Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Title: The Sea of Monsters
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Children's, Fantasy, Mythos
Source: Library Paperback
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws


Percy Jackson and friends are back in a new tale of adventure and danger.  When Percy begins having dreams about Grover being in danger, he knew he needed to do something.  But at the same time Camp Half Blood has been attacked and Talhia's tree that is protecting the camp was poisoned.  No one knows who did it, but Percy and Annabeth have an idea of how to save it.  Add in a Cyclops half brother and a stubborn female and you have yourself a epic tale with thrills and drama.

So this one fell a little short for me.  I read the first book and enjoyed it more than I did this one.  There didn't seem to be as much mythos or danger or something.  It was missing something and I cannot put my finger on what that something is.  As someone who loves mythology, I think this book didn't have as much in as the last one did.  Sure there were short mentions of the Golden Fleece and Cyclopes but I think the last book delved more into the myth stories to make something new.  While this is something different, I don't think it played off the myths as much.  There was a little bit more humor in the first one as well and the absence of Grover was really prevalent.


We seem some familiar characters like Clarisse and Luke both still have the same personalities, though Clarisse seems to have grown up just a little bit and is learning how to play nice with others.  We don't see Charion, or any of the gods as we did in the first one so I was a little disappointed in that as well.  I loved Tyson, though I wasn't a little more from him and hope we see more from him in the next novel.  He was such a sweet character and so precious I wonder how he would change as the story progresses will he remain sweet?  I guess we will see.


I like that they sail to the sea this time, but it's the Bermuda Triangle.  I am not sure how I feel about ancient Greek gods centering around America, I get the books say the Pantheon follows civilization, but it seems wrong to me probably because there would be other Pantheons already in place.  While there were a few things that didn't sit so well with me this was a decent book.  It is good for the age range, but I think someone older, such as myself it's a little...simplistic, on the surface type of thing.  I want something with more depth and compels me to keep reading.  Not that this book/series doesn't have that, just in a different way that appeals better to a younger audience.  I would recommend it to young readers and some adult readers as well for a break from the norm. 

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
Source: Paperback, Library
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws


Percy is your typical 12 year old kid.  School is not his favorite thing in the world and he tends to lean towards trouble.  Then while on a field trip, Percy swears a monster tried to kill him.  When his mom finds out she decides it's finally time to tell him who his father is..Posiden, God of the Sea.  He then goes to the one place he will be safe, a camp for Half Bloods.  While there he discovers he needs to go on a quest and retrieve a stolen lightning bolt, one stolen from Zeus.  Along with his friends, Percy travels across the county to enter the Underworld to stop a war between the gods and save his mom.

So I admit I watched the movie before I read the book, and that kind of tainted my image of the story. I have a strong interest in Greek Mythology (well mythology in general) and Rick's story is an interesting twist to the mythology I have come to know.  One things that stood out for me was Percy's age, I feel like he could have been older than 12 but that's just me, and can see why it would appeal to a younger reading crowd.  Rick's series is the perfect way to introduce young readers to the beauty that is Greek Mythology.  Rick's writing is perfect for the age group he aims for, as an adult it seemed a little too simplistic, but again I am reading this as a 34 year old woman not a 12 year old girl.


I loved how loyal and brave Percy comes off, he starts out as a trouble-marker, but we see that maybe some of those things weren't exactly his fault.  I liked how the monsters slowly came into play like with the algebra teacher turning into a monster, Fury I think.  He develops into his powers, but I think he could have learned how to use them and be a little more powerful with them sooner, and more often in the book.  Sometimes it seemed like he got out of situations based on pure luck.  I hoped for more magic I guess, but I guess mythology didn't use much magic.  I love how Rick include Annabeth and shows her with power and strength of her own.  This shows young girls that you can be just as powerful and strong as male counterparts.

I liked that RIck included some beings everyone can be familiar with in this novel like the Minotaur, Furies, Fates, and Medusa.  I hope he tackles some other creatures in the other novels, maybe ones we don't see so often like sirens, something.  The Ever After Casino was interesting and I loved how the movie portrayed this scene, it was interesting but creepy at the same time, along with Medusa's Shop of garden statues.  How creepy to think she tries to sell the statues, or maybe she doesn't make a sale but uses people in her gardens.  Poseidon has always been one of my favorite gods, and I had hoped for a little bit more from him and was disappointed that we didn't see more of him or any indication that he might have been watching over Percy the whole time.

While I enjoyed reading this book and will read the whole series, I don't see myself becoming a super fan girl that way I have with other novels like The Lunar Chronicles or Harry Potter.  But I still think it is a cute story, great for the age range and some adults.  I recommend it if you haven't read it yet.