There are heightened stakes, and Percy’s entire world feels like it has grown and established itself as an increasingly dexterous realm. The Battle of the Labyrinth is a book that simply feels different from all the other Percy Jackson books that I have read so far. I honestly had no idea and never would have guessed it right up until he revealed the truth, which is potentially foolish of me, since given the clues dropped earlier, I think other people probably guessed long before I found out. I was embarrassed at how shocked I was when I found out that Quintus was Daedalus. I have also seen her mentioned several times on Tumblr, so I do not know why I did not expect her to be in this book. I am not certain why I was surprised, because she was clearly set up in the last book to become much more important that she would have been if she were only in that one scene.

One character I was surprised to see turn up again was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. That said, aside from this one scene, the rest of the book, with all its twists and turns, was wholly unfamiliar to me, with characters appearing that I could swear I had never heard of, and plot twists that caught me entirely by surprise. While reading The Battle of the Labyrinth I came across a scene that was so eerily familiar I know I must have read it before because as I consumed it, I actively remembered each moment with crystal clarity.

I have to say, the wildest thing about this project so far is that I know that I read the Percy Jackson books before.

Percy jackson labyrinth book