Finished: 08/03/10
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Adventure
Rated: B
Opening Sentence: ‘…My nightmare started like this…’
When Percy turned 12 he was just a regular New York based boy with ADD, and strange things happening around him. Then he discovers a whole new dimension to his world – a world that is controlled by the Greek gods. The supreme god Zeus controls the air, Poseidon the ocean and Hades the underworld – with a heap of lesser gods. Percy discovers that his unknown father is in fact Poseidon and as a result Percy is a demigod. The strange occurrences in his life have been caused by monsters attacking him; apparently demigods have a peculiar smell. Anyhow, Percy is whisked away to CampHalf-Blood, where all demigod children can be safe. Here he is taught who he is, why he is and completes his first quest. These events all occurred in Rick Riordan’s first book – Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief.
Book two is set a year later, and after a year of monsters leaving him alone Percy is looking forwards to spending his summer break at CampHalf-Blood. He has a nightmare that his friend Grover, a satyr, is in danger being chased by a monster, while wearing a wedding dress for some reason. The next day giant flesh eating monsters attack Percy and his school mates in his gym class. Percy and his new friend Tyson, a very large homeless kid, are picked up by Annabeth, another half-blood friend, and rushed to the camp, which is under attack. The tree that guards the camp has been poisoned, and is dying. Chiron, the activity director and Percy’s mentor, has been dismissed. While at the campPercy has another dream which reveals that the legendary Golden Fleece may be the cure for the dying tree – and that is where Grover is imprisoned.
Percy, Annabeth and Tyson travel to the treacherous Sea of Monsters in the face of insurmountable odds to rescue Grover and capture the Golden Fleece. The Sea of Monsters contains many references to the old Greek mythological tales you may have read about – but each with a clever modern twist.
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is just as funny, entertaining, informative and action-packed as the first book keeping an eye out for the third in the series now.
