Rick Riordan – The Titan’s Curse
38. The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan (2007)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3
Read my review of book:
1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
Length: 312 pages
Genre: Mid-Grade Adventure Fantasy
Started: 04 April 2012
Finished: 05 April 2012
Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? This series has me good and hooked..
A missing goddess
means another cross-country
road trip for Percy.
Summary: Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and his friends travel to Maine to pick up some new half-bloods and bring them back to camp, but things go terribly awry: the monster stalking the half-bloods proves more difficult than expected, even with the help of the goddess Artemis and her Huntresses. Percy is distraught when Annabeth falls, seemingly to her death, but when they return to camp, the heroes are in for bigger problems. Artemis has since gone missing, after setting out on the trail of the most dangerous monster of them all. A quest is organized to rescue her, and Percy tags along… although his real reason is less about the goddess and more about his dreams of Annabeth, still alive and in terrible danger.
Review: I’m afraid that my reviews for these books are in danger of becoming repetitive, but the truth of the matter is that the books themselves continue to be just as good as the first: exciting mid-grade action adventure, funny on a number of levels, clever worldbuilding, fun use of Greek mythology, and a fun read all around. The Titan’s Curse draws mostly on parts of the Hercules myth, but even before I figured that out, I knew who the the titular Titan was, and so the big reveal at the end was less surprising than it might have been. (I also did put down this book in the middle, break out my D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, and re-read the Hercules section, so I had a fairly good idea of what was coming in general, although it was fun as always to see how Riordan translated it into the modern world.) One thing I did notice that separated this book from the previous ones was that Percy really is starting to grow up, which has some interesting consequences for his relationships with both gods and mortals (and girls in particular), and Riordan handles the character development subtly and realistically. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: From a grown-up’s perspective, these books are total brain candy, but they’re at least really well done brain candy. Don’t start on book 3, but the series is definitely recommended for anyone looking for a fun read with a mythological flair.
Thalia blushed. “Hi, Lord Apollo.”
“Zeus’s girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn’t you? Glad you’re back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time–” –p. 48
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First Line: The Friday night before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school.
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I really need to get back to this series. I have only read the first book.
Kailana – Yup! I’ve been tearing through them just about as fast as I can get the reviews written, though.
Hee hee. That quote struck my mood exactly right today! I feel like I’ve been talking for ages about reading this series, but I finally pulled off the first book to put it in my read-a-thon stack for the weekend. Maybe, at long last…dare I say…
BiP – Oh, this (or the others in the series) would be an *excellent* book for the readathon! I’m so bummed I’m not going to be able to participate this time…
I did start it, after all: yay! And got well and truly hooked. It is now the book that I always want to pick off the pile, even when I originally intend to pull another off (as good as it might be, too).
“… I knew who the the titular Titan was, and so the big reveal at the end was less surprising than it might have been. (I also did put down this book in the middle, break out my D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, and re-read the Hercules section, so I had a fairly good idea of what was coming in general, …”
So you’re spoilering yourself? Couldn’t wait for the 2nd reading? :-)
Nitpick: eponymous, not “titular”.
Bill – Hah, yes, I was totally spoilering myself. Well, sort of; I knew who the eponymous (good catch – serves me right for writing reviews while sleep-deprived!) Titan was from the first time they show up, and once I realized that the rest of the story was Hercules-based, I didn’t remember how (or if) the two myths connected, so I went to check.
But I’m only a slight spoiler-phobe about most things, and don’t really care when it comes to stuff like this that is total brain candy.