The Burning Maze: Chapters 34–47

by Rick Riordan
In this third book of the series The Trials of Apollo, Lester, guided by the satyr Grover, must trace a deadly course to find the master of the swift white horse and reach the Tiber river.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15, Chapters 16–24, Chapters 25–33, Chapters 34–47
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. garbled
    lacking orderly continuity
    After the ventus had brought Piper and me here, I vaguely remembered Piper harassing the spirit, using garbled words and gestures to order him back to the yachts to find Jason.
  2. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    Having assured himself that Piper was not in imminent danger of dying, he knelt next to Jason and put his hand against the boy’s neck, checking for a pulse.
  3. affront
    a deliberately offensive act
    For him, the phone worked fine. I took that as a personal affront.
  4. adulation
    exaggerated flattery or praise
    I’d always thought of a hero as someone who stood on a parade float, waved at the crowd, tossed candy, and basked in the adulation of the commoners.
  5. niche
    a small concavity
    Crest crawled into one of the niches and wrapped his ears around himself like a blanket, cradling my ukulele the same way Mellie cradled Baby Chuck.
  6. consensus
    agreement in the judgment reached by a group as a whole
    On that point, we reached consensus.
  7. ravenous
    devouring or craving food in great quantities
    I ate and drank ravenously.
  8. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    In his khaki safari clothes, with his tousled gray-green hair, he looked like a wild-animal expert who was about to point out some deadly species of scorpion for the TV audience.
  9. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    “Even for a skilled botanist like Dr. McCaffrey,” I said, “even with the blessing of Demeter...is reincarnating such powerful beings possible?”
    Joshua swayed pensively.
  10. fruition
    the attainment or fulfillment of a plan or objective
    Like plants, Demeter worked slowly and quietly. Her designs grew over the course of centuries. But when those designs came to fruition (bad fruit pun, sorry), they could be extraordinary.
  11. procure
    get by special effort
    Grover was almost as good as Piper McLean at procuring luxury vehicles.
  12. commandeer
    take arbitrarily or by force
    I wondered what the faculty would do when they found Jason Grace missing, and when they discovered that their school van had been commandeered and abandoned at the Santa Barbara waterfront.
  13. aversion
    a feeling of intense dislike
    Grover gulped, no doubt weighing his natural aversion to places that caged animals against his desire to destroy the Burning Maze.
  14. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    She breathed in the what-passed-in-LA-for-fresh air and even did a few tentative cartwheels as we made our way up the trail.
  15. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    After he called up that no monsters or fallen bears were waiting for us, Meg grew a thick swath of wisteria down the side of the pit, which allowed us some handholds and also smelled lovely.
  16. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    Grover peered forlornly at the tiny bit of sunlight seeping down from above.
  17. diffuse
    spread out; not concentrated in one place
    The noise echoed, so diffuse I couldn't tell which corridor it came from, even if we were free to pick our path without answering riddles.
  18. puissant
    powerful
    The last to reign over the Roman people
    was a man unjust yet puissant in arms.
  19. backwater
    a place or condition in which no progress is occurring
    We gods were still based in Greece then. Rome was something of a backwater.
  20. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    The last king, though...he brought back some bad memories.
    Meg broke my reverie.
  21. gilded
    made from or covered with gold
    Helios’s oversize golden throne stood empty, his cloak draped over the armrest. His helm, whip, and gilded shoes sat on the dais, ready for their master.
  22. predecessor
    one who goes before you in time
    By force of will, I grew in size until I could comfortably wear the helm and cloak of my predecessor.
  23. inadvertent
    happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally
    I may have done a few inadvertent loops in the sky.
  24. elation
    a feeling of joy and pride
    I tried to hold on to that feeling of confidence, the elation of that successful first day.
  25. presumptuous
    going beyond what is appropriate, permitted, or courteous
    But he hated Medea’s presumptuous magic.
  26. dexterity
    adroitness in using the hands
    He climbed down the wall and dropped to the floor with goat-worthy dexterity.
  27. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    Grover and Meg sweated profusely.
  28. cadence
    a recurrent rhythmical series
    His notes became more confident and lively, his cadence steadier.
  29. profound
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    Gosh, thanks for that profound wisdom!
  30. dissonant
    lacking in harmony
    Medea stabbed Crest in the gut, cutting off his dissonant serenade.
  31. fluke
    a stroke of luck
    How did it happen, this most welcome fluke of fate?
  32. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    The women were imposing, each perhaps seven feet tall, their faces as polished and beautifully turned as their armor.
  33. dermal
    relating to, existing on, or affecting the skin
    The ichor turned white-hot. I was sure my face was about to get an extreme dermal peel.
  34. scintillating
    brilliantly clever
    No one offered any scintillating conversation.
  35. glean
    collect or gather bit by bit, especially information
    Aside from what we’d gleaned aboard Caligula’s yacht—that his attack during the new moon had not gone well—we didn’t know what was going on at Camp Jupiter, or whether Leo Valdez was still there or flying back to Indianapolis.
  36. sibylline
    resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy
    “We’ve wrested three Oracles from the Triumvirate. Now, aside from Delphi itself, only one source of prophecy remains: the Sibylline Books...or rather, what Ella the harpy is trying to reconstruct of them from memory.”
  37. gouge
    an impression in a surface, as made by a blow
    I was hugging my ukulele so tightly it had left gouge marks on my forearms and bruised my chest.
  38. cohort
    a company of companions or supporters
    He wore a purple T-shirt with gold words in Latin: MY COHORT WENT TO NEW ROME AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT.
  39. keen
    express grief verbally
    Next to the Cessna, Festus raised his head, made a low, keening sound, then blasted fire into the sky.
  40. tarmac
    a paved road or surface, especially at an airport
    From the window of the plane, the last I saw of Piper and Leo, Coach and Mellie, they were huddled on the tarmac, plotting their journey east with their bronze dragon and their yellow Pinto.
Created on Fri Sep 02 12:00:27 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Feb 03 10:37:12 EST 2023)

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