The Burning Maze

The story begins a few days after the events of the previous book, "The Dark Prophecy". Apollo, in the body of the 16-year old Lester Papadopoulos, ventures through the Labyrinth with 12-year old Meg McCaffrey and the satyr, Grover Underwood in a bid to find the third emperor of the Triumvirate Holdings. As the trio face a continuous attack of stryxs, Grover unleashes the cry of Pan, the lost god of the wild, and brings them to Aeithales, which is later revealed to be Meg's former home. Mellie, the wife of the satyr Hedge, asks Apollo and Grover to go and check up on Hedge, who is in an army surplus store nearby. The duo goes there, only to face Naevius Sutorius Macro. They escape, when seemingly, a centaur, comes and contacts somebody. They head back, and Apollo reveals that the "centaur" is a horse, Incitatus, and the third emperor is Caligula, the most feared Roman emperor, famous for his murderous reign and insanity.

Mellie reveals that Jason Grace and Piper McLean had gone into the Labyrinth. Apollo and Meg pick up Piper, who is moving away to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Jason, who is at school and occasionally has fights with monsters disguised as teachers. Jason secretly tells Apollo that Jason had met with Herophile, the sibyl inside the Labyrinth, who told him that when the next time the duo comes, one of them will die. Fearing Piper's demise, Jason keeps this to himself and splits up with Piper.

Apollo, Meg, Jason, and Piper sneak into Caligula's ship to steal his shoes, which are a priority according to the Dark Prophecy. All of them are captured by Pandai, loyal servants to Caligula. They escape with the help of Crest, a friendly Pandai and Apollo find the shoes, but then they are captured by Incitatus and taken to Caligula. Jason engages Caligula in a one-sided battle, only to be stabbed twice by Caligula. Jason calls his venti (air spirit, usually a horse) before dying, helping the others escape. Upon reaching Piper's home in Malibu, Piper blames Apollo as the reason for Jason's death.

Apollo, Meg, Grover, and Crest enter the Labyrinth and are faced with riddles that seemingly lead to Herophile's prison. However, Apollo gives the wrong answer to one of them. Facing certain death, Apollo decides to find the cause of the flames that have been engulfing the southern lands for a long time and discovers the dead but still burning body of Helios, the lost former god of the sun being used by Medea, a witch whom they had a short run-in with, and Apollo promises to exact revenge for Helios.

The trio reaches the Herophile and is faced with another prophecy. They get out with the help of Meliai, ash-tree spirits Meg had earlier planted. They kill Medea, Incitatus but lose Crest's life. Apollo and Meg entrust Aiethales's safety with the Melai and continue their journeys. Piper moves away, Jason's body is given to Apollo for burial at Camp Jupiter, and Leo takes Hedge, Mellie, and Piper to Oklahoma.

The Burning Maze was first published by Disney-Hyperion as a hardcover in the United States on May 1, 2018, with cover illustration by John Rocco.[1] Ebook and audiobook editions were released the same day.[2][3] The audiobook is read by actor Robbie Daymond and published by Listening Library.[2]

The Burning Maze had a first printing of about two million copies.[4] It sold more than 52,000 copies during the first week.[5] Upon release, the book debuted at No. 1 on the Publishers Weekly Children's Frontlist Fiction bestseller list[5] and No. 3 on the overall list (remaining there for 2 weeks).[6][7] The hardcover edition debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Teen & Young Adult Greek & Roman Myths & Legends bestseller list[8] and the Kindle ebook at No. 1 on the Teen & Young Adult Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks list.[9] The next week, the book was the 6th sold among fiction novels on Amazon.[10] It debuted at No. 5 on the USA Today bestseller list.[11] On The Wall Street Journal fiction bestseller list, the book debuted at No. 2.[12] In the first week of release, The Trials of Apollo series was No. 2 on The New York Times bestseller list.[13]

In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations, English-language editions in hardcover were also released May 1 by Puffin Books with cover art by Ben Hughes.[14] The Puffin edition also included a Percy Jackson short story.[15] Although many non-English editions used John Rocco's cover art, a few have unique covers by other illustrators.[3] Additionally, Barnes & Noble released a special edition exclusive to its customers, which also included a removable puzzle collection.[16] Another edition was also released, which included Riordan's autograph, a frontispiece, endpapers, and slipcase.[17]

The book is recommended for 12-14-year-olds on Disney's website.[18]

The sequel, The Tyrant's Tomb, was released on September 24, 2019.[19]

• Children and Young Adult Literature portal

• The Burning Maze at Read Riordan
• Rick Riordan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database