The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
by Rick Riordan
★★★★
This is the second book in the series and to be honest I liked it a bit better than the first. Percy learns that Camp Half-Blood is under attack. Thalia, Zeu's daughter, who was turned into a tree, has been poisoned and because of this the protective borders of the camp are being destroyed. At the same time he realizes his best friend, Grover, is being held captive by a cyclopes in the Bermuda Triangle. He decides to go on a quest to save both Grover and the camp. Unfortunately for him the quest is assigned to another demigod, Clarisse, and he's left feeling helpless. Percy and Annabeth decide to take on the quest anyway and head out on their own.
The book maintains the fast-paced momentum of the first, while adding depth to the characters. The book's newest addition is the sweet and loyal Tyson, a friend of Percy's. I love how this book ends and it left me eager to pick up the next one.
So I did…
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)
by Rick Riordan
★★★★
Once again, the books begins bang as Percy and his try to help to new demigods reach Camp Half Blood. In the midst of the chaos they meet Artemis and her band of hunters. In additional to Artemis, this book introduces a slew of familiar Greek faces in clever ways. Annabeth is not in this book as much as the first two and it made me realize how much I like her. I missed her character, but enjoyed getting to learn a bit more about her back story.
This one, like the first two, is a quick read. There is constant action and before you know it, the book is done. I’ve heard some people refer to these books as “Harry Potter Lite” and I think that’s a great description. I never find myself quite as attached to the characters or involved in the story as I do with HP, but I enjoy reading them.
Again, one of my favorite parts of both books is the Greek mythology that’s woven into the story. Reading about mythology that's been around for centuries in a modern setting makes the books endlessly entertaining. There are five books in the series and I'll definitely be reading the final two.
One a side note, here's a fun website for the series.
4 comments:
I've had the first four books for quite some time, but was waiting for the last to come out to read them...now it seems I might never get to them! But I had a good friend just fly through the series and rave about it, so I know that eventually these will get read. :)
Thanks for the good reviews! I had to go peek at my copies and flip through the first one before telling myself "not yet."
I try to only read one book by any author each year, that way I can remember and appreciate each one individually. But I've blown through these books way too fast. They are a bit addictive. I'm about to start the 4th and I know I'll read the 5th in the next month or so.
I liked the first book in the series a lot more than the rest of the series, but I think that's largely because I felt like Percy never grows up. He ages, but his voice never changes from that initial 12-year-old voice, unlike HP, which gets a year older with each book. My son prefers Percy, because he's closer to that age (just turned 10), and the older Harry Potter books are ones he can't even quite read yet, so I understand why they are that way, but as an adult reading, I do wish Percy had grown a little - or that the story had taken place when he was 12, not 12-16.
Amanda - I would agree that Percy is never a fully developed character, like Harry is. I think that's why the books don't stick with me in the same way. We aren't as invested in Percy because he's not very 3-dimentional.
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