As per usual, there will be spoilers beyond this
point, so turn back now if you don't want any of that.
Now, let's clarify something before we go forwards.
A lot of people were worried that this book would be the Greek version of
Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds.
I can assure you that this is not the case. Frankly, I wish it had been the Norse version of this book
The in-universe story is that Camp Half-Blood
Confidential was made because the campers were sick of the old orientation film
Apollo made back in the 1950s. It's just as corny and cheesy as it
sounds, and throughout the book we see little scenes from it, along with
Percy's commentary. Camp Half-Blood Confidential is dived into a series
of vignettes where various characters tell us about the history of Camp
Half-Blood. We also get descriptions of the various sights at Camp
Half-Blood courtesy of Pete the Palikos.
We start off strong with Chiron telling us about when
the camp was first founded back in Ancient Greece. He'd never fit in much
with the other centaurs, being far more civilized any them. When he started
training heroes, however, he finally felt like he had his own tribe, and a
place where he truly belonged. We also learn that the magical boundaries,
and the camp moving with the Heart of the West, were things the gods granted
after Chiron asked them for help with the constant monster attacks of the early
camp. Also, apparently the campers used to all sleep in the Big House,
but they kept getting into fights, so the cabins were made.
This vignette provides great insight into Chiron's
mind. In many ways, he is a surrogate father to many of the campers, and
apparently the feeling is mutual. The campers are his family, the
children he could never have, and he loves them all very much. They're
also literally his family, because Chiron was a son of Kronos just like the
elder Olympians. That means he's Percy's uncle and Annabeth's
great-uncle. It must make it hard when campers die. Chiron must
know, deep down, that every generation he trains is yet more campers to be
sacrificed on the altar of war. Kind of makes you want to give him a
hug.
We also learn that the first six heroes he ever taught
were Perseus, Jason, Achilles, Atalanta, Asclepius and Aeneas. Yeah,
Achilles and Aeneas probably shouldn't have been there, since the Trojan War
happened towards the later end of Greek Mythology, well after most of the other
heroes had lived and died. On the other hand, mythology is hardly ever
consistent. Or maybe Chiron is misremembering how things went? And
yes, Aeneas was a Roman demigod, but the Trojan War hadn't happened yet, so the
Greek-Roman rivalry hadn't happened yet either. I like to think that the
chitons those first campers wore were orange, just like modern day Camp
Half-Blood t-shirts.
We also get a brief list of famous demigods who have
attended Camp Half-Blood over the years. From this, we learn that Arthurian
Legend is true in the Riordanverse, because apparently King Arthur, Merlin and
Queen Guinevere were all demigods who went to Camp Half-Blood.
Interestingly, Merlin is often said to have been the son of an incubus
and a mortal woman. A misremembering of his true origins, perhaps?
In other famous Camp Half-Blood alumni, there's Joan of Arc and Frank
Lloyd Wright. Well, Joan of Arc is said to have had visions from God,
most frequently attributed as the Christian god, but I guess you never know.
Kind of makes me wonder how many other saints were actually demigods in
the Riordanverse. It has interesting implications, to say the least.
Frank Lloyd Wright, being a famous architect, is all but confirmed to
have been a son of Athena.
In our next vignette we learn that Annabeth lost her
damn mind and jumped on the tiny house craze. I legitimately do not
understand people who would willingly live in an undersized house for any
appreciable amount of time. The ones with kids are even crazier.
Anyway, apparently finding space for all the new cabins is getting to be
a bit of a problem. So, in an uncharacteristic act of stupidity, Annabeth
makes tiny cabins. No, no, no! I refuse to believe that Annabeth
wouldn't realize that the children of the minor gods would find that insulting.
Then, the problem is solved by putting four of them together to make a
cabin, which kind of defeats the purpose.
The new cabins can have everything about them changed
with a simple touch. I get the feeling that Riordan did this because he
was running out of ideas for cabins. Though we do know, per word of Rick,
that Tyche Cabin looks like a miniature Las Vegas casino. It feels as
though Rick can't think of any challenges for Annabeth, so he makes her acted
stupid to compensate. He seems to be forgetting that he was able to give
her plenty of challenges in the Roman catacombs in The Mark of Athena. Well, that was a bust, on to the next vignette.
We are treated to another history lesson on courtesy
of Miranda Gardiner. This time, we learn why the camp grows strawberries.
You know, I've always wondered why the camp even needed to raise money.
Shouldn't the gods provide everything the camp needs? Then again,
it wouldn't be out-of-character for the gods to be neglectful. Anyway, we
the camp first came to America...actually, let's talk about that first.
As you will recall, I've noted multiple discrepancies with when the gods
moved to America. Later in the book there is an interview with Percy,
Annabeth and Nico. Annabeth herself notes this, and says she'll have to
ask Chiron about it later. I guess Riordan was admitting that he'd been
inconsistent and screwed up the dates.
Back to Miranda's story, everyone had different ideas
about how to raise money. The Ares kids wanted to open the butcher’s
shop, the Athena kids wanted to grow olives, and the Poseidon kids wanted to
open a seafood restaurant. We also learn that modern times weren't the
only time Zeus tried to avoid having kids, as it was mentioned that this is why
no Zeus kids were at the meeting. Ultimately, it was the Demeter kids who
had the idea to grow strawberries, and the rest is history. Miranda
couldn't get anyone to listen to her story, but I liked it, if nothing else.
We get a fun vignette where Valentina Diaz discovers a
box of clothing from Ancient Greece. Contrary to popular belief, most
clothing in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome was not white. Most of it was
very vibrant and colorful, as this vignette demonstrates. We then get a
vignette with Malcolm Pace, where we learn that his last name is Pace.
Hmm, Athena sure seems to like men whose last names end in -ace.
Anyway, Malcolm has been told by Athena, via a dream, that the campers
should revive the Panathena, a series of games and festivals held in honor of
Athena. You can think of them like the Olympics or the Hera Games, but
for Athena. Also, the Hera Games were the female version of the Olympics
that were held in Hera's honor. The Olympics were held in Zeus' honor,
and only men could participate in them. Really great to see more Ancient
Greek history and culture being brought to the series.
Then we get a vignette about Nyssa Barrera and her
friends talking about the wreckage of a racecar in Bunker 9. It belonged
to James Dean, who was a son of Aphrodite in the Riordanverse. He fell in
love with a Hephaestus girl who loved working on cars, but then he dumped her
when he hooked up with an Ares girl. In other words, it was the
Aphrodite-Hephaestus-Ares love triangle with the genders reversed. The
Hephaestus girl was so mad and heartbroken that she cursed James' racecar, and
thus that was the real reason James Dean died from a car accident in the
Riordanverse. Nyssa doesn't know why the wreckage is still there.
Maybe Hephaestus kept it as a trophy because he was proud of what his
daughter did?
This one in particular had a strong impact on me.
Hephaestus has always been one of my favorite Olympians, because I find
him to be one of the most relatable and sympathetic of the bunch. Here,
however, we see a darker side of Hephaestus. Maybe he's not so different
from the other Olympians after all.
We also finally discover how Connor and Travis got the
note Percy and Annabeth sent from Tartarus out the offering fire.
Apparently, Hermes gave them a special pair of celestial bronze barbecue
tongs, that could only be used once, not long before it happened. Hermes
has always been one of the friendlier gods towards Percy and the gang.
It's nice to see that, in his own small ways, he's got their backs.
We get an interview, courtesy of Thalia and Nico, with
Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Chase. From this interview, the finally learn why
climbing wall has lava on it. Apparently, it was the result of a Parents
Day that went horribly wrong, but everyone decided to keep it. Said
Parents Day took place in 1901, and was so bad, because three monsters tried to
sneak into camp, that Parents Day was permanently canceled. Mrs. Jackson
and Mr. Chase have never actually seen the camp, but they don't mind.
They're happy to know that Percy and Annabeth have a place to be safe.
It was also a bit funny when Mrs. Jackson, cheerily but somewhat
passive-aggressively, reminds Percy to write to her. As I've said before,
what Mrs. Jackson lacks in physical strength, she makes up for in emotional
strength and willpower. It further adds to my theory that she was like
Annabeth when she was younger. Silk hiding steel indeed. It was
also nice to get to see more of what it's like for the parents of
demigods.
We also get that interview with Percy, Annabeth and
Nico that I mentioned earlier. From this, we see that Percy and Nico are getting along quite well, and that Nico seems reasonably happy. There a
couple other vignettes, one staring Ellis Wakefield and one staring Rachel and
Apollo, but I'll leave those as a little something for you guys to discover if
you read this book, and I certainly hope that you do. I loved how this
book gave the minor characters love and attention, in sharp contrast to how The
Heroes of Olympus gave them the shaft. I'm also very pleased that Jason,
Piper and Leo didn't show up, and thus the minor characters didn't get
overshadowed by The Seven again.
The end of the book also contains a sneak peek at The
Dark Prophecy, but we'll get to that retrospective soon enough. Jesse
Bernstein once again returns as the narrator of the audiobook version. He
is a welcome presence, and it goes without saying that I enjoyed the audiobook
very much.
Camp Half-Blood Confidential is a great companion
book. It helps to expand the worldbuilding of the Riordanverse, gives
welcome insight into the history of Camp Half-Blood, and gives the minor
characters a chance to shine. Rick should really make a version of this
for the Camp Jupiter characters.
Well, I think that should do it for now. We'll
be returning to the regular alteration of one Trials of Apollo book followed by
one Magnus Chase book. As such, join me again next time when we take a
look back at The Hammer of Thor. I will see you all then.
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