On May 2, 2017, Rick Riordan published The Dark Prophecy, the second book in his series The Trials of Apollo. In this series, Apollo was blamed by Zeus for the second war against Gaea, the Earth Mother.

To punish him, Zeus cast Apollo down to Earth in the form of a gawky, 16-year-old mortal named Lester. To become a god again, Lester must restore several oracles that have gone dark. In the first book, Lester experienced a series of dangerous- and humiliating- trials at Camp Half-Blood. Now he has to restore the most dangerous oracle of the ancient times- a haunted cave that has driven many insane. Riordan includes some characters from previous books, Leo, son of Hephaestus and Calypso, a now-mortal sorceress. Together, they encountered many dangers in their journey, encountering an emperor famous for his love of bloodshed and spectacle: Emperor Constantine.

This book builds on what Book 1 has already discussed: The Triumvirate, an evil trio made up of Emperor Nero, the Emperor Constantine, and a mysterious third emperor. They should be dead but somehow lived for centuries, the same way gods have survived for so long: because people believe in their existence. The Dark Prophecy tells about Emperor Constantine’s plan to take over Indianapolis and make sure that Apollo never gets to the oracle.

When I first bought this book, I was extremely excited because I had read the first book and was hoping for more. In my opinion, The Dark Prophecy wasn’t as interesting as the first book. Although Riordan included familiar characters (which was a very good idea), it wasn’t as humorous as his other books. In fact, this book included some very controversial topics, like same-sex marriage. I also love how Riordan includes a haiku in every chapter hinting about what the chapter is going to be about, adding on Apollo’s love for haikus.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy with lots of humor!