in danger. Camp Jupiter itself is under threat and Apollo is prone to car crashes and zombie attacks. He is in fact scratched by a zombie and at risk of becoming one of the living dead proving too difficult for the demi healers to tackle.
Viral infections and turbulence have always been part of the real world which Riordan translates into mythology. Adds to that the dread of being disconnected from all forms of communication through the god of silence, a creation of cross pollination between the Greeks and the Egyptians, a god whose discussions were secret under the sign of the rose or sub rosa.
Riordan brings it all to a rousing climax though perhaps some of the excitement of The Burning Maze is lacking here. Time keeps ticking and the losses pile up as Apollo attempts to resist the poison of the Undead Tyrant and the problems created by his whimsies when he was truly immortal. Again a subtle lessons for teens and neo millennials you are not the rock star you thought you were.
Hazel, Fran Zhang and Reyna provide a strong supporting cast in the battle of the books and The Tyrant’s Tomb ends on a note of hope – a reformed Apollo might just regain Olympus with one book left to go.
Reviewed by:
Anjana Basu
Added 8th January 2020
