Percy Jackson & The Olympians #3: The Titan’s Curse
by Rick Riordan
Published May 2007
Goodreads: See here
Middle Grade Fantasy/Mythology
Featured image via my instagram @bookbastion
Plot at a Glance:
The story of Percy Jackson continues in this third installment to the acclaimed Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. Camp Halfblood has been saved, and a new ally has returned to join Percy in an epic new quest to save a friend and stop Luke from ressurecting Kronos. This time, Percy’s troubles increase tenfold when Annabeth goes missing and a dark new propecy rises, warning that not every hero will return home.
Previous Reviews:
{Review} Percy Jackson #1 – The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
{Review} The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Reviewed:
The child in me is forever kicking myself every time I finish one of these books that I didn’t read it sooner. Ironically, a series that I think is perfect for getting young boys into reading is one that I somehow passed over entirely when I was a kid. Like the previous two entries in the series, there’s magic and mayhem and an awful lot of mythology.
One thing I find so great about this series is the way it serves as a vehicle to inform and educate young readers. Obvious, it offers mythology with its own twist, but it’s also informative towards the original stories. Even when things differ for the sake of Percy’s adventures there’s usually an excuse given in the storytelling. Jam packed with action and sword fights and memorable villains I feel like had I read this as a kid I would have been obsessed with it, right along with Harry Potter.
I had small issues with this book that brought down my rating a little. Firstly, this one definitely suffers from middle child syndrome. By this point in the series we know the stakes. We know that Percy’s going to end up on an adventure that takes him outside Camp Halfblood, and we know that the end goal is seeing him reach his 16th birthday when prophecies abound.
This offering in the series raises the stakes in small ways, but in others I felt like it was sort of… useless fluff.
There are a few new characters introduced in this outing. One of which get unceremoniously dumped from the plot fairly quickly in terms of the entire series – unless they make a surprise return in later books that is – and the other I’m sure will be expanded on in books 4 and 5, but here these characters felt almost totally useless. Even the one that might someday return felt wasted. Like they’re there one moment and then dumped when the plot called for it.
Oh, and the Hunters. Artemis has these immortal hunters that follow her around like lackeys, and while I love that idea, I wasn’t in love with how blase some characters were about joining her band, when joining means leaving behind your mortality and everyone you’ve ever known to join a goddess. Although that does sound really awesome.
Other than those two tiny things, I really enjoyed the story and am excited to see where it goes next! I think a lot of things from this book will likely come up again and become important, so I’m happy to give this 4 out of 5 stars.
🌟🌟🌟🌟= 4/5 stars
What did you think of this book? Do the next 2 improve? Can you think of any other series that play with mythology?
xoxo
Great Review 😊!, I’m glad that you enjoyed it, for some reason I stopped reading the series, but I have to continue soon because it’s so entertaining 😄!. I hope you have a great month and enjoy your readings 😊❤
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I know that feeling! I have a real issue with starting a million series and then trying to find the time for them all! XD I’ve been trying to fit in one PJ book a month and it seems to be working well so far!
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I read these series not so long ago and cursed myself for not reading them sooner! They’re educational, fun and so easy to read. I read them all in seven days, oops.
The one thing that annoyed me enormously – since I read them one after the other – was Percy thinking “And it would be the last time for a long time I’d see this or that”. Yes, we know he’s going on an adventure, but that sort of ruined the surprise of when that adventure would actually start. At least for me it did, haha.
Hope you enjoy the rest of them!
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That is so awesome that you burned through the series so quickly. It’s a real testament to how entertaining it is! I get what you mean though about Percy’s inner monologue sometimes spoiling events to come (or not).
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I still haven’t read this series!!! I know. The shame!! I hope to maybe read it with my kids this summer 🙂
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I bet your kiddos will love it!
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I totally was that person who skipped this series when I was younger, and now I am kicking myself as well for doing that! My brother is at the perfect age to read this series and I am trying to get him to read them right now. He is at the perfect age! Hopefully I can convince him soon!
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I hope you manage to convince him to give it a go soon! My nephew is the perfect age for this series, but he’s so obsessed with Harry Potter right now it’s been a challenge even getting him to give this series a chance. I definitely think it gets overshadowed by HP for a lot of kids!
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See that is the complete opposite for my brother! He has NEVER read the HP series, but he is obsessed with the movies! I sadly failed to get him to read the HP books but now I am trying with the PJ series!
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The fourth and fifth books are MUCH better. Believe me. And as far as other mythology books, I wish I knew more series! With the realm of mythology, this is the best author out there in my personal opinion.
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That’s great to hear about books 4 and 5 Grace!
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I enjoyed the Percy Jackson series. It definitely would be a great series that gets boys reading. We need more books that do that…
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I agree that most of this was fluff and I think that’s how the majority of Riordan’s books are as the series progresses. It’s all about returning for another adventure and seeing what shenanigans the characters get up to. That’s the fun of it for me.
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I love percy jackson
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Me too! 🙂 He and the books are great!
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