Book Review #10 - The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan

Reason of the choice

This is the final book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and I was eager to finish this series because the previous four books were amazing and I really wanted to know how it would end.

Reaction to the first pages

The beginning of this book is slightly different from the others but I still liked it because I just wanted to know how the series would end, so I didn’t need to be very impressed with the first pages to decide if I wanted to keep reading it or not, because the previous books had made that decision for me. However, even with a different start, it hasn’t disappointed me because this final book had to be different from the previous ones or it would leave us with the feeling that we would need more books to finish the story properly.

Summary

The book starts when Percy and Rachel were hanging out but Charles Beckendorf, one of Percy’s friends at Camp, appears and tells Percy it was time to destroy a ship were part of Kronos’s army were. However, it didn’t go as they planned: they exploded the ship but Beckendorf died and Percy was able to get away from there with his life because he was son of Poseidon, or he would have died too.

After the explosion, Percy was carried by the waters to Poseidon’s palace which was being attacked but the Sea God said he would be able to hold it without Percy’s help and he also said that Percy should went back to Camp because that was the palace where he was needed the most.

As he arrived at Camp, he told the bad news and asked his teacher, Chiron, to tell him the Big Prophecy related to him. Then, Percy was taken to the attic, where the Oracle lived, and she told him the prophecy. While he was at Camp, he was told that almost all the Gods were fighting Typhon, the “father” of all the other monsters, which Percy had freed from his prison and he was also told that nobody was guarding Olympus, so they decided that they had to guard it themselves.

Before leaving the Camp, Percy found Nico, who taught him how to shadow travel with his pet, a hellhound he had inherited from Daedalus to go to Luke’s mother’s house because they needed to know more about Luke’s past if they wanted to defeat him because he was the one who had given his body to Kronos. When they left Luke’s mother’s house, they haven’t understood much of what she said, so they felt it was a little useless but with the development of the story, it all made sense. After that, they went to the Underworld, the realm of Hades, to keep going with Nico’s plan to defeat Kronos.

As soon as they arrived, Hades imprisoned Percy but Nico freed him and convinced Percy to have a bath on River Styx, to be as strong as Achilles, because Luke had also done that before him and that was the only way that they would stand a chance to defeat Kronos. When Hades noticed Percy had escaped, he led an army to jail him again but Percy annihilated them and he left the Underworld.

As soon as Percy arrived in New York, he made a plan to defend the city with the help of the other Half-Bloods, of the nature spirits gathered by Grover, a satyr and his best friend, and by Artemis’s Hunters. They were able to hold Kronos’s attacks but they suffered many losses. In the following day, Prometheus met Percy, offering them their lives if they gave up, but he refused. He had predicted Percy would say something like that, so he gave Percy Pandora’s box and he said that if he changed his mind to open it, so their lives would be spared.

In the next days, they were able to keep holding Olympus away from the Titan’s army but they were losing ground, despite the help given by the centaurs, led by Chiron, by Hades’s army, which was convinced by Nico to help defend Olympus, and by the Ares’s cabin, led by Clarisse, which wasn’t in the battle since the beginning.

When Typhon was near Olympus, the Gods were able to imprison it again because Poseidon came to help. By that time, Kronos was already in Olympus and Percy fought him until Annabeth understood the prophecy and told Percy to give a blade to Kronos while she was trying to bring back Luke’s consciousness. Their plan went well and they were able to defeat Kronos because Luke’s had stabbed himself in his “Achilles spot”, which killed him and the Titan.

Highlights

Once again, the author was able to adapt the old Greek Mythology into the modern times so successfully that all we want to do is to keep reading.

In my opinion, this was an amazing series finale book but I have to admit that I liked more the previous books because the final battle between Percy and Kronos seemed just so little when we compare it to the other stories which contributed to make this series so great.

Nevertheless, after four amazing books, Rick Riordan was still able to bring back even more creatures from the Greek Mythology but I think this was not the best book of this series because its plot was almost only about Percy’s battle against Kronos’s army, while the remaining books had stories with more action and more creatures, creating a very engaging plot which culminated in this last book.

Book Review #9 - The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan

Reason of the choice

Since its beginning, I always loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This is the fourth book of this series, so, in order to know how this series will end, I had to read this book to fully understand the whole plot.

Reaction to the first pages

As he always does in these books, Rick Riordan starts them when Percy is at his school, in the mortal world, and something bad happens to him. This book is no different from the others and, then, it developed itself naturally, not forgetting anything that had happened before, described in the previous books, that could influence the series.

Summary

As mentioned above, Percy was at his new school when two creatures, which were serving Kronos, attacked him and Rachel, a mortal girl, who could see through the Mist, a magical veil that doesn’t allow the mortals to see the monsters, gods and everything related to their world.

After fleeing from the school, Percy met Annabeth and they went back to the camp. In there, they found a new sword-master, Quintus, who had a hellhound, which is a creature that usually hunts the Half-Bloods, as a pet. Percy also found that the Council of the Satyrs, creatures which were looking for the wild god, Pan, didn’t believe that Grover, also a satyr, heard Pan. Moreover, all the campers knew that Kronos’s army was trying to find a way to use the Labyrinth created by Daedalus to attack and destroy the Camp.

Being in that situation, Chiron, the centaur who had trained many heroes through the times, named Annabeth to lead a quest with the goal to avoid Daedalus from giving Kronos a way to navigate through the maze. Then, she chose Percy, Tyson, a cyclops and Percy’s brother, and Grover to join her to help her complete the quest.

They were challenged many times: they had to face Kampê, an old monster, to free Briares, a creature with one hundred hands; they had to slay Geryon, a monster with three hearts; Percy almost destroyed one forge of Hephaestus to get rid of some creatures that were using it but that Hephaestues didn’t know what were they; and Percy also had to refuse to stay in Calypso’s island.

Only after all these things had happened, they found out they needed a mortal who could see through the Mist to guide them in the maze, so they went back to New York and asked Rachel to help them. She agreed and, with her guiding them through the Labyrinth, they found Daedalus’s workshop but, in that time, it was too late because he had already given Kronos's army Ariadne’s string, another tool to navigate through the maze. In their way back to Camp, they found Grover and Tyson, after splitting because Grover had felt Pan’s presence, and, after being all together, they found Pan, who died in front of them.

After Pan’s death, they went back to Camp and when they arrived, the Camp was being attacked by Kronos’s army but they were able to defend themselves and contain the attack with the help of Briares, who had got back some hope, and Daedalus, who came back to help because he felt sorry for all the bad things he had done in the past but, in the end, he kills himself to destroy the Labyrinth, which was connected to his life, to prevent Kronos’ army to use it. 

Highlights

Once again, Rick Riordan’s writing style kept unchanged and he kept introducing us new creatures and new stories of the ancient Greek mythology. However, these stories are told us as they had happened but the author also tells this main story by adapting the old creatures, gods and titans to our times and it is so interesting because it is not boring to read because we just want to read more and more to know how the story ends.

Book Review #8 - The Titan's Curse, by Rick Riordan

Reason of the choice

As part of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, I had to read it to keep in track of how the story would develop after Percy and his friends were able to retrieve the Golden Fleece from Polyphemus and reviving Thalia.

Reaction to the first pages

Since I read the book some time ago, while I was in college, I don’t remember very well how it was back then but I suppose I was quite anxious to know how the story went. However, I remember I read it quickly, so I enjoyed its beginning.

Summary

In the beginning, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia went to a school to rescue two half-bloods, Nico and Bianca, but they didn’t do it as they have planned because, although they were able to rescue the two kids, a Manticore attacked them, capturing Annabeth. If Artemis didn’t show up to help them, all of them might have been defeated by the creature.

Zoe Nightshade, one of the Hunters, and Percy had dreams that Artemis and Annabeth were in danger but they only went on a quest to save them when the Oracle left the attic, where it lived, to deliver the prophecy to Zoe. Percy wasn’t included in the quest because the Hunters weren’t allowed to travel with boys but he sneaked out of Camp and he went after them.

Bianca, who decided to join the Hunters, was in the quest too despite the short time she was with the other half-bloods. The quest group was attacked along its way by some monsters which were allies of Kronos, Luke, a half-blood who left the Camp to join the Titan and a man Luke called the General. The group was able to get out alive but when they arrived at the “junkyard of the gods”, they had to face a creature created by Hephaestus because Bianca stole a figure of a game to give to his brother, since he loved that game, but, in the end of the fight, she had to sacrifice herself to defeat the creature.

After Bianca’s death, they went to San Francisco, where they found Nereus, who told them that they should seek an Ophiotaurus, which was the creature Artemis was seeking before she got caught, but Percy had already found it before when he was at the Camp.

After knowing they needed the Ophiotaurus, Percy summoned it and Grover went back with it to the Camp and the remaining members of the quest went to Mount Tamalpais, which was the headquarters of Kronos’ army. In there, they found Annabeth chained and Artemis holding the sky, instead of Atlas. Soon after that, Luke and the General, who was Atlas, arrived. Percy offered himself to hold the sky, freeing Artemis. Then, Luke and Atlas battled Thalia, Artemis and Zoe. The quest members and Artemis won the fight and pushed Atlas into the place where Percy was, so Atlas had to hold the sky once again, freeing Percy.

In the end, they returned to Camp but Zoe died in the way back because she was severely wounded by Atlas and Thalia decided to join Artemis. When they arrived at the Camp, Percy had to explain Nico that Bianca had died but he was so upset that he blamed that her death was Percy’s fault and, after the discussion, he ran away from Camp.

Highlights

As always, Rick Riordan had done an amazing job introducing us more stories of the ancient Greek mythology but he adapts them to the modern times and makes it so engaging that we can’t stop reading it, not to mention that his amazing light writing style helps him a lot to get that effect.

Book Review #7 - The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan

Reason of the choice

The last book I read was The Lightning Thief, which is the first book of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series and I really liked it. The end of that book was amazing and it left a huge gap for the continuation of the series and I was so curious to know what would happen after that I have decided that I would only start reading another book or series only after finishing this one. So, that’s the reason why I have picked the The Sea of Monsters.

Reaction to the first pages

Since this is the second book of a series that I already know, I was used to the writing style and I remembered the story, so I wasn’t really surprised by nothing that was related with it and it wasn't disappointing at all.

Summary

Since the beginning, Percy was having some dreams with his best friend, Grover, who was a satyr that was looking for Pan, the goddess of nature. However, Percy knew that something was wrong because in those dreams he saw Grover being chased by a Cyclops and Grover was asking for help.

Percy, who had returned to a normal school and had a normal year since he left Camp Half-Blood, had some trouble in the last day of school because a group of giant cannibals, known as Laestrygonians, attacked him but he was saved by Tyson, who Percy had met earlier that year, and by Annabeth.

After that, Annabeth told Percy that Tyson was a Cyclops, which he hasn’t noticed due to the Mist, which was something that would make the humans unable to see the true form of monsters. Then, Percy, Annabeth and Tyson went to Camp Half-Blood in a taxi driven by the Gray Sisters.

When they arrived, the camp was being attacked by some monsters because the magic that was protecting the Camp was very weak because the pine tree, that once was Thalia, daughter of Zeus, was poisoned. After defeating the monsters, they were told Chiron, a centaur and the director of the Camp, was leaving and Tantalus, from Tartarus, would replace him.

When they were in the Camp, Poseidon, Percy’s father, claimed Tyson as his son. Before going in a new quest, Hermes appeared and gave some gifts to Percy. In the very moment before departing, Tyson and Annabeth showed up and went in the quest with Percy. They went aboard the Princess Andromeda boat where Luke, Hermes’ son and the one who poisoned the tree, was. They were able to run away from that boat and Clarisse, daughter of Ares, the god of war caught them.

In Clarisses' boat, they entered the Sea of Monsters but, in the moment that they were entering it, Percy and Annabeth lost Tyson. Then, the two went through many challenges, like Circe’s island and the Sirens, but they were able to go through all of that and they arrived in the island where Grover was trapped: Polyphemus island.

In the island, they were able to trick, once again, Polyphemus but they had help of Tyson, that hadn’t died when Clarisse’s ship sank. So, tricking Polyphemus, Percy, Annabeth and Tyson were able to rescue Grover and they also managed to get the Golden Fleece, an item that would cure the pine tree.

However, when they were going back to Camp Half-Blood, they were caught again by Luke. Percy, while fighting Luke, showed everyone in the Camp, that Luke was the one who poisoned the tree and not Chiron, which meant that he should get back his job. Once more, Percy and his friends were able to run away from Luke but this time they were helped by some friends of Chiron.

After some time in the Camp, they found out a new girl, Thalia, which the Fleece, brought back to life and everyone was concerned because she could also be a girl of a prophecy that might save or destroy the Olympus.

Highlights

Thankfully, Rick Riordan kept writing like he did in the previous book and that is something that must be highlighted because it’s really funny and it helps the way we feel how light reading this book is. Moreover, like I have written in the review of the previous book of this series, this is a great way to learn something more about the Greek mythology in a different but funny way.

Book Review #6 - The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

Reason of the choice

I have seen many times booktubers talking very well about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and I have also seen a movie adaption of The Lightning Thief, which I really liked, and those were the main reasons why I have chosen to read this book.

Reaction to the first pages

Honestly, I have seen the movie adaptation a long ago and I didn’t remember very well about it, so I started to read without very high expectations but, as soon as the book started, I also started to get addicted to it because it was very good and very funny. 

Summary

Percy Jackson was a twelve years old boy and he was dyslexic. Once, in a field-trip, he was attacked by his Math teacher but he was helped by his Latin teacher and, in the end of the fight, some of the people who had seen the attack said that they haven’t seen anything and they said it was all Percy’s imagination.

In the end of his scholar year, he went back to his mother’s house and, then, he and his mother went on vacations. However, Percy’s best friend appeared and Percy’s mom decided to take him into a summer camp that she knew due to Percy’s father, which he had never known. On the way to that camp, he was attacked once more but he and his friend managed to survive but his mother “died” at the hands of the Minotaur.

When Percy reached the summer camp, he discovered that he was a demigod and soon he was claimed as Poseidon’s son. In the camp, he also discovered why he seemed to be dyslexic to normal people and the reason behind it was because he had more developed senses than a normal person.

After being claimed as Poseidon's son, he was given a quest: returning the lightning bolt to Zeus, which was stolen but nobody knew who the thief was. In his quest, he had to defeat many enemies, such as creatures, gods and god’s traps, to get the lightning bolt back.

In the end, he was able to complete his quest and he realized who the thief was but he ran away from him, leaving the continuation of the story into the next book, which I am planning to read.

Highlights

This was the first book I have ever read by Rick Riordan and the truth is that I really liked it because his writing style is very funny and this book talks a lot about the Greek mythology, which is a theme that I really appreciate. 

Although, he uses the mythology in a different way, it is still very nice to read and it is also very useful for those who want to learn something more about that theme.