The Mark of Athena is the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series and is written by Rick Riordan. In this installment of the franchise, The Prophecy of Seven begins as the seven demigods come together on their expedition to the birthplace of the gods. First, they go to Rome to resolve a mysterious quest regarding the Mark of Athena. The first two books in this series established and advanced the plot in these books, but readers could tell that they were mainly trying to develop their respective characters. In this book, the characters are still progressing through their respective arcs, but the pace of the plot in this book is much faster than the previous books. Another aspect of this book is the interactions between the seven main characters, and this part of the book is written great. As a fan, I was looking forward to this book because I couldn’t wait to see how the Greek characters would be with the Roman characters, and I wasn’t disappointed. This book still has the great humor that Riordan is known for, and it retains the sense of doom and danger that these books carry, but the improved pace of the plot also makes this book more exciting and fun to read. It’s another solid addition in this epic series.