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Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2008
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #5
382 pages (paperback)

This is the final book of the Percy Jackson & The Olympian series (although, if I am correct, there is a spin off series or something in existence) and boy, what an awesome roller coaster ride it was. The Last Olympian is non-stop action, from the very first page to the last. There is always something happening. The story flies by and before you know it, you’re done the book! Even though it is the longest book in the series, it felt like the shortest because there was never a dull moment. Without a doubt, this is the best installment in the series — and isn’t it awesome when the final book of a series ends on such a satisfying note?

The story opens up with Percy and a fellow camper on a bombing mission to destroy Kronos’ ship, but it soon becomes apparent that there is a spy amongst Percy’s friends who is supplying Kronos with the demigods’ every move. Percy, his fellow campers and the gods of Olympus enter into the war against Kronos, who has more or less successfully come back to “life” and is preparing to attack Manhattan — specifically the Empire State Building, where on the 600th floor, Mount Olympus resides. At the same time, there is the constant threat of the greatest Titan monster ever, Typhon, who Percy accidentally released from his prison a book ago. He’s stomping his way across the United States to New York, leaving a trail of devastation behind him. Oh, and while all this is happening, Chiron and Annabeth decide it’s time to reveal the full Great Prophecy to Percy — which causes Percy to question everything he’s been doing up till now.

I think what I loved about the plot in this particular book (besides the speedy action)  is that there’s a lot of intrigue and mystery involved, which kept me guessing and wondering. I just had to keep reading! For example, who is the spy at Camp Half Blood that is actually working for Kronos? What is this mysterious past of Luke’s that Hermes and Annabeth don’t really want to talk about in front of Percy? Who the heck is Rachel Elizabeth Dare really, claiming to be a mortal then doing all these non-mortalish things? And for goodness’ sake, what is the Great Prophecy really all about?? I was positively captivated by the story, and my curiousity kept me glued to the pages.

As with the final book of any series, the ending is doubly important because not only is it the ending for the book, it’s also the ending for the entire series. I’m very happy that the ending satisfied me (though I felt the denouement was a little meh, but I will survive). It tied up all loose ends (that I can think of), there’s a general sense of triumph and accomplishment among the characters, and really, it’s just a great feel-good ending to an epic adventure. For those of you reading this series, trust me: you have a lot to look forward to in this last book and I’m sure it will be one of your favourites in the series.

My Rating:

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2007
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #3
312 pages (paperback)

Books one and two were the beginnings of an epic adventure and were stepping stones to a larger story. In book three, The Titan’s Curse, the series’ plot really starts to unfold itself. This is, so far, my favourite book in the series. There was a real sense of saving-the-world, a real epic feeling involved in this book.

In book three, Percy, Annabeth and new companion Thalia are scouting out two possible new half-blood recruits, Nico and Bianca. With the help of Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, and her band of Hunters, they manage to temporarily ward off the dangerous servant of Kronos who tried to stop them. Afterwards, Artemis leaves on her own to hunt down a dangerous monster believed to have the power to destroy Mount Olympus, but to everybody’s horror, Artemis becomes kidnapped! Percy and his friends must find Artemis, and quickly, before the Winter Solstice, when the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus gather together to decide on how they will deal with the impending second war with the Titans.

There’s definitely something different about this book compared to the first two. Oh, it is definitely just as funny and adventurous, but something about the plot made it not quite as light hearted as The Lightning Thief or The Sea of Monsters. Like I mentioned before, I think starting with this book, the series’ plot’s complexities are starting to be revealed; that Percy’s story is not as simple as going from Quest A to Quest B. The first two books dealt with minor adventures; this third book reveals that there is something way more sinister working in the background. Because of that, there is a greater sense of urgency and seriousness that the characters must take on. The climax of the story, in particular, was an incredibly epic battle. As usual, things happened in the fight that made me laugh or snicker, but I think overall, this has been one of the more serious scenes in the series thus far. I mean, there were real deaths in this book!

The characters certainly have matured, if only by a little bit. The characters are what, fourteen years old by now? Love and romance is definitely starting to poke its head through, to become a theme. More importantly though, loyalty and friendship shine through. Throughout the novel, Percy has to cope with thinking he has lost friends, and what he could have done, or can do now, to help them. Of course, he has always cared about his friends before, but there is something more mature in the way he is tackling the situation now. I think this is most exemplified when Percy is told that his fatal flaw as a hero are his loved ones.

The only thing that bothered me was Thalia’s introduction and to some extent, her role. In book two, it ended off on a cliffhanger — Thalia, daughter of Zeus, has been “brought back alive”. I guess I expected some sort of flashback at least that explained how Percy and Annabeth handled the whole situation initially now that the daughter of Zeus is among them, but The Titan’s Curse opened up in such a way that it felt like Thalia has been adventuring with Percy since book one, like she’s always been there and is not a new addition to Percy’s posse. Then, at the end of this book, Thalia basically decides she’s not going to adventure with Percy anymore. So I guess what bugged me was that Thalia was a main character for one book, possibly as a replacement for Annabeth, who was missing for the majority of the novel, and now that Annabeth has returned, Thalia conveniently finds a reason to remove herself from the main action. I guess I expected more from the daughter of Zeus.

Anyway, to sum it all up — The Titan’s Curse is definitely one of the best installments of this series :) If you are reading this series as well, I’m sure book three will rank somewhere in the top for you as well. I’m really excited to start on book four now!

My Rating:

Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2006
Publisher: Miramax
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #2
279 pages (paperback)

Finally, finally, finally. These books are so popular at my library that I never even see them on the bookshelves, but on my last library trip, I finally saw them: books two through four. I would have grabbed all the way to book seven five (sorry, was thinking of Harry Potter) if they had it, but they didn’t, but still, I’m glad I’m finally able to continue reading this fun and cute story :)

In this second installment of the series, I am reintroduced to the lively and colourful world of the urbanized Greek gods and goddesses. And Percy Jackson, of course. It’s the last day of seventh grade for Percy and his new, misunderstood friend Tyson, and Percy hopes for the day to go smoothly so that he may go back to Camp Half-Blood for the summer. However, this is Percy, and of course, nothing ever goes smoothly for him. It turns out he may not get a chance to go back to the camp … possibly forever. Camp Half-Blood is in great danger: the magical tree of Thalia that protects the camp has been poisoned and is slowly but surely dying. Percy is determined to find a cure for the tree, or else the only place on earth where it is safe for a demigod to be — the only place where Percy has ever felt he belonged — will be gone.

The thing with the Percy Jackson books, that I feel like I must stress over and over again (because my friends give me the raised eyebrow whenever I say I’m reading the Percy Jackson books), is that it’s not “serious” at all like the movie portrayed it to be. These are humourous children’s (or tween) books that border on the silly side of things. So, my general thoughts about this book when I finished it were that it was fun and lighthearted, much like the first. I didn’t like it as much as the first book, but still a very enjoyable read!

In comparison to the first book, I felt the plot in this second installment was a bit less epic. From fighting the Titan lord Kronos in book one, to sailing in a ship to find the Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree in book two … well, you can see how one plot just seems more epic than the other. Not that the plot was in this book was bad or anything; I just mean, in relation. This book is probably just a stepping stone to the larger plot, maybe. I’m totally expecting a lot more from the next books in the series now! Considering how the book ended, I feel The Sea of Monsters is really acting as a bridge to connect book one to book three.

Anyway, if you have any sense of humour at all, I’m sure you’ll find this book hilarious. I mean, what do we have here? Cannibalistic giants with names like Joe Bob; the most adorable baby cyclops (who is also six feet three inches tall); a hippocampi (horse-fish hybrid animal) named Rainbow; a bunch of centaurs throwing a party and wearing T-shirts that say “Party Ponies”; a spa resort that turns men into guinea pigs (because actual pigs take up too much room) … I can go on and on, but you see what I mean about this book just being good fun, right? Some books I really need to concentrate when I read; others, like this book, I just have a blast.

The ending was interesting, actually. I didn’t expect a cliffhanger sort of ending because, if my memory serves me correctly, the first book didn’t end in a cliffhanger. I’m pretty sure it didn’t because I had no real desire to locate a copy of book two right away. But The Sea of Monsters ends in such a way that I am super curious to find out what happens next — and luckily, I have the third book sitting right next to me! I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say that the prophecy that involves Percy Jackson may or may not have become extra complicated due to recent events … haha. Actually, kind of reminds me of Harry Potter and his own prophecy. Ooooh, we’ll see what happens.

Expect a post about The Battle of the Labyrinth — HAHA oops, I meant The Titan’s Curse! — soon!

My Rating: