The Sea of Monsters

    The Sea of Monsters is written by Rick Riordan. Riordan is famous for his ability to write Greek Mythology books while also relating to the teen audience. He has written The Lost Hero, The Red Pyramid, and The 39 Clues series. The Sea of Monsters is the second book in the series of Percy Jackson. There are five books in total. Reading the first book before the second would help you understand the storyline better.

   Percy Jackson is finishing his seventh grade year. This year had been weird...he hadn't had any monsters attack him . Just when he thought luck was on his side and the monsters were gone they decided to join his dodge-ball game. Percy thinks he is doomed and that the monsters have him this time… Then his best friend Tyson, turns into a Cyclops, and saves him.

   Percy knows that he needs to get to Camp Half-blood in order to be safe but he also decides it would be a good idea to bring Tyson with him. When they get to camp they learn that Thalia's tree has been poisoned, Chiron has been replaced with Mr. D, and that Tyson is actually Percy's step-brother.

   Percy tries to locate his Buddy Grover. He is told that Grover hasn’t been seen or heard from in a long time.  Percy and Grover have an empathy link that allows them to communicate even if they are not by each other. Grover tells Percy that he is trapped in The Sea of monsters. Percy wakes up and tells the leaders that Grover is trapped and just maybe the Golden Fleece that is needed to cure Thalias’s Tree could be with Grover.

   Percy sets out on a quest with Annabeth and Tyson to try and rescue Grover while also obtaining the Golden Fleece. Just like any other Rick Riordan book they run into problems. There old Camp Half-blood friend Luke tries to stop them. He believes that the Titans should be the ones to rule the world. Then they run into the six headed monster, Scylla, Tyson gets lost and Annabeth and Percy are left to believe that he has died. There are a lot more thrilling moments in this book but you will have to read the book to see if Percy can successfully finish his quest.

Overall, this book was fascination because it isn’t just a fantasy book. It is a book that has themes that even the teenagers who aren't totally into Greek Mythology would enjoy. This book also follows the Hero's Journey step by step. Therefore, even though the book was predictable it was still a good read. A.

THE LOST HERO

 If you are looking for an extremely suspenseful book that will keep you turning the pages until the very end, the lost hero is definitely the book to choose. From the very beginning it sucks you in and makes it indubitably hard to put down. 

     It all starts out with a boy named Jason who wakes up on a school bus holding hands with a girl named Piper who is supposedly his girlfriend. Next to him is a boy named Leo who is apparently his best friend. All three of them go to a place called "The Wilderness School" or a place for "bad kids" as Leo puts it. What Jason did to end up in the peculiar place with a bunch of weird people, he hasn't a clue. All he knows is things seem very, very wrong. This is all proven when he eventually ends up at a strange camp with a bunch of teenagers in orange t-shirts. Things get even more complicated for Jason when he finds out he is the child of a very important god. When he gets chosen for a quest the plot thickens and the three friends are faced with a lot of really hard trials. Jason has a memory problem. Piper has a very big secret. And Leo has a way with tools. Faced with trials and a quest that could ultimately demolish the earth, it comes down to a matter of hours to save it.

     What is really cool about this book is that we aren't just in one person's head the whole book. This book transfers back from Jason, to Piper, then Leo. It gives a lot more insight and a better understanding of the book to see the point of view from those three characters. Overall I would give this book an A+. I honestly have no complaints about this book and it ends in a cliff-hanger that leaves you pining to read the next book. This is a fantastic book for both boys and girls. It is packed full of action, suspense, and romance. It is a sure fire guarantee this book will keep you interested the whole time and leave you hungry for more.

The Titan's Curse
by Rick Riordan


The Titan's Curse is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series. The book is about Percy Jackson who is the son of Poseidon. Percy has to fight monsters and save the day.
He is what is called a demi-god. He goes to a special camp where he learns how to fight monsters. Yay for him.

This book begins in the middle of winter while Percy and two other demigods, Annabeth the daughter of Athena and Thalia the daughter of Zeus, are on their way to find some two new demigods and bring them to their camp. At first all is well until they get ambushed by a power monster. The Manticore. They are rescued by the Hunters of Artemis but in the commotion the Manticore and Annabeth fall off a cliff.

Soon afterward Artemis is captured on a hunting trip and Zoe Nightshade a hunter, Thalia, and Percy's friend Grover go off to save her from an evil guy called The General. Percy who is not allowed to join in this quest follows behind the hunters in hopes of being able to help out and to save his friend Annabeth. On the way there they battle many monsters and ran away from evil skeleton warriors. Finally they get to the mountain and save the day.

I think this is and enjoyable book filled with suspense and comedy. It is well told and has many funny allusions to Greek mythology. This book is my favorite in the series. It does exhibit some rude comments from Percy's Pegasus Blackjack but besides that its clean. A

The Mark of Athena

        The Mark of Athena is the third book in The Heroes of Olympus series. This book is a delightful spin-off of the Percy Jackson series. It is a great book, and like the Percy Jackson series it is based on Greek and roman mythology. It has a moral throughout the whole story of coming together to fight the enemy not each other. Rick Riordan is perhaps one my favorite authors to read because his stories are imaginative easy to follow and almost always leaves you wanting more. Although this book is imaginative it is quite difficult to keep up with because of the fast pace. Other than the fast paced story telling it did everything I had hoped for from my favorite author.

        In the previous two books The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune we meet some new characters including the most important Jason. Also we learned that Percy and Jason have lost their memories and have been somehow transported to each others camps. In The Lost Hero Jason arrives at camp half blood and has to regain his memory. While in Son of Neptune Percy is doing the same only with the memory of Annabeth’s face and in Camp Jupiter. Finally now in the third book we see the two worlds meet.

            Annabeth is on her way with Jason, Piper, and Leo to Camp Jupiter in the Argo III to get Percy and try to unite the two camps. While the evil earth goddess Gaea plans to unleash her giant sons to take them under her control. Then after some talking some uneasy arguments the camps unite to fight the earth goddess. However along the way they must face some other conflicts other than the war ahead.

So just to recap The Mark of Athena was an amazing book. I can relate this book to The Hobbit because of the unique way in which the story is told. Also this book is based on the simple life moral of join together and fight the bigger issue that is on hand. Finally as I said before my only concern with the book is the tempo may be a little too fast for some readers. In a nutshell this book was fun and exciting to read and for these reasons I give The Mark of Athena an A.

The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan

The lightning thief takes place in New York City.The story is about a boy named Percy Jackson who goes to a private school for troubled kids called Yancy Academy. Percy is a troubled kid. He is actually a Demi-God which is a half god half human thingy. His dad is the Greek god of oceans, Poseidon, and his mom works in a candy shop. His mom is currently married to a fat poker guy named Gabe Ugliano.
Percy doesn't know is dad is Poseidon. There are also monsters who want Percy dead.

The story begins in the middle of a school day when his Latin class is on a field trip to the Greek museum. Soon he is going to his apartment where his mom tells him they're going to the beach. When they get there Percy's best friend Grover (who turns out to be a satyr) comes out of nowhere and tells them to get out of there and go to a special summer camp where Percy will be safe from monsters. So as they are driving they get ambushed by a large cow man called a minotaur. The Minotaur initially destroy the car and turns Percy's mom into glowing light. Percy and his friend escape to the camp called camp Half-Blood where they learn about the master bolt and how the gods think Percy stole it. So Percy is sent on a quest to find out who stole the master bolt (and save his mom) and to bring it to mount Olympus before the gods all destroy each other. accompanieng him is his friend Grover and a daughter of Athena Annabeth. On the way he fights monsters and gets sidetracked and eventually get to the underworld where they confront hades and find out he isn't the bad guy. and eventually Percy finds the thief gets the master bolt and saves his mama.

Some concerns about this book is that a lot of the Greek allusions can be mildly confusing if someone doesn't have any background knowledge about Greek mythology. Also Percy is ADHD and can be hard to follow at times.Besides that the book is a great fast paced novel with a lot of mystery and suspense mixed in with Action. I think Rick Riordan is a great Teenage book writer and is really funny. He is probably the best author i know at creating complex and very likable characters. But i think that his second book series The Heroes of Olympus is drastically worse then the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.All in all The Lightning thief is a great book with good plot and very colorful characters. A

The Lost Hero by: Rick Riordan review: by Andrew Williams

Jason woke up on a bus holding hands with a girl named Piper, and talking to a boy named Leo. Apparently Piper was his girlfriend, and Leo was his best friend. Everyone else on the bus seemed to know him too, but Jason didn't know who these people were, he didn't even remember his past life. The only person who knew Jason didn't belong here was Coach Hedge, who later they find out he's a satyr. When they get off the bus, Annabeth and Butch (son of Iris) come in a flying chariots, Hera gave her a dream that she'd find her answer to where Percy Jackson was here, but she only found Jason, Piper, and Leo. She knew they were Half-Bloods and brought them to Camp Half-Blood. Right when they arrived, Leo got claimed by Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths and fire. While Annabeth was giving Piper a tour around camp, Chiron was having a chat with Jason and found out Jason was Roman. Later at dinner, Jason finds out his dad is Zeus, or as Romans say it, Jupiter. Piper got claimed by Aphrodite, which she did not like at all. Piper has been getting weird dreams that her dad has been captured by a giant at Mount Diablo, but she didn't mention it. They find out that Hera has been captured and locked up, and Jason, Piper, and Leo were assigned to go on the quest. 

Spoiler Alert!    They freed Hera and Piper's dad. Piper has the ability to charmspeak, and Leo has the ability to create fire, and he's immune to it. When they come back to camp, they find out Percy's at the Roman camp, and he doesn't remember who he is.

I give this book an A, the first is a little slow but once it gets into the quest it is one of the best books. 

Rick Riordan also wrote the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and this is a little similar but I feel had a little more action and suspense, many times I was forced to put it down ,but I just couldn't. 

This is a wonderful book that I suggest everyone read! 

The Sea of Monsters by: Rick Riordan

This wonderful fiction book is about a kid whose name is Percy Jackson. Percy, after completing the task of finding the stolen Lightning Bolt, is now faced with a new problem. Camp Half-Blood (a camp for sons and daughters of a mortal and a god) is not safe anymore. Zeus' daughter Thalia is a tree that protects the camp and now has been poisened so the borders are not protected anymore. The only cure is to retrieve the magic Golden Fleece. Percy with the help of his friend Annabeth and his step brother Tyson had to find the magic Golden Fleece before it was to late. Thalia would die and the camp would be in great danger. Also Percy's best friend is in trouble. He has been taken by a cyclops and Percy needs to save him. He keeps having dreams of Grover being held captive because Grover is sending them to him so he can also be found. In one of the dreams Grover tells Percy that he thinks that he might of found the Golden Fleece.

They travel to where he thinks Grover is and on the way their they have a lot of challenges. Right off the bat they get captured by one of their former camp-mates Luke (Luke was good and then he turned evil and wants the Titans to rule again). They managed to sneak away on a life boat one night and proceded to go on with their hard task. Bad thing after bad thing just kept happening. Next they met up with Clarisse (daughter of Ares and is a camp mate of thiers) and she had an ironclad from the Civil War. They were traveling in the right direction when they got attacked by Scylla (a sea monster that had 6 heads and always attacked sailors and boats). The crew ends up scattered except for Percy and Annabeth. They assume Tyson is dead because they thing he blew up with the boat. They don't know if the nearby islands are even safe so they can swim to them. They need to find Tyson and Grover. Hope is almost lost they need the Fleece to save Camp-Half Blood. They are running out of time and are in a time of desperate need. What will they do?

This book is a great book. I just love Rick Riordan he is such a good author and this series is great so far. I really encourage the people who read this series to study up on their Greek mythology or else you might not be able to understand it too well. I love the way how he puts Greek mythology into characters who live in modern times. He really understands how to make a good page turning book. I really liked this book and so far this series. A

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan, is the second book in The Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. The entire book was a very fast paced exciting. The book is fictional and it's all built around Greek mythology and stories and characters from legends. Percy the main character that we follow around is a teenager with some very exceptional abilities like being half god and being able to control water/sea. 

As the story begins it lets you know that Percy came home from Camp Half Blood, which is a place where other Demi gods or half gods go to train and learn in safety from evil monsters that regularly attack them. Most campers come home or back to the real world after summer. Percy is one of those cases and came home for the school year. Throughout the entire year Percy has been able to not get expelled for the first time in his whole life. Then the last day of school comes and mythical creatures called Laistrygonians decide to pay Percy a visit and blow up the gym. 

Then next thing Percy realizes is that he has to go on another life threatening quest almost as bad as the last one to save his best friend Grover who happens to be a satyr. As the story progresses Percy finds out one of his good friends he met at school is actually his half brother and a Cyclops. One might expect a little shock when they find out there father Poseidon is also the father of most Cyclops and your half brother. Anyways the group starts to be challenged on their quest by an evil boy named Luke. We know that Luke betrayed them the summer before by hosting Kronos and tried to kill them, once again this kid tries to take them out.

The story has some really good themes like family and acceptance, for example Percy's reaction to his new brother. Most people would be really angry when they found out that they have a brother who's a Cyclops, but Percy just accepts it for what it is. That is a perfect example of how Percy cares about others judges character more than anything else. I really liked this book and am also enjoying the entire series. The book is fast paced and packed with adventure and action; it's appropriate for everyone also. I think that this book for sure deserves an A-.

The Lightning Thief by: Rick Riordan

This fascinating book "The Lightning Thief" is a great fiction/Greek Mythology/fantasy type of book. Rick Riordan (the author) in my opinion is one of the best authors ever. This book is is so intriguing and entertaining.

Oh no! Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen! Who would steal it??? Of course they would choose the poor innocent guy who doesn't know the first thing about Greek Mythology... Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon (Poseidon is the god of the sea and the brother of Zeus). Percy Jackson is just a regular guy, besides the fact that he is a delinquent, until the day he is told that he is the son of Poseidon, Zeus including all of Mount Olympus thinks he stole Zeus' master lightning bolt, and that he has ten days to bring it back and find out who did it. Pretty tough for a guy who probably didn't believe what they were saying at first. Anyway, he and his best friend Grover (which he met at a regular school and Percy just found out that he is a saytr) get sent to a place called "Camp Half-Blood" to train for the mission ahead. So to shorten things up he leaves and goes on this crazy adventure that includes chopping of Medusa's head, eating burgers with Ares, and fighting Hades. Its not looking good for him and his friends but Percy's life pretty much depends on finding this lightning bolt. Can they find out who actually stole Zeus' bolt? Can they do it in ten days?

This is literally one of the best books I have ever read. It kept me up all night reading and reading and reading. It was so good. I don't think I would've changed anything in that book although you might want to study up on your Greek Mythology because it gets really hard to remember all of the names of the gods and goddesses. I really like how the author put this in modern day times instead of the 70s or 80s or something like that. I think that it was a great idea and it couldn't of been any better than it was. A+

The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It's an awesome fictional book about Greek mythology and totally follows the Hero's Journey. Although this book is built around Greek mythology it is put into a modern day setting like New York, California, and Denver. Rick Riordan makes this story a page turner and extremely fun to read when you can relate to some of the places that our mentioned.

Percy who is the main character that we follow around is what we call a Demi god. That means he's half god half human, and has some crazy super powers. Only thing is he doesn't even know about these powers. Ever since Percy was a little kid strange things have happened to him, like being able to hold his breathe underwater for unrealistic amounts of time. But what happens when you go on a field trip and you blow up a water fountain?

Throughout the book Percy learns who he is and even though he doesn't like it at first he comes to accept his abilities. Also a really good theme of this book could easily be family. Sally Jackson who is Percy's mom loves him unconditionally and has only ever tried to keep him safe and away from monsters that often try to attack Demi gods. When Hade’s captures Percy’s mom Percy wants nothing more than to save his mom from the underworld. This is a perfect example of what family means to him.

This book is full of action and adventure; it's a book that you don't want to sit down and leaves you thinking after every chapter. There’s no extreme violence or anything that would prohibit from someone not reading this book. I really enjoyed this book and so far the rest of the series. I give this book an A for sure.

The Son of Neptune

Rick Riordan author of the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series has started a new series. This new series has some of the same characters but with a totally different story. This fantastic Greek mythology fictional story was entertaining and interesting to read all the way to the end. 


Percy and Jason (a new character) have to battle mother earth also known as Gaea goddess of the earth, we think of mother earth being good but that is not the case in this book. Throughout the entire story its all based on Greek and Roman mythology.


Percy has shown up in a Roman camp completely wiped of his memory, all he knows is there's a girl named Annabeth that's important. The Romans are strict in there ways and believe in different gods than the Greeks. They are a lot alike but different names and some different powers. 


Throughout Percy's journey he falls into traps and lots of challenges but somehow always manages to save his friends and overcome the trials. For example one of the main problems is Gaea has awakened her giants that were designed to kill the gods. Percy and his friends have to go and fight the evil beings in order to save the Roman camp from utter annihilation. 


I loved this book, I thought it was exciting to read from cover to cover. Action and adventure with a new problems they have to face at every corner. The entire book is so well written it's like watching a movie in your head! This book is really entertaining and interesting to all ages and reading levels and I'm yet to hear a bad review on it.