Book Cover

If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.

Previous Rick Riordan review:

• The 39 Clues

# Review

This was one of my favourite book series growing up and after chatting with my girlfriend recently about it, I decided to reread the series. Riordan, likewise, is one of my favourite children's authors so I blew threw these novels very quickly. Overall the premise is very creative, connecting ancient Greek mythology with the modern world. This books feels like an American response to the Harry Potter books; unlike Harry Potter, however, the books' language doesn't mature alongside the characters, so the entire series is suitable for elementary school reading.

# The Lightning Thief

The first novel sets up the universe and opens up the story. Percy Jackson discovers that the stories about Greek mythology are real and that gods, goddesses, and monsters exist in the real world. Percy also finds out that his absent birth father is a god, which makes him a half-blood demi-god. Percy then goes on a quest to try to stop a calamitous war with his new friends from a summer camp made for housing and training half-bloods.

It's a strong introduction with fast pacing. Both the language and humour are targeted towards young children, but the pacing is fast and the story is action-filled. I really like how Riordan makes Greek mythology approachable for kids.

# The Sea of Monsters

Percy discovers that he has a half-brother and both brothers and the cast from the first adventure embark on an even more grand quest.

The second book expands the universe of Percy Jackson including outside of the United States. This book is less groundbreaking but continues to expand upon the first in character development and world building.

# The Titan's Curse

Percy and his friends are tasked with rescuing two half-bloods, Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Things go wrong as Annabeth is captured and the goddess Artemis disappears while hunting a powerful monster.

This book escalates the core conflict between Kronos and the gods. While the book still focuses on the action and adventure, there is a more dramatic shift in both the story and tone.

# The Battle of the Labyrinth

Percy and his friends enter an ever-shifting labyrinth in order to prevent Kronos' army from using it to attack Camp Half-Blood.

This is probably my favourite adventure of this book series. The different rooms in the labyrinth keep the story constantly unpredictable. This book is probably the densest in terms of Greek mythological references.

# The Last Olympian

This is the climax when the war between the gods and Kronos' army kicks off. Percy and the other demigods defend Manhattan and Mount Olympus from Kronos' army.

This is the culmination of Percy's story arc, and to that extent the book delivers both in emotional and plot resolution. For a children's book there's a surprising amount of deep themes such as family, loyalty, and sacrifice.

# Conclusion

I learned that Riordan is writing a new series of Percy Jackson novels, so I may check them out in the future once he's done writing them.

# Overall rating: 7.7

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