Book Review: "The Court of the Dead" is an Action-Packed Adventure That Will Leave Readers Wanting More.

Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro’s The Court of the Dead is superior in intellect, heart, and meaning. The poetry on the page will transport readers into a fantastical literary world built on mythology and the creativity of two talented writers.

In The Court of the Dead, Nico di Angelo and his boyfriend Will Solace are taking it easy at Camp Half-Blood. They have only returned from Tartarus just a few months ago, and the couple seems to be settling into the role of senior counselors at the demigod camp for the children of the Greek gods.

When a message from Nico’s sister Hazel arrives from Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod camp in San Francisco, the pair journey to Camp Jupiter to help Hazel. After arriving at the camp and meeting with his sister and her boyfriend Frank, Nico and Will are shocked to learn the reason for their summoning. The pair are introduced to the minotaur. This ferocious beast that once tried to kill Percy Jackson himself, has sought sanctuary at Camp Jupiter. The minotaur, whose name is Asterion, wants a different life.

It seems that Asterion is not the only monster seeking a new outlook. Others join and soon Nico and Will have to learn how to integrate the mythic creatures, they don’t want to be called monsters anymore, into the daily life of training at the camp. The other demigods struggle to see these mythic creatures as anything more than the enemy.

When the creatures start disappearing, and after Hazel is threatened, it will be up to Nico and Will to organize the Roman demigods and save the day.

Rick Riordan is one of the finest writers today. He has created fun, adventurous, heartfelt meaningful stories that have an entry point for any reader, no matter their age. His continuing series with coauthor Mark Oshiro is yet another brilliant adventure into the literary world. The Court of the Dead is a sequel to their first book, The Sun and the Star, and the two authors have surpassed their own abilities by crafting this brilliantly engrossing and engaging adventure story.

Fans of the Percy Jackson series will know who Nico di Angelo is, but readers need not have read any previous Riordan works to enjoy the story that is brought to life in The Court of the Dead. When I finished their first book The Sun and the Star, I felt complete with the story of Nico and Will. It was a death-defying story into the Underworld that showed how the bonds of love and compassion can allow you to overcome any obstacle.

The Court of the Dead takes everything that Riordan and Oshiro created in their first book and then adds layers and depth to the characters and the world that is greatly needed, but also very appreciated by this long-time reader.

The Nico and Will of The Court of the Dead are older, wiser, maturer, and show the height of what they have achieved in their own personal relationship and their place in the world. This is a story about a couple that trusts each other, relies on each other when needed, but also believes in one another. Filled with a maturity that older teenagers tend to build after being in a relationship for some time, which some adults can easily recollect about in their present life, Nico and Will are the epitome of two people who are comfortable and not insecure about themselves.

Certainly, there are moments in the book where doubt creeps into Nico’s thinking, after all he is the son of Hades (Lord of the Underworld) but this Nico that we see on the pages of the latest book from Riordan and Oshiro is not a young kid. He’s older, smarter, and has learned from his past.

One of the many reasons why I continue to get excited about these books from Rick Riordan is that he has grown his characters with the times. Percy Jackson is not still the troubled kid in high school. He’s in college, hoping to grow into a successful adult. Nico di Angelo is not the loner kid who plays with his mythomagic figures from when we first met him in The Titan’s Curse.

The blending of Riordan and Oshiro’s voice to create this unique world must have been challenging at times, but the skill of each writer works magic on the page. Each word and chapter is so beautifully crafted that it seems like Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan wrote as one person.

Setting aside the talent of the authors, and the fact that these series of books will have fans spanning into the next century, what makes The Court of the Dead stand out for me is the growth we not only see in characters like Nico and Will, but the concept of the story. Fans will have their perceptions challenged. We hated the minotaur. Audiences loved watching Walker Scobell defeat the monster in the first season of the Percy Jackson series on Disney+. Now readers will love that fury beast. Why?

This is because of how Riordan and Oshiro approached the overall narrative to the story. Yes, this is an action-packed story about Nico and Will fighting against villains and saving the day. There are plenty of villains in the story, but what leaves readers thinking as they close the book to place it on their shelves is the notion of identity. Are we allowed to change who we are.

The demigods are doubtful about the motives of the mythic creatures, but as Asterion and the others explain, they have come to change who they are simply because they are tired of always being perceived as one thing. To Asterion, he was called upon by the gods to fight, kill, die, regenerate, and continue his journey of being the most awful monster of all. That was all that people saw him for. Asterion just wants to knit.

From gaining a better perspective on Asterion, we also get a more detailed and personal side to Dionysus. The reluctant director of Camp Half-Blood has always been a thorn in the side of Percy Jackson. Here we meet another side that humanizes the wine god. It is refreshing and an essential level of character development that is only possible with a book like The Court of the Dead.

Beyond the characters, the theme of the book has readers questioning how we have perceived the characters we know. The Court of the Dead also plays up the theme of how great actions, like Will and Nico’s journey to Tartarus, can have a lasting positive impact on others. The Court of the Dead might be a sequel, but the ideas and concepts explored in this text have a more positive impact on readers than the latest expose of a celebrity, or the current trend on social media.

The mightiness of this tale is what will help readers be compelled to read, think, and reflect after the story is told. Power comes in many forms today, but what Riordan and Oshiro’s words convey to the reader is that it is okay to want to change who you are. You don’t have to be what people think you should be, you should be who you want to be.

This parable to today’s current world is not lost on this reader. The idea that we can change is important, but Riordan and Oshiro remind audiences that it takes everyone to recognize these changes and to learn to accept people for who they want to be.

The Court of the Dead is simply excellent. It’s reflective of society, it makes the reader think, and as usual with all Rick Riordan stories, leads to an all or nothing battle of good vs. evil.