The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3)

As usual with this series, we jump right into the action with Percy, Annabeth and Thalia meeting Grover at a military boarding school where Grover believes there to be two young half-bloods. We learn that the half-bloods are brother and sister, Nico and Bianca di Angelo. But before they can even talk to the pair they are attacked by a monster and are rescued by a mysterious group of bow-wielding girls called The Hunters. However, during the battle Annabeth disappears. The Hunters are a group of immortal hunters who have sworn off men and amongst them is their goddess Artemis in the form of a twelve-year-old girl. She explains that ancient monsters are stirring and they endanger the entire world. Bianca joins the hunters and becomes an immortal which upsets her younger brother. Artemis sends her Hunters and the half-bloods to Camp Half-Blood with a ride from her twin brother, the sun god Apollo.

After arriving at Camp Percy has dreams of Annabeth in great danger while the leader of The Hunters, Zoe, dreams of Artemis imprisoned. Percy and Zoe beg to go rescue their trapped friends but only Zoe, Bianca, Grover and Thalia are chosen to go. Unsurprisingly Percy sneaks along in hopes of saving Annabeth. The group travels across America following in Artemis' trail and run into Luke and his army while fighting off fierce monsters. Luke's army is now being led by a mysterious figure known only as The General.

In the previous book, we learn of a prophecy stating that a child of The Big Three would either save Olympus or destroy it by their sixteenth birthday. Initially, it was thought to be Percy that the prophecy spoke of but when Thalia was revived by the Golden Fleece everything changed. During their adventure, both are tested to see what they will do, especially Thalia who is only a week away from turning sixteen.

This was a great book just like the others, filled with adventure, mythology and mystery. I loved learning more about the prophecy. I also enjoyed the new myths that it referenced.

The Titan’s Curse raises the stakes, the tension and the adventure by a tenfold. I could not tear my eyes away from the page to save my life.

The third novel in the Percy Jackson series picks up a few months after the conclusion of The Sea of Monsters. Thalia has been resurrected due to the healing powers of the Golden Fleece and she, Annabeth and Percy are on a quest to find and protect two suspected half-bloods, Bianca and Nico di Angelo. But the routine mission goes wrong, and Annabeth is kidnapped by Luke’s forces. Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, goes searching for a mysterious creature who Luke has recruited, but disappears. Percy is sure the two events are connected and the camp Oracle gives a furtive prophecy and quest which foretells the death and doom of several demi-gods as well as Artemis’ hunters. Percy, who is not invited on the quest, secretly tags along in order to find and protect Annabeth. What Percy and his friends discover is even more frightening than they had imagined.

Rick Riordan’s books just get better and better with each novel. The plot of The Titan’s Curse was astounding and left me perched on the edge of my seat. Percy had been plagued by dreams which were actually events he was watching as they occurred. Sometimes, this technique where the protagonist dreams important information could get a little dry as Percy’s dreams are not really explained, they just happen. I always just assumed Percy’s prophetic dreams were an extension from his powers from his father, Poseidon, but Riordan never elaborates on it. Despite the very obvious dreams, Percy, of course, is too dense to understand them. Once the dreams’ meanings were revealed, I almost threw the book at the wall. The last few chapters of the book were panic-inducing and so mind-blowing.

I should explain my comment about Percy: while he is a great protagonist and so funny and heroic, he reminds me a lot of Harry Potter. Harry is without-a-doubt the most ignorant and slow-witted character in middle-grade fiction in that he has absolutely no clue as to what is happening before it is too late. Many fans and readers even make jokes about Harry’s terrible perceptibility. Percy’s mannerisms and personality evoke Harry. Percy is still a wonderful character, and on the fast-track to becoming a favourite of mine, but Zeus, that boy can be dumb.

In The Titan’s Curse, we are introduced to two more Olympian gods, Apollo and Artemis, who were fantastic additions to an already incredible ensemble. Apollo was so hysterical; I laughed so hard at his jokes and haikus that I had stitches at my sides. I’m really excited to learn more about him in his own series, The Trials of Apollo. Artemis, who has always been my favourite Greek goddess, was a remarkable character. I loved her wit, personality and strength. I was particularly intrigued by her decision to present herself as a twelve year-old girl. Artemis’ Hunters were also phenomenal and fierce. I’m so thankful that Riordan included them in the novel. I always love reading about young girls who are strong and capable, performing such amazing feats.

The Tiran’s Curse was a fast-paced adventure-fuelled novel that I could not put down. The world-building increased and improved, the characters were marvellous and the central villain is getting closer to rising once more.

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In the third book of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, a threat is rising, romances are forming and the plot forever thickens. The Titan's Curse brings boring, old, Greek myths to life in a way that no one has ever done before. When I read Half-Blood, I felt that it didn't have as much connection as Percy Jackson has. These books link directly into the ancient legends.

As the characters grow older, I feel that they change. Not a bad change, but a change all the same. I like this new shift and it makes me like them even better. Rick Riordan is such an amazing author, if he ever came to Australia, I would by a ticket for the next plane to whatever city he visited. And when I saw him, I would scream, all because he is such an amazing author.

There's only so much you can say about a great series, and that is, go get the book and read them. You'll fall in love with the stories. Old myths brought to a new generation.

Reader reviewed by Linda L

*previously posted on my book blog, Most Important Letter*

The Titans Curse
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release date: May 1, 2007

Age genre: Youth fiction
Sexual content: Were fine here.
Profanity: All clear.
Violence: Still fighting battles, Percy, eh? Well, then, I guess well expect some action.
Other notables: Nope.

Genres: Greek mythology, adventure

L: This was actually a pretty intense book, surprisingly. Usually I think of the third book in five-book series droll, but this brought a whole new round of surprises.

The Titans curse & think about it. Do you know any famous Titan with a curse?

Copy: Paperback, borrowed from friend
Rating: 4 out of 5 letter blocks

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

These books are magic. Every single one of the Percy Jackson books drew
me into the plot and the characters. I cannot set these books down!
Rick Riordan is a wordsmith and I highly recommend these books to not
just teens, but adults as well. I'm going to recommend these to my mom. I
know she'd love them!

As I was reading through the first four
books, I can't help but draw some similarities between the Percy Jackson
series and the Harry Potter series:

1. Both Percy and Harry have
a mentor: Chiron and Dumbledore, respectively. They give their
protegees advice, especially on their different quests.

2. Harry
has Ron and Hermoine, Percy has Grover and Annabeth. Each of their
friends joins Harry/Percy on their journeys and helps him.

3.
Percy and Harry each have a "safe place" that they go to. For Harry,
that place is Hogwarts, and for Percy it's Camp Half-Blood (whose name
reminds me of the 6th book of the HP series).

4. There are
prophecies told of both boys. Harry's prophecy is that he must overcome
Voldemort or he will be killed by him. Percy's prophecy is that when he
is sixteen years old, he will either destroy or save the world.

5.
Speaking of prophecies, there is a prophet in both series: Professor
Trelawney and the Oracle. Even though Pro. Trelawney's prophecies rarely
come true, she is the one who spoke Harry's prophecy.

6. Hagrid
and Tyson are similar characters. They are both huge: Hagrid being a
giant and Tyson being a Cyclops. Another similarity between the two is
that they like strange animals. For example, Hagrid is fascinated by
dragons and Fluffy, and Tyson is enamored with Blackjack and those of
his kind.

7. There is an object of invisibility in each series.
Harry has his cloak of invisibility, and Annabeth has her hat that when
wearing, one's body is invisible.

8. A similarity in The Battle
of the Labyrinth that I noticed was the storyline about Kronos. When
each member joins his cause, he gets a piece of his body back, until
eventually he is all fit together and has a physical body. This reminded
me a lot of Voldemort. Because after he was nearly destroyed when he
tried to kill Harry, he had to rely on others to get his full body back.
For example, Professor Quirrel in The Sorcerer's Stone allowed
Voldemort to attach himself to his body.

9. Voldemort split his
soul into (I think it was) seven horcruxes. This is almost exactly what
Daedalus did when he created his five automatons.

I'm not sure if
these similarities are intentional or not, but throughout reading the
series I sure found a lot of them! I'm not saying that this series is
not as good because of the parallelism, it's just that I wish Riordan
would come up with something new and different that we haven't already
read in another series.

An aspect that I enjoyed about these
three books is the growing maturity of the three main characters: Percy,
Annabeth, and Grover. Toward the end of the fourth book, Grover took
the lead of the satyrs and told them what they should do to protect the
wild. Annabeth said "Grover seems to be growing up." Percy and
Annabeth's relationship gets more complicated with the return of Rachel
Dare in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Annabeth becomes jealous and angry
at Percy. But the maturity isn't so much that it's unrealistic. They
make mistakes just like humans and they learn from them.

Another
thing I'd like to mention about these books is that even though there is
darkness and sadness in them, there is also plenty of humor. I have
laughed so much during these books, which is rare for me because most of
the books I read don't have original humor.

Reader reviewed by Katie

The third book in the series does not disappoint. With Thalia back, things get a bit easier going on missions - until Annabeth is taken by the enemy. With two mysterious new halfbloods, Artemis and her hunters, a rescue mission, and the Titan Atlas - the Hoover Dam and some flying bronze statues - this book will never get boring. From Chapter 1: My Rescue Operation Goes Very Wrong to Chapter 20: I Get A New Enemy For Christmas, this book is a hilarious one you won't want to put down.

Reader reviewed by Chantele

This is book 3 in the Percy Jackson series. Percy, Thalia, the daughter
of Zeus, and Grover are stunned to learn that Annabeth has been taken
by Kronos' followers. They team up with Zoe Nightshade, and Bianca Di
Angelo (Immortal Hunters) on a quest to find Annabeth, and the Goddess
Artemis who has also been taken prisoner.
Bianca and Nico are
brand new characters, and half blood's who have no idea who their Godly
parent is. It is interesting how it all turns out. Percy is involved
with a major prophecy as well. A child of the "big three" will either
destroy or save Olympus when they turn 16. It could be Percy, Thalia,
or someone else they don't know about yet.
There are so many twists
and turns in this book, that I could not put it down! It is my favorite
in the series so far. I loved the new characters, especially Zoe, and
it was so interesting to read about all of the new monsters and Gods,
and Goddess's they meet along their journey. (I love Apollo!)
Another awesome book in this wonderful series! I am pretty sure it is getting up there with Harry Potter!;)

Reader reviewed by Pathfinder

Percy is still up to his half-thought out tricks and has now gained enough confidence to get himself in trouble. There's plenty of action and fighting with good descriptions that make the scenes real in a middle-schooler's mind, but by now we're starting to see the pattern--Percy gets kicked out of a school, has to save the camp, fights lots of monsters and postpones the destruction of the world. As repetetive as it is, his telling of events always comes across as honest and sincere as only a kid who struggles through school can be.