The Titan's Curse

It's winter break and an urgent message from Grover sends Percy and his friends running to the satyr's aid. Naturally, things go awry, resulting in a mission to recover Annabeth and the goddess Artemis, both of whom have gone missing. On this journey, Percy uncovers revelations about the ancient power that is threatening Camp Half-Blood and Mount Olympus.

The plot of this third volume of the Percy Jackson series is virtually identical to the first two-- someone close to Percy goes missing and he goes on a quest to rescue them. As Percy travels west with his companions to rescue Annabeth and Artemis, he encounters various enemies, mythological creatures, and gods and goddesses. The story zips along quickly, glossing over many details show more (how can Grover control power lines with his reed pipes?), with not enough time spent on even the very emotional moments (the fate of certain characters), all the while accompanied by Riordan's familiar cheesy style of humour.

Still, The Titan's Curse introduces a few surprising twists which really changes the situation for Percy and the others, and by the end of the book, the overarching storyline has really picked up. The threat of danger from Kronos, the main antagonist, feels a lot more immediate and real, and I get the sense that the storyline is shifting away from these episodic missions and will start to deal with the greater questions of war between Olympus and Kronos, with the prophecy of the half-blood child of one of the big three gods, and Percy's role and ultimate fate in all this.

As the Percy Jackson universe expands wih these plot developments, a whole slew of new characters were introduced, both divine and human. I enjoyed meeting the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, and her irreverent, haiku-loving twin Apollo. I also love the idea that Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, didn't really have a distinct face. After a meeting with her, you can only remember that you saw the absolute most beautiful woman, but you can't remember what she actually looked like. Of the new half-bloods, I really only took to Nico-- it's really cute how he asks so many questions and I loved the fact that he geeks out over his games! It seems like he has an important roles to play in the rest of the series, so I will be looking forward to any scene he is in.

(Also, can I add that I really like how Riordan is developing the relationship between Percy and Annabeth? They are incredibly adorable and I also think it's hilarious that Aphrodite seems to ship them as well. I also like how Riordan actually tries to explore Percy's emotions more in this book-- perhaps a sign that Percy is slowly maturing.)

There were a lot of things going on in this book, and occasionally things felt a bit disjointed-- the quick switch from scene to scene, even after emotional moments, was kind of jarring. But it's clear that with this book, Rick Riordan was busy setting up all of the pieces, arranging them in the right places, in preparation for what I hope will be an exciting climax for the series. show less

Between Artemis, Zoe, Bianca, Thalia, and Annabeth, girls and goddesses dominated Titan’s Curse. It was refreshing, too, to see Percy at the end of Cupid’s bow (or in Aphrodite’s limo lol) rather than in the middle of everything as Annabeth was. (I wish we'd had a chap or two in her POV--she really went and held up the universe for several straight days.)

But damn that ending was brutal. Teared up on the bus home. Think this is my favorite of the series so far.

This is easily the most satisfying installment so far of the Percy Jackson franchise. Riordan still runs his tale at full throttle, giving neither characters nor readers barely a moment to pause, reflect, and assess, but more dimensions to the characters and the stakes are brought forward. This book is more about costs and casualties, subtly alluding to Percy's (and Annabeth's) increasing adolescent maturity.

Two new characters take the story in richer directions and one, ten-year-old* Nico, is apparently set to play a greater role in the overall saga; he cuts a cool figure among the other half-bloods and the contrasts are fun. The Olympians are met but for Hestia, and these updated forms work nicely; Apollo's brazen showmanship and show more lousy haiku are not a real stretch. Dionysus finally gets to play a role in classic character towards the end and Riordan shows why a god of Madness is not one to trifle with, even allowing "Mr. D" to drop the take-away line about power being difficult to resist. Nice.

"The Titan's Curse" is an uptick across the board, but it really is time to address the soon-to-be-15 year old Percy & Annabeth's physical and maturational growth; they still act and talk like they did at 12.

[* - There seems to have been a time-freeze involved along the way, so Nico was _born_ some 80 years previously. More to follow on that, I guess.] show less

The Titan's Curse is the third installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, written by Rick Riordan for mythology enthusiasts wishing to tempt children into sharing their passion. If you're interested in book three, that means that it's more than likely that you've read the first two... and let's face it. You're probably like me. If you don't absolutely despise a series, you're going to keep reading, if only to figure out where everything winds up. Do not fear: Percy Jackson and the Olympians continues to be a delight and certainly doesn't feel like a chore as you continue through the books. If you (or your kids... because I guess this is supposed to be for young adults, right?) are even slightly interested in mythology, show more then Riordan will be right up your alley.

Even more than The Sea of Monsters, this book dives right in to the story without much summary... to the point where it actually felt rather abrupt and I wasn't sure if I had missed something, as there was no familiar re-entry that usually kicks off a series installment. Annabeth (daughter of Athena), Thalia (the daughter of Zeus that was brought back to life at the end of the second book), and Percy have set out to meet Grover the satyr at a military school, where he's found two powerful demigods and needs the help of his friends to bring them back to Camp Half-Blood. Bianca and Nico are a brother-sister pair in a military school and getting them out won't be easy, as the vice principal is a manticore in disguise. In the rescue attempt, things go wrong and Annabeth is lost with the enemy. She's not dead, as originally feared, but she disappears and you just know that whatever else is going on, it will be Percy's mission to retrieve his lost friend who he might be more than a little sweet on.

The main villain in this book (aside from the manticore) is "the General" who has a great deal invested in bringing Kronos back to power. It takes a good part of the book to reveal exactly who "the General" might be, but those who are up on their Greek mythology should be able to guess. At the manticore & the General's command are zombie skeleton warriors, so be prepared for lots of action in this book. We also meet a few new gods, including a very attractive Apollo and the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, who disconcertingly appears as a young girl. Along with Artemis, there are her Hunters -- young women (who need not be half-bloods to join) who swear off men and stay young forever, immortal until they fall in battle or break their oath. Zoe Nightshade is Artemis's lieutenant, clearly a mythological figure of some kind, but that revelation takes a while. Much to her younger brother's displeasure, Bianca accepts Artemis's offer to join her Hunters, feeling as though she needs to take a path that is just her own. When Artemis decides she needs to go solo to track a new and powerful monster (that will play a key role upcoming events), everyone else heads back to camp. Once there, the Oracle has a prophesy so compelling that it leaves its attic to deliver it: five must go on a quest to save Artemis before the Winter Solstice, but one will be lost and another will die by a father's hand. Even though Percy isn't on the initial list of questers, there's no way that our hero pass up this opportunity, particularly when he knows that Annabeth will be somewhere close by. The quest takes the heroes to San Francisco, with several stops in between, and lots of questions are still unanswered by the end of the book. Riordan relies a bit on a deus ex machina in this one, but we'll let it slide. This is the darkest book yet, though, with truly frightening villains and actual bloodshed/death.

For me, The Titan's Curse didn't seem to have the parts of Riordan's storytelling that I enjoy most -- namely, the complicated nature of the gods and the implications of being involved in an immortal world for mortal heroes. We do have some intense situations here where individuals must make some very tough choices. At one point towards the end, in a battle, Riordan depicts one hero's resolve to kill another person. Lots of issues with parents still abound (these are teenagers, after all) and so the part of the prophesy that talks about a hero dying by a father's hand is quite interesting. Unfortunately, Percy doesn't seem to really spend a lot of time thinking on this one (well, we know it probably isn't Percy, seeing as there are several books left), but it still would have been an interesting bit of confusion for Percy if he were to have considered circumstances where his own demise would be brought about by Poseidon. Otherwise, Riordan's humor is quite liberally used in this book (Apollo spouts terrible haikus, Percy's pegasus Blackjack is rather casual in his conversation, and so on), as even Riordan knows that this is quite a transition book as we prepare for bigger things. It was disappointing to not have Annabeth along for most of the ride, but allowing the heroes to experience real pain and the force of immortal struggles bearing down on their shoulders... well, it shows that Riordan isn't simply trying to create another hero series, but rather, he's fully committed to his world and the implications of Greek mythology in it. show less

This review contains spoilers for the previous books.

This book starts off with Percy’s mom driving him to boarding school. Which confused me a little bit as Thalia and Annabeth were also there, but it was just a quest— to discover some of the most anticipated characters of this series… For me anyway. It happens in the first two chapters, so is it a spoiler to say WE FINALLY GET TO MEET THE DI ANGELOS!

A lot of great moments in this book between Artemis and the Hunters, Apollo and Thalia’s impeccable fashion choices. Kudos to her, man. I love her style. The little punk.

I definitely laughed when Thalia got all flustered at Apollo and he was like HI YOURE MY HALF SISTER way to kill the mood, dude. And then we get to see him again as show more they journey across the states? Wow. Oh man I am gonna enjoy the Chronicles of Apollo, I already know that.

Okay, the Hunters were very cool. But I disliked the juxtaposition with the kids in Aphrodite, actually since we’re here, let me pick a bone real quick. The whole series so far Percy (or the author?) were kinda putting Aphrodite cabin down for constantly doing their hair and makeup, they have been getting quite some flack for not being ‘outdoorsy’ or, more accurately, ‘masculine’ which has been grating on me since the first. Sure, they may prioritize their appearance over shows of strength and the games that the campers play, but I am a little annoyed that we don’t get to know more about them. Even Clarisse of Ares cabin got more background in the last book.

I guess this shows growth from the character that we meet one of the kids for more than a few seconds and we see she’s as capable a cabin leader as any of the others. Silena Beauregard. Really grateful for the upgrade in their status.

But pitting the Hunters against them? I was glad that Artemis clarified all romantic love was off the table, not just boys. Still, the game of capture the flag was a bit of an obvious take...

As per usual, Percy goes on the quest— but first we get to meet the Pegasus called Blackjack. The little side adventure they go on was one moment of obvious set up, but it isn’t the only one in the book. It’s full of… I’m not sure if it’s strictly foreshadowing because it’s a little obvious.

But back to the Di Angelos, between the mythomagic game mystery (who gave it to Nico?) and the obvious jumps in their memory (what happened to them?) I was really intrigued and raring to just read their story already! But, I need to calm down, this is still Percy’s story.

We got to see a lot of gods in this one, well a few very powerful players, since we saw Dionysis act like a god for the first time, and not like a guy sobering up after a centuries long bender. Apollo sneaking in some wisdom was also a nice touch. It’s clear that Riordan likes the character. But I also just love the gods sneaking around where they shouldn’t be.

And they kept going west, it’s almost exhausting when you read these books at a breakneck pace. And who is this mystery girl? At first I thought she was a demigod, but she apparently isn’t. Has anyone else realized her initials are RED? That has to also mean something, right?

Speaking of writing that I was a bit dubious about, why didn’t Percy recognize the figurine until the very end? That’s just… that’s just a bit too much to ask of us.

My favorite part, probably was meeting Annabeth’s dad in San Francisco. Of course the book was full of emotional moments, but seeing Annabeth with her family, and the nuanced difficulty she face was lovely. Also, her dad blew my mind because he’s quite the kick-ass nerd. It’s obvious why Athena fell for him.

The ending was hard and kinda stressful. I obviously had to barrel into the sequel because I was a bit too invested in Nico’s storyline already. When he got mad at Percy, I was taken aback. I mean, I saw that Percy had anticipated it (it’s almost too heavy handed looking back) but I’m still so curious about where things will go for this dynamic duo. So young and already so much riding on them both. I’m hyped to read more about Nico, especially.

So despite it being close to midnight, I picked up the next book

In sum, this book really stepped it up. I'm not sure if it's because there was a slight bit more bite to the battles, or because more gods were mucking around where they shouldn't, or simply because Thalia was representing flawless fashion choices, but that book had been the best so far.

I won't say that Percy Jackson is a perfect series, but it has a lot going for it, and I think it deserves the hype. If you enjoyed reading Harry Potter's first couple of years at Hogwarts, you'll enjoy Percy's camp adventures.

Did this review have to be so long? Probably not. show less

Alright, this is where this series gets really good. When I read this series for the first time a couple years ago, the third installment of was actually my favorite. Now, I would probably place it in 2nd place, just behind Book 4, but we'll see how I feel after re-reading the last two books.[return][return]This book, in a lot of ways, is similar to "The Lightning Thief". The majority of the novel is a an adventure through the United States of America, facing monsters left and right, and culminating in an epic final battle with the enemy, followed shortly by a meeting with the gods on Olympus. However, I would say that this book is slightly stronger than book 1 in that aspect. While I found some of the events of "The Lightning Thief" show more more interesting than the events that took place in this book, "The Titan's Curse" is miles better than "The Lightning Thief" in one major aspect: scale. This time around, the stakes are higher, the jokes are fewer, the battles are more grand and exciting, and the plot twists and revelations are more unbelievable. It just feels like a more solid version of Book 1.[return][return]Again, I like the fact that the comedy is somewhat subdued here. It makes everything feel more serious. I love it when children's stories become more mature with each entry. While the jokes are fewer here, they are by no means weaker. Some sections had me laughing my ass off. The section where Atlas tried to grow creatures out of the soil in the museum had me on the floor, man.[return][return]This book shows, once again, that this franchise is at its best with the adventures. Sure, the epic lore and the plot twists are really exciting, but the most memorable parts of these books for me have always been the adventures through the United States. I just cannot explain how entertaining it is to read about Percy and his friends traveling far and wide, encountering various unexpected obstacles, and coming up with creative ways of overcoming them before moving to the next major stage of their adventure. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings. I always have a timeline in my head of every event that occurs in those books as the characters travel further and further in their journey across the lands. The same thing applies here. It is an extremely enthralling story-telling method. show less

Alright, this is where this series gets really good. When I read this series for the first time a couple years ago, the third installment of was actually my favorite. Now, I would probably place it in 2nd place, just behind Book 4, but we'll see how I feel after re-reading the last two books.

This book, in a lot of ways, is similar to "The Lightning Thief". The majority of the novel is a an adventure through the United States of America, facing monsters left and right, and culminating in an epic final battle with the enemy, followed shortly by a meeting with the gods on Olympus. However, I would say that this book is slightly stronger than book 1 in that aspect. While I found some of the events of "The Lightning Thief" more interesting show more than the events that took place in this book, "The Titan's Curse" is miles better than "The Lightning Thief" in one major aspect: scale. This time around, the stakes are higher, the jokes are fewer, the battles are more grand and exciting, and the plot twists and revelations are more unbelievable. It just feels like a more solid version of Book 1.

Again, I like the fact that the comedy is somewhat subdued here. It makes everything feel more serious. I love it when children's stories become more mature with each entry. While the jokes are fewer here, they are by no means weaker. Some sections had me laughing my ass off. The section where Atlas tried to grow creatures out of the soil in the museum had me on the floor, man.

This book shows, once again, that this franchise is at its best with the adventures. Sure, the epic lore and the plot twists are really exciting, but the most memorable parts of these books for me have always been the adventures through the United States. I just cannot explain how entertaining it is to read about Percy and his friends traveling far and wide, encountering various unexpected obstacles, and coming up with creative ways of overcoming them before moving to the next major stage of their adventure. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings. I always have a timeline in my head of every event that occurs in those books as the characters travel further and further in their journey across the lands. The same thing applies here. It is an extremely enthralling story-telling method. show less