Hello again, dear readers, and welcome back! This month I read the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. While I was familiar with the story, from reading the first book way back when it was first released and watching the sadly deviant films, it was long overdue that I read through this series. As mythology has always been a keen interest of mine, I devoured these books rapidly. Personally, if I were camper at Camp Halfblood, I imagine I would end up in Athena’s cabin 😀
*Spoilers Ahead*
Book 1: The Lightning Thief
In YA fiction, there tends to be a few archetypes for the protagonist. Either they are some sort of elite genius, a hometown hero, or troubled youth. Percy Jackson falls into the latter category. However, the author uses a plausible explanation as to why he choose this method, blaming Percy’s troubles on his demigod nature. And then cue dilemma, Percy is attacked by a mythological monster, is blamed for the theft of a relic of incredible power, and his mother is abducted by his uncle. His uncle Hades. Yup, Hades. Because it turns out, Percy’s dad is actually Poseidon, lord of the sea. And so after making it to summer camp for demigods, Camp Halfblood, he discovers the source of his powers (water, what else?), makes some friends and some enemies, and is given a quest to find the stolen relic. From here the book becomes a road-trip story, with monsters, traps, and angry gods along the way. Honestly, if the story ended with Percy finding the relic and restoring peace to the gods, it would’ve been a decent story. But Riordan sets a plot hook for the entire series, as the banished Titan lord (and father of the gods) Cronus is attempting his return. And so Percy, with the help of his friends, will be set on a course to fulfill a prophecy and prevent this dangerous shift in power throughout the rest of the series.
Book 2: The Sea of Monsters
Questing round two, except with more sea travel! Okay so I understand why Riordan needs to lean into YA tropes because that is his target audience, but it got a little too campy for me at points. Percy is at another school and monsters infiltrate in order to take him down. They fail, because Percy meets Tyson and befriends. Turns out, Tyson is a Cyclops and his half-brother. Which makes him really strong, resistant to fire and heat, and also the son of the Lord of the Sea. Anna Beth (the daughter of Athena, and Percy’s obvious crush though he’d never admit it) shows up with premonitions that Camp Halfblood is in danger and takes Percy on a cab ride with the Three Fates through NYC. No surprise that Tyson isn’t really welcomed at Camp Halfblood that summer, because a cyclops is considered a monster, and he is only able to enter the camp boundary in order to save Percy’s life from an attack. After the attack on the camp, the guardian tree (the resting place of the daughter of Zeus, Thalia) is wilting due to poison and Grover (Percy’s best friend/satyr guardian) has disappeared in search of Pan, so Percy sets off to save the day again. In order to tackle two birds with one stone, Grover is conveniently trapped at the one place Percy already needs to go to recover the Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree. So with the help of Anna Beth , they attempt to make it to Bermuda Triangle and encounter a cruise ship full of monsters, a golden sarcophagus, and Percy’s now nemesis and Anna Beth’s former mate Luke taking the lead. After a perilous sea voyage narrowly avoiding mythic dangers but losing a couple allies (and a Civil War ironclad full of Confederate skeletons), Percy gets turned into a guinea pig, Anna Beth makes a confession, Grover pretends to be a cyclops’s bride, and Tyson and Clarisse (the daughter of Ares and not a fan of Percy because he has beat her and her dad on multiple, but separate, occasions) aren’t dead! Percy meets another of his Cyclops half-brothers, barely escapes with the Fleece, Clarisse is a hero, and Thalia is pulled from the tree by the healing powers of the Fleece. With Thalia back to humanity, the prophecy has two contenders and Thalia just happens to be the older (and honestly more BA) of the two. Oh how will the story twist and turn next?
Book 3: The Titan’s Curse
As the plot thickens, so does the number of key characters. To spare everyone the boring details (and to speed things up so I can get over my writer’s block), here is the rundown of who is important to this part of the continuing story. Thalia: daughter of Zeus, was a tree but isn’t anymore, pledges herself to Artemis and joins the Hunters in order to stop aging and leaves the fulfillment of “The Prophecy” in Percy’s hands. Bianca di Angelo: daughter of Hades, was trapped in time, also pledges to Artemis and joins the Hunters, dies to a Talos prototype while trying to recover a figurine for her brother Nico in the “junkyard of the gods”. Nico di Angelo: son of Hades, was trapped in time, hates Percy because he feels Percy is to blame for his sister’s death, is revealed to have ridiculous underworld powers. Zoe Nightshade: daughter of “The General”, lieutenant of Artemis’ Hunters, but sacrifices herself to help defeat her father and free Artemis. “The General”: the Titan Atlas, is marshaling the Titans and monsters for war with Luke’s help, is (re)trapped under the sky by Percy, Artemis, and Zoe. Rachel Elizabeth Dare: a mortal who can see through the “mist”, encounters Percy at the Hoover Dam. Frederick Chase: Annabeth’s father, war history buff, and flies an old fighter plane outfitted with celestial bronze machine guns. Percy Jackson: son of Poseidon, destined fulfiller of “The Prophecy”, arch-rival of Luke Castellan, survives holding up the sky in Artemis’ place so that Atlas can be defeated. Luke Castellan: son of Hermes, seeks to overthrow Olympus and the gods, working with/for Chronos, arch-rival of Percy Jackson, miraculously survives a fall of a mountain. To learn more about how the story actually unfolds, read the book 🙂
Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy is at a new school, and runs into Rachel Elizabeth Dare again. Monsters attack, they flee to Camp Halfblood, and find Grover is in trouble because he still hasn’t found Pan. There’s a new instructor at camp names Quintus, and Percy doesn’t really trust him. Percy and Annabeth accidentally find an entrance to the mysterious Labyrinth, which would allow Luke to lead his army of monsters anywhere quickly without detection, as long as he has the “magic string”. Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Tyson team up for a quest to find Daedalus and navigate the Labyrinth overcoming many challenges. Percy ends up at Mount St Helens, where Krono has monsters creating armaments, Percy goes nuclear, and washes up on Calypso’s island. After returning to Camp Halfblood, he and Annabeth get the help of Rachel Elizabeth Dare to navigate the Labyrinth, as she can see through the mist, and they locate Daedalus, who is actually Quintus. Unfortunately, he believes the gods are doomed to lose and already helped Luke. However, betrayal ensues and Daedalus stays in the Labyrinth to thwart the army of monsters. A reunion with Grover and Tyson occurs, they find Pan and watch him pass on, and then Grover reveals the power Pan granted him by causing an army of monsters to “panic” (get it?) when Camp Halfblood is attacked. Nico uses his underworld powers to grant Daedalus his final rest, thus destroying the Labyrinth and preventing Luke (now possessed by Chronos) from using it to attack Olympus. Percy has his fifteenth birthday, Poseidon shows up, and Nico reveals to Percy a daring plan to defeat Luke/Chronos for good.
Book 5: The Last Olympian
Battle lines are being drawn. Demigods, monsters, gods, and titans are all gearing up for the final battle. Percy attempts to sabotage Luke/Chronos’ ship with Charles Beckendorf, but fails because a spy from Camp Halfblood informs Chronos of the plot. Charles dies, Percy sinks, and ends up in Poseidon’s underwater castle. The titan Oceanus is besieging Poseidon’s domain, and Percy wants to stay to fight but his quest is back on the surface. In order to defeat Luke/Chronos, Percy must understand him and so pays Luke’s mother a visit. After checking in on his own mother, Percy goes to the underworld with Nico to bathe in the River Styx, just like Luke did. Percy, now virtually invulnerable, rallies his allies to defend Olympus from Chronos while the gods are off fighting Typhon, the gargantuan father of monsters. Hestia, goddess of the hearth, is the last Olympian remaining and proves to be a valuable component to Percy’s plans to defend the home of the gods. Allies are lost, Annabeth is gravely injured, and Percy must plead with his father to help the rest of the gods fight Typhon. Hades arrives with Nico and all the gods stand together at last. However Chronos is able to enter Olympus and has a final showdown with Percy. At a vital moment, Annabeth appeals to Luke, who overcomes Chronos’ control of his body to mortally wound himself, thus defeating Chronos and sending him back to the void. Luke then pleads with Percy to make things right, for all demigods current and to come. In the ensuing victory celebrations, Percy turns down the offer of godhood and instead forces the gods to swear to treat all gods, and their offspring, equally and that no child of the god would go unclaimed in the future. Returning to Camp Halfblood, Percy and Annabeth own up to their feelings and are now a couple, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare becomes the new Oracle. All is good in the world.
And with that I wrap up this month’s reading. I do apologize for the lateness, but I suffered some real writer’s block. Hopefully I’ll get next month’s review of the Artemis Fowl series up sooner rather than later haha.
S.D.G.
Stuck in Translation 