We Need To Talk About Rick Riordan’s ‘The Burning Maze’

Written by Victoria Garza Aleman

Whether you’re a newcomer, a loyal fan who’s been here since the beginning, or someone who barely recognises the name Percy Jackson; we all need to talk about author choices, specifically those made by Rick Riordan. Be warned, there will be spoilers ahead for The Burning Maze!

In his latest novel, Rick Riordan has done something that hasn’t been seen since his first Percy Jackson series. In The Burning Maze, the third book in The Trials of Apollo, Jason Grace is killed by Emperor Caligula while in battle. His last words to Apollo are “GO! Remember!” before losing his life. Apollo then goes on, in mourning and shock, and by the end of the book, Riordan closes with Apollo remembering the words of Jason; promising himself to remember his death, his sacrifice, his life. We had previously met Jason Grace in The Heroes of Olympus series, where he is introduced as a character with amnesia who was learning about himself and his past alongside readers, then as the series progressed he became a beloved character.

The controversy among the fandom arises by trying to understand Rick Riordan’s motives for killing such a beloved character. This is perhaps the first time since the death of Luke Castellan (The Last Olympian) that a protagonist has been killed in this saga, with no hopes of return.

Many readers were quick to point out that maybe killing Jason was Riordan’s way of bringing back readers who were close to the original characters and had strayed away; killing a beloved character off would motivate older readers to come back to the beloved saga. There is also a lot of talk about editors, and Rick himself, thinking the series was starting to plateau out and using Jason’s death for shock value.

In my opinion, this is what makes these books so real—in a mythological setting, of course. The ability to confront that death is a real eventuality of life, even when it is a tragedy. We were warned by Percy in the very first page of The Lightning Thief, over thirteen books ago, being a demigod is hard. Sometimes this does mean death, and it was important for our new protagonist, Apollo, to realise that. Before he was turned into a mortal, he was as careless as Olympians come: sending demigods on quests, getting favours from them, not really confronting their mortality. This time he was forced to face the reality that their children are put through.

A demigod who owed him nothing risked his life for him and lost it. Jason Grace died defending someone whom he thought could make a difference, whom would remember what it was like to be mortal and have to live in a world full of hardships and sacrifices, someone who would remember. An immortal which he held in high esteem and trusted that he would continue an important legacy. That’s the most important part of this new controversy. Although many place this death as a shock value death, and that’s just not the truth. If you really look closely, fans will realise that this death is anything but unimportant. Jason Grace’s death is a turning point in the Trials of Apollo series. The turning point where an immortal, that’s eons old and perhaps has lost his real sense of humanity, looks around and realises how much is really at stake. How much these demigods really sacrifice, and how willing they are to accept their own death; if it means a greater good.

If we were to look back to the end of the previous series, The Heroes of Olympus, we might even begin to understand the other Olympians in a better light. The real reason Zeus is punishing Apollo, to make him realise his actions were careless and punish him into realising just what the gods rule over. The gods being cautious about their interactions moving forward, trying to keep a connection to their children; but unsure how to do so without putting them at risk. This is all a lot for these children to take since not many demigods are known to make it into adulthood. As fans, we can only keep guessing what is going to happen next in Rick Riordan’s world.

All in all, Rick Riordan has always been praised as an original and extraordinary writer for touching upon topics that many children’s authors veer away from. This time it so just happens that we lost a beloved character to death and there is no coming back from it. If anything, it takes us back to a time of Bianca di Angelo and heartbreak. It’s more than fair to critique an author and their choices, but don’t assume they’re killing off a character just to get you to stick around, or shock value. Whatever reasoning Riordan may have, don’t undermine him or his characters. We’re only halfway through the series, and much more remains to be solved.

The next book in the series, The Tyrant’s Tomb, has been delayed and will be released in the Fall of 2019.

Have you read The Burning Maze? Tell us your thoughts on the book in the comments below!

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Synopsis | Goodreads

The formerly glorious god Apollo, cast down to earth in punishment by Zeus, is now an awkward mortal teenager named Lester Papadopoulos. In order to regain his place on Mount Olympus, Lester must restore five Oracles that have gone dark. But he has to achieve this impossible task without having any godly powers and while being duty-bound to a confounding young daughter of Demeter named Meg. Thanks a lot, Dad.

With the help of some demigod friends, Lester managed to survive his first two trials, one at Camp Half-Blood, and one in Indianapolis, where Meg received the Dark Prophecy. The words she uttered while seated on the Throne of Memory revealed that an evil triumvirate of Roman emperors plans to attack Camp Jupiter. While Leo flies ahead on Festus to warn the Roman camp, Lester and Meg must go through the Labyrinth to find the third emperor—and an Oracle who speaks in word puzzles—somewhere in the American Southwest. There is one glimmer of hope in the gloom-filled prophecy: The cloven guide alone the way does know. They will have a satyr companion, and Meg knows just who to call upon. . . .

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