The Titan's Curse is a part of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The series tells the story a Percy Jackson, a boy whose life is changed when he finds out that his Father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and that the Greek myths he had been studying in school were more than just fables. In this part of the series, Percy starts by looking for two other demigods that were reported to him by his friend, Grover. Percy plans to recruit these two into Camp Half-Blood, a school for demigods training to become heroes, but his plans go haywire when the legendary manticore attacks Percy. Percy fights hard, but even when his friends Grover, Thalia, and Annabeth come to his aid, Percy cannot prevail. Just before the manticore sends Percy and his friends to the river Styx, a group of hunters led by Artemis shoot the monster over a cliff, taking Annabeth with it. Angry and confused, Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood, planning a rescue for Annabeth, but he is interrupted by disturbing news. Artemis has gone missing, and the oracle has declared that five campers and hunters must go to find her. Percy is sure that if he finds Artemis, the goddess will lead him to Annabeth, and he decides to go. Percy and the four other travelers endure constant pressure on a gruesome quest to find Artemis, during which one of the travelers is lost. When they finally find Artemis, the goddess is struggling under the burden of holding up the sky. The god, Atlas, has tricked her into the burden in his plan to escape and help his lord Kronos overthrow Olympus. Percy and his friends fight Atlas, but they soon realize that the fight is hopeless without the help of Artemis. In a desperate move, Percy pushes Artemis from under the holding point and takes the burden up himself, until Artemis fight Atlas back into his old burden. The strain from holding up the sky harshly impacts Percy, and he is now unable to move. Despite this, Percy has found Artemis, and, as he supected, Annabeth was there, too. Annabeth had been a captive of Atlas and a part of his attempt to escape. Now, Annabeth, Percy, and the remaining travelers return home, and Artemis confers on them her blessings.
The Titan's Curse is an easy book to read; the text is large, the content flows pretty smoothly, and the book just goes by fast. Unfortunately, this might be because there is very little that actually happens in this book. The Titan's Curse seems to lack the luster that made the first two books interesting. As is classic for most series, the third preformance is the worst amongst the first three, and that is only natural. At the point of a third book, the old jokes have begun to become corny, and the new jokes are not likely to fit with the tone of the story; the book needs to take a new turn, but the old turn is so familiar that when the book comes out different, it is hard to get into it. The idea is, in a sense, that one can only pull so much out of one idea. Amongst fantasy books, this is certainly not the most exciting book, and the beginning is very confusing; the second book ends with a sgnificant event and an ultimatum, and the third book begins a year or two after that. Upon starting this book, I could not shake the sense that I had missed a book in the series, but there was not book containing the part of the plot that seemed to be misssing.
Depsite the lackluster plot of the book, The Titan's Curse is actually a decent story. The series does hold true to Greek mythology, for the most part, and for those who enjoy fantastic battles with swords and bows and sheilds, this book should be entertaining. A sense of mystery is kept throughout the book until the very end, so reading the book is easy and a little satisfying. For the heavy reader, this is an easy story that makes for a quick reading. For the recreational reader, this is a good book to start reading on a car ride, or something of the sort, and finish later. If books were meals, this book would make a good snack. I heartily recommend The Titan's Curse to anyone who is about to have a good deal of free time and nothing to do with it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Titan’s Curse does seem quite interesting, and I’ll be sure to heed Nico’s warning about the third book not being as interesting as the other two in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I’ve always had an interest in Greek mythology, especially reading The Iliad about the Trojan War, and The Odyssey about Odysseus returning home from the war. I’m pretty sure the Percy Jackson books are fun and interesting to read, but is there good action in the book with some suspense in between? Will I be willing to read the second book I begin with the first? I’m not so sure about Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting to me because I am very interested in Greek mythology. After learning about it in English class last year, I started reading a great deal about mythology and I think that this book would be interesting for me to read. Is this book based on facts of mythology or just loosely based on it with a great deal of fiction? Also, as you said, The Titans Curse, which was the 3rd book in the series, was not as exciting as the first two books. Since I am not a big fan of reading, I would prefer to read the one book out of the three which was the most interesting. Are all of the books in this series as short and easy to read as The Titans Curse? Which one would you recommend out of the three if I was only going to read one?
ReplyDeleteA teacher once recommended this series to me, and I was quick to scorn it. Maybe my neglect to read the books was because I strongly disliked the teacher, maybe it was because I had a momentary lapse in judgment. In any case, Nico’s description of the series is very desirable. Though he doesn’t like the third one as much as the first two, it seems like a very fun book to me. I hope the series speaks to me as much as Nico’s summary does. He makes the books sound very interesting, though he definitely also makes me want to read them in order.
ReplyDeleteI have read the first two books of Rick Riordan’s series. I find the first and its sequel very interesting. Novels that tell of anything different from reality and our world today capture my attention easily, although I am a big reader. I agree that many of the series I have read take hold of my imagination and keep me craving more until I reach the third book. Everything seems out of place, and uninteresting. Once you reach the third, you forget of everything that takes place in the first. It surprises me though that Riordan’s The Titan’s Curse did not stand up to the expectations of his other books. I loved following Percy through his journey, and the feeling of actually being there in a place other than reality. I believed you gave me a reason to go and reread the series, and continue following Percy and Grover. I will let you know whether I agree with your assessment of The Titan’s Curse!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book and is posibly my favorite in the series. I love Greek mythology and I think the whole Percy Jackson series is great.I agree with the easy to read, goes by fast, and the not much happens parts, but it is important for the following books. The only part I could complain about in this book is Percy holding the sky, which doesn't seem very realistic, even in mythology. Other than that I think its great and I even blogged about one of the other books in the seies.Rick Riordan a pretty good author and I've seen a lot of people who blogged on one of his books.
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in this book. I have read the first two books of this series and I thought they were wonderful. I am fascinated by Greek mythology and I love to hear all the stories of the different gods and goddesses. This book sounds as if it puts a new kind of twist on the mythology we learn about in school. This seems as if it would be a page turner for someone like me because I could not put down the first two novels of this series during the time I was reading them. You said you did not like the third book as much as you liked the first two of this series, why do you feel that way?
ReplyDelete