Caramel reviews The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

All three of the book bunnies enjoy reading the many books of Rick Riordan based on various mythologies. Caramel has already reviewed for the book bunnies blog the graphic novel versions of the first three books of Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Today he talks about the fourth book, the graphic novel version of The Battle of the Labyrinth. As usual Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

(Before continuing, you might want to check out Caramel’s reviews of The Lightning ThiefThe Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse.)

Caramel reviews The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel reviews The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I know you had misplaced your copy of The Battle of the Labyrinth and only recently got your paws on it again. How did it feel rereading it after so many weeks? Or months?

Caramel: It felt good! I missed my book!

S: So it is worth the rereading, I can see that. Can you tell us what it is about?

C: It’s about Percy Jackson. We met him before in all the other books of the series.

S: Yes, you reviewed the first three books already.

C: And Marshmallow did too. She read the original books. And I reviewed the graphic novels.

S: Actually you read the original books, too, right?

C: Yes. I did. But I like the graphic novels a lot more. I like looking at the pictures, and they arw so much more full of action!

S: I can see that. And yes, the graphic novel format brings the people alive somehow. Right?

C: Yes.

S: Okay, let’s assume we all read the first three books and know Percy is a demigod, that is, a son of the Greek god Poseidon, and he is on a quest to save the world from Kronos, one of the titans, who is trying to take over and overthrow the Olympian gods. Can you tell us what is happening in this book?

C: Percy and his friend Annabeth find the labyrinth. You know the labyrinth, right?

S: What should I know about it?

C: It is Daedalus‘s lab more or less, but it is a living thing, it keeps changing, and popping up new branches, and moving around underground. And Daedalus is a son of Athena, and he is a genius, and his labyrinth is a work of genius.

S: Okay, so why do Percy and Annabeth want to find it?

C: They don’t. They just accidentally fall into it. And then they realize how important it is. And there is a battle. Of the labyrinth. As you could imagine, given the title of th book.

Caramel is reading The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel is reading The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.

S: So on one side of this battle are Percy and his friends, I can imagine.

C: And the gods, of course.

S: Okay, and on the other side?

C: The titans, and of course, Kronos who is leading them.

S: Hmm, and since this is the fourth book in a series of five, I am assuming that there is still a lot left for our heroes to do by the end?

C: Yup, but this one does end with some sort of a conclusion to a part of the story. So you leave the book satisfied but wanting also to read the next one. Of course.

S: Of course. I found it really interesting that the labyrinth shows up in many of the other books. It shows up in the Trials of Apollo series, for example.

C: Oh, but you are not supposed to give things away!

S: Oops! Okay, you are right. Then maybe I should stop talking. Why don’t you tell us your three words for the book?

C: Exciting, thrilling, and suspenseful.

S: Hmm, those are all pretty cool words Caramel! And I agree, they fit this book well. Okay, let us wrap up our review then. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey, and he is looking forward to the fifth and last book in the series.
Caramel loved reading The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey, and he is looking forward to the fifth and last book in the series.

Caramel reviews The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

The book bunnies have all read several books by Rick Riordan, and Marshmallow has reviewed many of them. This week Caramel wanted to review a graphic novel version of the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: The Lightning Thief, adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey. As usual, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

(Marshmallow has already reviewed the original; see here for her review.)

Caramel reviews The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel reviews The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, what do you want to tell us about this book?

Caramel: It’s a graphic novel version of The Lightning Thief, which Marshmallow already reviewed.

S: So does one have to have read the actual book to follow this graphic novel?

C: Well, this book does not seem to have everything that is in the other version of the book.

S: That makes total sense. This is a much slimmer book, and graphic novels have much fewer words. So I would expect that it would skip some things.

C: Yes but I think they skipped some important things!

S: Yes, that is bound to happen, too. But if you were to read only this book, and not the full book, would you get a good story?

C: Yes!

S: So tell me that story. What happens in this book? Tell me as if I have not read the full book.

C: Okay. There is a prophecy. It’s about a god and something stolen.

S: So is the thing that is stolen the lightning mentioned in the title?

C: Yes. Kind of. It is Zeus’s lightning bolt staff. It’s called the Master Bolt. And someone stole it. And Percy Jackson is the prime suspect.

S: So we meet Percy Jackson in this book, right? If we did not read any of the other Percy Jackson books, what should we know about him when we start this one?

C: You don’t need to know anything. The book tells you who he is.

Caramel is reading The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel is reading The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.

S: So who is Percy Jackson?

C: He is a modern-day halfblood. A halfblood is a demigod. That means his dad is a god and his mom is a mortal. He learns about this in the book too. He thought he was just a regular kid before.

S: So I understand that if you liked the Percy Jackson books, you might also like to check out the graphic novel version. But let us assume you have not seen the movie or read any of the other Percy Jackson books. Would this still be an interesting story?

C: Yes. I think so.

S: To fit all the things in the original books into such a slim book would be hard, so they probably have cut out a lot, but is it still pretty action filled and exciting?

C: Yes. A lot happens. Percy fights a lot of monsters and gets into a lot of trouble. A lot of big big trouble.

S: That sounds like it would be fun to read!

C: Yep!

S: The Percy Jackson books all are connected to Greek mythology. This one also makes the same types of connections, right?

C: Yes.

S: So what three words would you use to describe the book?

C: Action, colorful, and mythological.

S: Hmm, I like those words. So let us wrap up this review then.

C: Yep! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel enjoyed reading The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel, written by Rick Riordan, and adapted by Robert Venditti, with Attila Futaki, Jose Villarrubia, Orpheus Collar, and Chris Dickey.