The battle of the labyrinth

Gr 5-9-The fourth book (Hyperion, 2008) in the series by Rick Riordan starts with a bang and rarely lets up until the end. Percy, son of Poseidon, must help his friends Grover and Annabeth complete quests that may influence whether the forces of evil triumph and Olympus is brought down. When they meet at Camp Half-Blood, they learn that a former classmate has turned evil. The Labyrinth has suddenly revealed an entrance near Camp Half-Blood, indicating that the camp is vulnerable to an attack by the evil Lord Kronos. Percy and his cohorts must try to find support for their compatriots by taking a dangerous trip through the ever-changing Labyrinth, a sprawling underground world. Jesse Bernstein does a good job voicing Percy and his Cyclops half-brother and successfully conveys Annabeth's emotions. He attempts a number of different accents for the gods, demigods, and mortals in the story with varying levels of success. Bernstein sets a good pace that reflects the non-stop action and peril in the story. Fans of the series will enjoy this installment and eagerly await the next volume.-B. Allison Gray, Palmdale City Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.