Riordan Retrospective: Camp Jupiter Classified

Welcome back to my Riordan Retrospective. For those of you just joining the fun, this is my look back at the works of Rick Riordan. That means Percy Jackson, its sequels, and spin-offs. This is less of a formal review and more of a relaxed look back. Last time, we took a look back at The Tyrant's Tomb. This time, we're taking a look back at Camp Jupiter Classified: A Probatio's Journal. As usual, we're going to start things off with a brief summary.

Camp Jupiter Classified is told in the form of a journal written by a camper named Claudia. She's a legacy of Mercury; specifically, he's her great-grandfather, and her dad was a former centurion in the Twelfth Legion. She has survived her training with Lupa and is ready to explore the wonders of Camp Jupiter and New Rome. At first, things go great, and she even makes some friends. Then a series of mishaps and strange occurrences begin to happen, and Claudia is suspect number one. Claudia must clear her name while unraveling a mystery that may hold the fate of Camp Jupiter and New Rome in the balance.

As soon as Camp Half-Blood Confidential came out I immediately thought "You know, I sure hope Rick makes a Camp Jupiter version of this." As you can see, Rick did indeed follow through on that. In fact, not only this as good as Camp Half-Blood Confidential and Brooklyn House Magician's Manual, I'd argue it exceeds them both in terms of quality. It is actually an interesting progression. Camp Half-Blood Confidential had a series of vignettes, Brooklyn House Magician's Manual had vignettes and also a continuous frame narrative, while Camp Jupiter Classified forgoes the vignettes in favor of a single continuous narrative told in the style of a journal. We also don't get interrupted by ads for various attractions, like Camp Half-Blood Confidential, or mythology quizzes like Brooklyn House Magician's Manual. Also, the text is accompanied by black and white pencil illustrations. I thought that it was a nice touch.

I really liked Claudia as a protagonist. She isn't a character we've previously encountered; this is her debut as a character. I loved that she's a legacy rather than a...well, we'll get into that soon enough. Back on-topic, I've been saying for a while that we need more characters that are legacies, preferably without being evil like Octavian and Bryce Lawrence. Thankfully, Claudia fulfills that much needed role. As a legacy of Mercury, she prefers to rely on her cunning and wits rather than brute force to solve her problems. For example, she likes to dig trenches or climb up a tree and drop things on her opponents. She was worried that it wouldn't be considered a proper Roman tactic, but thankfully, it's considered a perfectly valid form of combat.

I've also been saying that need more children of the minor gods, and we got that too. Claudia makes a friend named Janice, who is a daughter of Janus. Before you ask, unlike her father, she only has one face. This really adds fuel to my speculation that the gods have a thing for puns, especially when it comes to names. Janice was also born and raised in New Rome. In fact, I think it would be nice to have more demigods and legacies who are native to New Rome. Hmm, I wonder if those born and raised in New Rome have to train with Lupa before joining the legion? The Roman gods are usually more hands-off compared to their Greek counterparts. However, occasionally they will disguise themselves as humans and settle down in New Rome for a bit to raise families. Keep this in mind, it will be important later on.

Rounding out the trio we have Blaise, a son of Vulcan. I'm not a super hardcore Star Trek fan, more of the very casual sort, but Blaise being a son of Vulcan got a chuckle out of me, though he is not stoic. We get some extremely vague hints that Claudia might like him, but for now at least, they're just friends. I thought it was a nice touch to have a girl and a boy be friends without being romantically involved. Like most children of Vulcan, he's quite handy with a forge and inventions.

I liked that we got to explore more of Camp Jupiter and New Rome through Claudia's eyes. I've said before that I feel that the Roman demigods get the short end of the stick when it comes to the main books. As such, it was nice to have a book entirely devoted to the Roman side of the Riordanverse. We see that there is a shop that sells action figures of the Roman gods and goddesses, with accessories sold separately. Amusingly, this does have some historical basis. Several souvenirs and trinkets were sold at gladiator games and chariot races, including figurines of the different types of gladiators. You could also buy commemorative glasses made of actual glass. Here's hoping the toy shop didn't have any Pluto action figures in stock when Nico visited New Rome. Probably would have evoked bad memories about how Bianca died.

Speaking of gladiator games, they are still a popular form of entertainment in New Rome. They haven't changed that much since the days of Old Rome. Well, fights aren't too the death anymore, but they're still violent and bloody; in fact, Claudia gets to sit in a section call The Splash Zone specifically because that's the part that gets the most blood spatter all over it. Okay, that's just plain unsanitary. There are plenty of pathogens that are spread via blood. Granted, New Rome does have plenty of magical healing options that are probably superior to mortal medicine, but it still seems like an awfully cavalier attitude to public health and sanitation. On a minor note, you have to bring your own seat cushions. I know that New Rome is try to preserve as much of the legacy of Old Rome as possible, but really, is it all that bad give some cushions for the coliseum?

We also learn that the bathhouse has a secret entrance, though it involves swimming through a pipe and some netting. Personally, that sounds way too scary for my taste. Still, apparently some legionaries like to use it for romantic rendezvous after curfew. Normally, the life guards don't like people getting too frisky in the bathhouse. Wait, does that mean bathing is communal? I mean, it was during Roman times, but even then, the bathhouses were separated by gender. I would assume that the bathhouse would also be separated by gender, given how Reyna reacted when Frank accidentally sent an Iris Message to her while she was using the bathhouse.

It was nice to see more of the mundane aspects of life at Camp Jupiter. For example, at one point Claudia is assigned to clean the stables are part of her Elephants, Unicorns, and Giant Eagles class. Turns out you have to be quick when bagging the poop, or else you'll still be holding onto the bag when the eagles swoop it away. Also, on multiple occasions it is mentioned that Claudia chooses to wear sandals, only for that to prove to be a bad idea. I'm just saying, the definition of insanity doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. Also, at one point the mess hall gets donuts, but Claudia has to go chat with Elon the faun. By the time she gets back the only donuts left are coconut, and for some reason she finds this terrible. Really, Claudia? How can you not like coconut donuts?

Anyway, so Claudia does some digging around based on mysterious dreams and messages she's been getting. This leads her to a startling discovery: the ancile is missing! Okay, some explanation is in order. The ancile was a cello-shaped shield that was kept the temple of Mars Ultor. As long as the ancile survived, then so too would Rome. These days, the ancile is supposed to be kept at the temple of Mars Ultor in New Rome. If the ancile were to be destroyed, it would be New Rome's equivalent of the hearth fire of Camp Half-Blood getting destroyed. In fact, it might actually be worse, as the ancile would take the last remnant of Old Rome with it. That would mean all the mythical beings associated with Rome would potentially go poof; no more fauns, no more cynocephali, even Bombilo the two-head barista would be toast. The Olympians would probably be powerful enough to survive, and they've got their Greek counterparts to fall back on, but the minor gods would be in serious danger of fading away. The Romans had tons of minor gods for oddly specific things. Apparently, many of these minor gods and goddesses are basically on life support because hardly anyone remembers them anymore.

I should have mentioned this before, but as usually with these retrospectives there will be spoilers, so be careful about moving beyond this point if you don't want any of that. But if you want to see my thoughts on "The Singer of Apollo" skip down a few paragraphs.

I liked the way Claudia investigated the strange dreams she'd been having. She tried talking to Terminus, but he blew her off. So, she takes one step back from the Pomerian Line, then step forward again, because Terminus always appears whenever someone sets foot on the Pomerian Line. He blows her off again, but she repeats this process until he finally caves and answers her questions.

So, who would want to destroy the ancile, and with it, Camp Jupiter and New Rome? Well, Claudia's dad used to be in the legion, and he helped a young girl named Mimi find her way to Camp Jupiter. She was a daughter of Mefitis, the goddess of noxious vapors that emanate from the earth. Did I mention that the Romans had some weirdly specific minor deities? Unfortunately, this meant she had quite the odor, and even Terminus tried to turn her away. The other campers couldn't stand her stink, and eventually she was kicked out of Camp Jupiter. These days, she lives in a trailer at the San Francisco landfill, and is still harbors great resentment towards Camp Jupiter.

Okay, plotting to destroy New Rome is going way to far, but Mimi is kind of right that Camp Jupiter screwed her over. Surely, they could have found something for her to do. Maybe have her work in sanitation and disposal, or sewer maintenance, or help clean the stables? She didn't choose to be born with super stink powers that she can't control. Yet none of the characters ever dwell on this or acknowledge it. I guess she lost their sympathy with the whole plotting to destroy Camp Jupiter and New Rome thing. Also, remember when Apollo wished he knew some children of Cloacina, the goddess of sewers? Well, turns out she does have kids at Camp Jupiter, but unlike children of Mefitis, they do not smell stinky.

Also, I noticed that Reyna came across as a bit harsher and sterner than usual. Though, I guess you could justify it in that the book is told form Claudia's perspective, so that skews things. Though, Frank's characterization seemed fairly correct. Having said that, it was pretty weird that Hazel was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was because Claudia only ever sees Frank doing praetor stuff with Reyna. Still, you'd think Claudia would have encountered Hazel at some point, even if only briefly.

So, the day is saved, and Claudia even get to meet her long-lost mother. Turns out she's Cardea, goddess of hinges and thresholds. That means that, in addition to being a legacy, Claudia is also a child of one of the minor gods. That just makes her even more awesome than she already was. We also get confirmation of something I've long suspected. When Cardea gives Claudia her tattoo, she gets a hinge for Cardea and a caduceus for Mercury. I wonder if there is a cut-off point of being a legacy. If not, then presumably there's at least a few campers with tattoos like Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist. Also, apparently getting your Camp Jupiter tattoo does indeed hurt. But hey, we end with the feeling that this is just the start of many more adventures for Claudia and her friends.

We'll discuss this more when we get to The Tower of Nero next time, but Rick has said The Trails of Apollo will be the last multibook series. However, he is open to doing standalone novels in the future. He says he wants these standalones to be something people could read without needing to read the other fifteen books of the Camp Half-Blood series. You can see Camp Jupiter Classified as something of a trail run for these hypothetical standalone books. It should give you a rough idea of what they would be like. I think it would be great to have them focus on new original demigods and/or legacies. Though it might be nice to have some that explore pre-existing minor characters in more detail. Hey, I can't be the only one holding out hope for a Charles Beckendorf and/or Silena Beauregard prequel novel, can I?

Yes, there is indeed an audiobook version of Camp Jupiter Classified. You should know by now that I will plug those. It is narrated by Erin Cahill, who does a great job. Let's also do a brief cover analysis. The cover is simple yet understated. A purple background with the gold Camp Jupiter logo on it, and a Roman column on the side. Though, personally, the column looks a bit more Greek to me.

So, that was Camp Jupiter Classified. Another short but sweet companion book that I absolutely loved. Hmm, you know, it just occurred to me that I haven't done a retrospective of the short story "Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo." Well, we're already here, so let's take care of that right here and now.

"Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo" begins with Percy and Grover hanging out together in celebration of Grover's birthday. It all starts off well enough, but then the god Apollo ropes them into a quest. One of the chryseae celedones, a group of mechanical singers, is missing. Percy and Grover have to capture the celedon and bring it to Mount Olympus before sundown. One thing is for sure, this is one birthday Grover and Percy will never forget.

This short story was originally published in 2013 as part of the collection Guys Read: Other Worlds, edited by John Scieszka. Guys Read is a series of short story anthologies aimed at boys, particularly reluctant readers, and designed to encourage a lifelong love of reading. Obviously, I bought Other Worlds specially so that I could get "The Singer of Apollo." However, I can attest that, barring one or two exceptions, the other stories are also quite excellent. In fact, I think I may have to do a separate review of them some time.

I had a great time with "The Singer of Apollo." It was like taking a walk down memory lane to the early days when Percy Jackson and the Olympians was just starting out and trying to make a name for itself. In hindsight, it is very nice that this story focuses on an adventure with just Percy and Grover. G-Man was sorely missed in The Heroes of Olympus. This is another story that shows that Percy is having adventures even when he isn't on a major quest, or at Camp Half-Blood.

Another hindsight aspect is that this story demonstrates how much Apollo has grown as a character throughout The Trials of Apollo. Here, he sends Percy and Grover to do his dirt work without a second thought, or a care for their safety or prior birthday plans. He can't even be bothered to remember which of them is having the birthday. It also interesting to contrast how he is presented. Here, Apollo comes across as a Mr. Cool Dude celebrity type, but also reads as straight. We only get the slightest hints of the flamboyant and fabulous bisexual personality he has in The Trials of Apollo.

Riordan has said that "Singer of Apollo" is set between The Last Olympian and The Lost Hero. Despite this, Percy doesn't mention his Curse of Achilles, and he is concerned about falling off of a billboard at one point, even though that shouldn't have been an issue. I will say I did love how Percy was able to get out of said situation with the billboard by thinking about what Annabeth would say to him. Also, Naked Cowboy made a surprise cameo at one point. He isn't referred to by name, but it is clearly meant to be him. He's a musician who plays guitar in Times Square wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, boots, and two pairs of underwear. If you're wondering, under New York City law, one pair of underwear is considered nudity, but two pairs are considered clothing.

Jesse Bernstein once again returns as narrator for the audio version, and he does an excellent job as usual. Yes, there is an audiobook of the anthology. It features a different narrator for each story, and they are all very talented.

All in all, another excellent short story.

Okay, so that covers Camp Jupiter Classified and "Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo." Check them both out if you haven't already. This is the penultimate installment of the Riordan Retrospective, and that means next time is the big finale. It is a surreal feeling, but I will touch on that much more next time.

Speaking of which, join me next time for one final retrospective as we take a look back at The Tower of Nero. I will see you guys next time.