The Olympians #5: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

My name is Percy Jackson, and my sixteenth birthday is only a few days away. Why does that matter? Because I'm dealing with a prophecy saying I'll die on that day, and a decision I make will destroy Olympus. No worries, right? A titan is slowly moving across the continent, but the Mist makes humans believe a storm is leaving behind the devastation. Kronos has his sights set on the entrance to Olympus found at the top of the Empire State Building, and he may be unstoppable once the other titan reaches New York. Kronos has taken over Luke's body, so I bathed in the River Styx to become mostly immortal like Luke. But will it make any difference? The gods are off fighting the titan, while I'm left in New York leading the demigods from Camp Half-blood against Kronos and his army of creatures. His forces are larger and more powerful, and the prophecy seems to be on his side. 

This book concludes the series, although there are several spin-off series if you're interested. Just type Riordan's name in the search box at the top of my blog's homepage. The prophecy about Percy's sixteenth birthday has been hanging over all the plots since the beginning of this series. Percy's character is the focus of this book, and he almost becomes overwhelmed with the responsibilities. Annabeth has always been Percy's closest friend, but her life is complicated by Luke. Percy lacks the confidence to become her official boyfriend, since she obviously has feelings about Luke. It's just that her true feelings about Luke are unclear. What is clear is that Annabeth will need to face these feelings in there is any hope of defeating Luke/Kronos. As in all of Riordan's books, this one includes numerous examples of foreshadowing. Percy gets messages from other characters and visions of future events whenever he falls asleep. Sometimes when he's still awake. These visions became hints about upcoming events rather than revelations of the exact details. I appreciated Percy's wish during the plot's resolution; it reinforced his concern for others. He never forgets the minor characters (or minor gods and demigods). The Olympians is a great introduction to Riordan's style, so read this series before undertaking the spin-offs, which are written in much greater length.