Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I would like to start this post with an apology to myself. I read the first two books of this series and decided that instead of posting them I would simply keep reading. This isn't to say that the books were so enthralling that I couldn't put them down. It was more a case of not knowing how I felt about them. Had I read the first book and immediately posted about it I feel I would have a completely different outlook on it. That being said I took the route that will inevitably make this post one of the most difficult I have attempted. I will now attempt to write about the individual books and then the series as a whole. Any attempts made by me to compare this series to Harry Potter or any other Fantasy fiction series of books is simply my attempt at anchoring my own opinions of the series to something that is a little more sturdy. In other words I am still not sure how I feel about this 5 part series. That being said... here goes!

Book One: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

As the first book in the series The lightning Thief spends a lot of time introducing characters and introducing the plot that will make up not only this first installment but also the plot that will inevitably span the entire series. The main character, Percy Jackson, finds out that he is not a regular kid but he is in fact a son of the Greek god Poseidon. He is only half god because his mother is a mortal. He learns that as a demi-god he has some of the same water powers that his father has. He also quickly realizes that with his new found powers comes responsibility as he realizes his own power so do mythical monsters who are drawn to his scent. As well as monsters Percy has to deal with the rising threat of the return of the Titans (Kronos and crew), who are the parents of the Olympians that are looking for revenge and ultimately the overthrow of Olympus, which I have up to now failed to mention is currently located direction above the Empire State Building. Because the seat of power is now the United States it is therefore the location that the gods choose as their home, similarly the underworld is located below California (hahah stupid Californians). The main character finds himself in the middle of an epic quest revolving around the theft of Zeus' master lightning bolt (thus the title of this novel). Along the way the Percy runs into a couple familiar characters like Medusa and the three fates for example. There are also several clever literary twists and turns along the way. Friends are made, as well as enemies and in the end everything ends up kinda okay.

This first book entertained me. It made me feel that reading the next page or chapter wouldn't upset me. It didn't grab my attention and make me wish that it would never end but it was a suitable choice for entertainment. At times I was irritated by the terrible modern cultural references which will inevitably date the series and keep it from attaining the never ending glory that series like LOTR and Harry Potter have and will. At other times I was slightly impressed by how the Author wrote the book from a relatively accurate 12 year old's perspective. The jokes and thoughts were sometimes cheesy and silly but hey that's how sixth graders are. When I had finished the book I liked it enough to pick up the second one so that must either mean I hate myself or the book wasn't terrible.



Book Two: The Sea of Monsters

The second book of the series, The Sea of Monsters, started off almost exactly where the last one left off. I always appreciate when an author doesn't start a book like ten years later and try to explain a massive amount of stuff that has happened since the last book. This book starts off like two months later and the amount of catch up material is minimal. Like in real life the characters have grown a little bit, both height wise but also in maturity. This book focused more on specific Greek Myths than the first one did. Some of the notable stories that he stumbles into are the Sirens, Circe, and we are finally introduced to Percy's brother who is in fact a fucking cyclops.

The plot of this book revolves around Percy's best friend the Satyr Grover (he's kinda like a goat boy of sorts). Grover sets out to find that great spirit god Pan and in the process gets himself into a whole heap of trouble. Luckily Percy and the third member of their little trio, Annabeth, set out to rescue him and their beloved hero camp Half-blood Hill. In the end the monster that has taken Grover Captive in "The Sea of Monsters", which just turns out to be the Bermuda Triangle, is also the same monster that is in possession of a golden fleece that has magical powers that include increased crop bounty and healing. In the end Percy fights off the monster the same way that Hercules had fought him. Not a very clever plot line, but hey, it works.

These first two books in the Percy series are good books in themselves, short and with their own individualized plot lines. The books could probably stand outside the series and still be a half way decent read. There is evidence of a larger series plot building in these books but it is by no means the dominant plot line.

The bad guy from the end of the first book, Luke Castellan, continues to grow in power as he has allied himself with the evil Titan lord Kronos. The end of this book seems like a "too good to be true" ending. Everything is pretty much back to normal and not very much impending doom has been set up for the next book.


Book Three: The Titans Curse

This third book in the series is where the series really starts to pick up (much like in the Harry Potter Series) and it is also where the books take on their slightly darker side especially when you meet Hades Children.

This book starts out with the characters on their way to perform a mission. The reader learns the details of the mission slowly and the plot unfolds. The goal is to help the Satyr Grover locate two halflings that are in danger of being killed by monsters. These halflings turn out to be the children of Hades, who are not typically welcomed as Heroes.

More characters that are included in this story include The hunters lead by the goddess Artemis. It is when Annabeth and Artemis go missing that the usual group must go after and try to find her. The trio of Annabeth, Grover and Percy is jumbled when Annabeth goes with the Hunters so she is replaced in the usual group by Bianca Di Angelo ( Daughter of Hades). As usual the group only has like a week to complete their mission or else the entire western civilization will collapse.

In the end Percy is forced to take on the titans curse to save Annabeth from it. The titans curse in this story is the weight of the sky and the titan that he has to take it from is Atlas. The weight of carrying this burden even for a short time leaves both Annabeth and Percy with white streaks in their hair (can someone say Rogue from X-men?).

In the end Atlas is forced back in to taking his burden but Percy and the Crew witness the Titan Lord Kronos as he gains in power, much as Voldemort had been doing during the first several Harry Potter Books.


Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth (by far my favorite book)

Much like Harry Potter four this book includes a Labyrinth or maze that the characters must traverse in order to meet an end. The end in this book however is not the tri-wizarding cup but rather Daedalus the inventor of the Labyrinth. This is of course the same labyrinth that can be found under King Midas' palace. Except it had continued to grow and in some ways has taken on a mind of its own. It is so large and confusing that it can cause insanity in those who fall to its will.

Why do the main characters end up in a labyrinth? Because the now mostly risen lord Kronos has decided that he will use this underground passage way to avoid the enchanted protected borders of the hero camp Half-blood. This they are able to do because there are many exits and entrances to the Labyrinth and they are all over the place, one of which is in the woods of Camp Halfblood. Much in the same way that the Death Eaters use the vanishing cabinets to avoid the boundaries of Hogwarts in Harry Potter.

Percy also meets an interesting young girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She is exceptional because she is not a child of a god/ goddess yet, unlike most mortals, she is able to see all the crazy magical stuff that the heroes can. Most mortals see strange situations that are fogged by a mist and explained by things they can understand, for example a monster destroying a building would be a gas leak and an explosion to most mortals but Rachel can see the truth. She also meets Percy when she assaults Kronos with a blue plastic hairbrush.

In the end the Labyrinth is destroyed as Daedalus sacrifices his own life, which is tied to the maze, in order to save western civilization. Thus delaying the end of western civilization as we know it.

Book Five: The Last Olympian.

In this book the Evil Titan lord Kronos is fully risen in the body of the once friend of Percy and Annabeth, Luke Castellan. A large portion of this book is spent discovering the past of Luke, much like much of the last two harry potter books are spent discovering the past of Tom Riddle. Percy is convinced that Luke is gone forever and that he is completely evil but Annabeth believes that there is still good in him.

The book builds to the eventual confrontation between good and evil between the Titans and the Olympians. The battle for western civilization finally comes to New york City, In a remake of the first war between the Olympians and the Titans."Many fight for Olympus, including Hunters of Artemis, Dryads, Satyrs, naiads and tree nymphs, Chiron's centaur cousins the party ponies, and the hellhound Mrs. O'leary. They must defend Mt. Olympus from Kronos' huge army consisting of rogue half-bloods, Dracaenae, Hyperboreans, Laestrygonians, drakon, hyperion, telekhines, typhoon, and hellhounds." (I got lazy and stole this directly from Wikipedia.)

The battle starts in the city and eventually the Olympians are pushed to the top of the empire state building, the new home of Mt. Olympus. The two groups fight and in a final stand, and in the halls of Olympus the battle ends. I wont say how and I wont say why but the final couple of twists are good by youth literature standards. Compared to the epic fight scenes of the lord of the rings I would say this book was crap but would I love to sit and watch a Hollywood re-enactment of this final stand? Hell yea. I think that this fight scene could be both emotionally and visually stimulating if done by the right person.

The real twist at the end of this story is the romance angle. Two girls vie for the love of Percy Jackson in this series Annabeth and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. At times in this story it seemed like it could go either way but in the end, when it most looks like he is going to end up with Rachel she decides to become the next oracle which means she must not have a love life and Percy ends up with Annabeth.

Did I like this series? In hindsight, I would say the books were entertaining. I definitely would not recommend them to someone who doesn't enjoy children's literature as much as I do. The books were written at a low level and the plot was thin and trite but it did make me consider reading the Illiad and the Oddessey to see how much this book actually resembles those early Myths. This might also help me to understand how much artistic License that Riordan took.

I would like to end this post with a second apology. I started writing this post almost a month ago and I decided I wanted to see how it was like to live like Keith. Therefore this post took me almost three full weeks to complete. I would like to apologize everyone except Keith. Also I was sparked to finish this post by Sween when he sent me a text ultimatum letting me know that I wasn't allowed to come over to his house to watch Lost tonight until I had posted. So once again, Nuff Said.