Mr.Riordan and I have an interesting relationship. He is one of my favorite authors, although, unlike most of my favorite authors, I do not love every book he has written. If you do not know his name you are somewhat oblivious to children/teen literature. This man has written one of the most popular book series in the past 5 years- Percy Jackson & The Olympians, a 5 book series follows a young Greek demigod, named Percy. The first of these books, The Lightning Theif, has been made into a "major motion picture." I could not bring myself to see it, but it didn't get the greatest reviews from my peers. Nevertheless, this series was amazing in my opinion. Rick Riordan has grown to publish two more series of books, alternating in release dates (meaning he has two unfinished series out at the same time). The Kane Chronicles is about Egyptian magic, and you can read my opinions on it below. The Heroes of Olympus goes back to Riordan's topic of Greek/Roman gods and demigods. May I just add that it irks me how all of his books start with "the"? I never noticed this before, but now it really bugs me!
A great start to a great series, The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & The Olympians book 1) starts out with a boy named Percy who just finds out that he is the son of the Greek god, Poseidon. This makes him a "demigod"- half god, half human. Percy begins to find out who he is, and ends up making new friends at Camp Half-Blood, a magical camp for demigods, going on quests for Mt.Olympus, and battling monsters along the way. I love this book, and I would recommend it to any young reader!
The Sea of Monsters is one of my favorite books in this series. I have only really come to appreciate it now, after reading The Odyssey (Homer). This book mirrors the Odyssey in many of the parts of the quest that Percy travels on. This book is a quest for the Golden Fleece, and Percy has to battle monsters like Polyphemus, the cyclops, along the way!
The Titan's Curse was not a book that stuck with me for a long time, although I loved it, and the plot is very important to future books, and even future series by Rick Riordan! Percy begins by recruiting and helping two new demigods- these kids are the children of Hades, which certainly adds interest to the book. As usual, a quest is completed, but the main goal of the series becomes apparent.
I loved this book, because it was unlike any of the other books by Rick Riordan. The quest, this time, is for a particular person, and this person can only be found in an underground labyrinth (maze). The maze has many different mysteries that have to be solved by our hero Percy.
This book was the dramatic conclusion to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, and it did not disappoint! The majority of the book takes place in New York City (Mt. Olympus headquarters), where a battle is being fought between the evil Kronos's army and the Greek demigods and their help. One thing I loved about this book is that it really tied up, and explained many of the backstories of the minor characters in this book! It was also filled with interesting demigod relationships, and a bit of betrayal.
I am going to be completely honest here- I hated the Kane Chronicles series (well, from what I have read.) These books begin a whole new series, filled with different characters, and different godly forces. This time, Riordan deals with Egyptian magic, and Egyptian gods. I have not actually read The Throne of Fire, but reading The Red Pyramid was a waste of my time and money. It was written as if two siblings recorded it on a tape recorder, but the only way we know this is that once in a very long while, there will be an annoying paragraph of the siblings bickering. The Red Pyramid was written with a pointless and stupid plot line that nobody could relate to (one of the reasons the Percy Jackson series was so popular, because people could relate to the human struggles). The worst part about this book was that it was just plain confusing! I am in high school, and it was hard for me to understand/follow what was happening at times! The disappointment of this series almost lead me not to read the next series Rick Riordan came out with.
Just notice for a second, that above the author's name, it says, "Author of the best-selling Percy Jackson series", not Kane Chronicles series. If you love reading long books as much as I do (each of these books are about 500 pages yea!), then you will adore this series. The author retreats to what he is best at writing about- Greek Mythology, in this first book- The Lost Hero. It is delightful, because the setting is back at Camp Half-Blood, where there is a new boy there, a Roman hero. This is unsettling for the campers, but he still goes on a quest with two other Greek demigods. It is great because, although the three main characters are new, there is still A LOT of interaction with the characters we already know from the Percy Jackson series! All of the campers are worried, because a new force is being awakened- Gaea, the earth. Gaea is evil, and so powerful that she makes Kronos seem like a blade of grass (sorry, bad analogy). The quest that our new characters; Piper, Leo, and Jason (Roman) go on helps put in place part of the new goal to defeat Gaea. The second book of the series, The Son of Neptune , is written on another side of the country- at the Roman camp. It is interesting, because the author never mentioned that there was a Roman camp in the Percy Jackson series! Speaking of Percy Jackson, guess who is at the Roman camp? You guessed it! Percy also goes with two roman campers- Frank and Hazel, to Alaska to help stop Gaea's rise! It seems as though the two books are unrelated, until the very end, where the campers will meet. Unfortunately, the book stops there, at a huge cliffhanger. Sigh, I really can't wait for the next book!
I really have not had much time to read or post lately, I apologize! Hope you enjoyed this very long book/author review!
<3
Maddie
