(The Trials of Apollo #1) The Hidden Oracle - Rick Riordan

Blurb:

Your fault, Apollo.Your punishment.

My father’s voice still rings in my ears. Can you believe Zeus blamed me for the god’s battle with Gaea? Just because the earth goddess duped one of my progeny—Octavian—into plunging the Greek and Roman demigods into a civil war that nearly destroyed human civilization. I ask you, how was that my fault? 

Now I’m cast out of Olympus in the form of a sixteen-year-old mortal boy, acne and all! Sadly, I’ve been punished this way before. I know I will face many trials and hardships. I can only hope that if I suffer through them and prove myself worthy, Father will forgive me and allow me to become a god again. 

But this time my situation seems much more dangerous. One of my ancient adversaries knows I am here and is having me followed. The Oracle of Delphi remains dark, unable to issue prophecies. Most embarrassing of all, I am bound to serve a demigod street urchin who defends herself by throwing rotten fruit.

Zeus could not possibly expect me to fix the Oracle problem by myself. Not in my present weak condition. It’s time for me to drop in on Camp Half-Blood, where I might found some talented fodder . . . er, I mean heroes to help. No doubt they will welcome me as a celebrity! They will bring me holy offerings, like peeled grapes, Oreos, and—oh, gods—perhaps even bacon! 

Mmm. Yes. If I survive this, I really must write an ode to the power of bacon. . . .

Buku The Hidden Oracle yang merupakan buku pertama dari seri The Trials of Apollo bercerita tentang Dewa Apollo yang, seperti dijelaskan di blurb, dihukum oleh Zeus jadi mortal alias manusia fana yang bernama Lester Papadopoulos.

YAAYY

“Zeus did not answer. He was probably too busy recording my humiliation to share on Snapchat.”

Pas Apollo pertama kali sadar abis dibuang dan jadi manusia, dia langsung dirampok sama anak jalanan (kok kayak judul sinetron). Tapi terus, dia ditolongin sama demigod jalanan yang bernama Meg McCaffrey dan jadilah dia dewa jalanan.

Meg McCaffrey

Abis itu, Apollo sama Meg nemuin Percy [1]. Apollo minta Percy buat bawa dia sama Meg ke Camp Half-Blood. Percy sih, mau-mau aja, tapi dia enggak mau terlibat sama yang aneh-aneh, soalnya dia lagi mau fokus ke urusan sekolah bareng Annabeth [2]. (Btw, Annabeth di sini ceritanya lagi ke Boston karena ada urusan keluarga. HMM. APALAGI KALAU BUKAN MAGNUS CHASE [3]. Saya suka kalau ada yang saling berhubungan atau crossover ya namanya (?) gitu. WKWK.)

MAGNUS CHASEEE

Tapi ternyata, suasana di Camp Half-Blood (CHB) lagi enggak bahagia-bahagia amat. Itu kan bukan pas summer, jadi enggak terlalu banyak penghuninya. Dan jaringan komunikasi itu bener-bener terputus. Mereka enggak bisa berkomunikasi pakai Iris messages, dream visions apalagi phone calls. Jadi CHB itu terputus sama dunia luar gitu, deh.

Udah gitu, ada masalah lain lagi. Ada beberapa campers yang menghilang. Terus mereka mau ngelakuin misi juga enggak bakal bisa, soalnya kalau mau melakukan misi, harus ada prophecy-nya, kan. Nah, ada monster ular gede namanya Phyton itu ngambil alih Oracle of Delphi--yang ngasih-ngasih ramalan.

Parahnya, bukan cuma Oracle of Delphi aja. Ternyata oracle-oracle yang lain juga pada diambil alih. Cuma ada satu oracle yang belum diambil alih--karena oracle ini adalah yang paling tua dan bukan di bawah kekuasaan Apollo. Makanya judul bukunya The Hidden Oracle.

Kelanjutannya? Silakan dibeli sendiri. Ayo, ayo, masih anget nih bukunya HAHAHA.

Oke, jadii, AAAA saya seneng banget bisa dapet yang first edition HAHA yes, enggak telat beli. Dan saya juga enggak nyesel baca!

Pertama, buku ini sangat khas Rick Riordan. Dari tokoh sampe alur, dll. Apollo-nya narsis parah yaampun HAHA.

“Zeus needed someone to blame, so of course he’d picked the handsomest, most talented, most popular god in the pantheon: me.”

Terus di setiap awal bab ada haiku gitu. Apollo kan suka kayak bikin puisi atau sajak-sajak gitu. Lucu-lucu tapi haikunya wahaha.

Uber's got nothing

Lyft is weak. And taxis? Nah

My ride is da mom

--

Check your spam folder

The prophecies might be there

No? Well, I'm stumped. Bye

--

My bus is in flames

My son is older than me

Please, Zeus, make it stop

Dan yaa, banyak deh. Kocak-kocak juga wkkw.

Terus karakter Apollo di sini juga kerasa banget. Dari yang dewa, terus dia terjebak di tubuh bocah enam belas tahun kan pasti rasanya gimana gitu wkkw. Jadi cara dia ngomong sama orang lain, berasa masih dewa banget.

“I am Apollo,” I announced. “You mortals have three choices: offer me tribute, flee, or be destroyed.”

I wanted my words to echo through the alley, shake the towers of New York, and cause the skies to rain smoking ruin. None of that happened. On the word destroyed, my voice squeaked.”

Sebenernya, ini yang bikin agak susah bayangin Apollo di tubuh anak enam belas tahun : " HAHA. Tapi enggak sih, lama-lama kebiasa juga.

Lama-lama, Apollo mau enggak mau ngerasa kayak manusia juga. Karena dia bersosialisasi sama orang-orang, dan dia pakai tubuh manusia jadi ngerasain kayak perasaan-perasaan manusia gitu. Jadi agak menyentuh : " apalagi pas dia nginget-nginget cerita cintanya yang tragis pas masih jadi dewa.

“Nothing is more tragic than loving someone to the depths of your soul and knowing they cannot and will not ever love you back."

Terus yang saya suka lagi, tentu aja SOLANGELOO [4] GUYS GUYS ADA SOLANGELO DI SINII : "" I LOVE U UNCLE RICK

Nico smiled thinly. "I have a note from my doctor."

Will raised his hand. "I'm his doctor.” 

Terus, hmm, ada seseorang yang bakal dateng di akhir buku. AYO TEBAK SIAPAAA HAHA. Ada di buku-buku Rick Riordan yang lain. AAA PACARQU (?). Tapi saya bakal diem, karena enggak mau spoiler HEHEHE.

Dan saya suka ini di bagian akhir-akhir:

“Things can turn out differently Apollo. That's the nice thing about being human. We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it's going to be.”

Daan ini juga:

"Perhaps tomorrow i would weep and think about good-byes. Perhaps the day after that we would be flying toward our deaths. But tonight, I intended to enjoy my time with my family. What had Calypso said? Live fully and without fear. If she could do it, then so could the brilliant, fabulous Apollo."

((narsis is a must ya, Apollo wkwk))

Dan btw, di RickRiordan.com udah ada judul buat lanjutannya Hidden Oracle AAAH. Judulnya The Dark Prophecy. Keluarnya Mei tahun depan AAA.

Oke, terakhir, saya kasih 4 dari 5 bintang buat Apollo a.k.a Lester Papadopoulos!

--

[1] Percy: Tokoh dari serial Percy Jackson karya Rick Riordan

[2] Annabeth: Tokoh dari serial Percy Jackson karya Rick Riordan. Tapi, dia juga muncul di serial Magnus Chase sebagai sepupu Magnus.

Serial Percy Jackson

[3] Magnus Chase: Tokoh dari serial Magnus Chase karya Rick Riordan.

Buku pertama dari serial Magnus Chase

[4] Solangelo: Gabungan nama Will Solace dan Nico Di Angelo. Nico udah ada dari serial Percy Jackson, tapi seingetku, Will baru muncul di serial Heroes of Olympus.

Serial Heroes of Olympus