Percy Jackson continues

Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse
Rick Riordan
Published: 2007; Pages: 294

Could an Olympian parent turn against his half-blood child? Would it sometimes be easier just to let them die? If there were ever any half-bloods who needed to worry about that, it was Thalia and me. I wondered if maybe I should have sent Poseidon that seashell-pattern tie for Father’s Day after all. (92-3)

 

Since the end of Harry Potter’s reign, it seems as though every new children’s series has been scrambling to fill its void. Now I’m not crazy enough to suggest that Percy Jackson has succeeded in this goal (I have far too many Harry Potter obsessed friends all too willing to whack me over the head with their wands), but I would like to suggest PJ as a contender. Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse is the third book in the series and by now things are very much underway – if you haven’t already read the first two books, I highly recommend your tracking them down.

After two years of summers at Camp Half-Blood (and the life threatening quests that come along with it), Percy once again finds himself facing his once friend Luke and the plans to take over Mount Olympus. However Luke has aligned himself with formidable allies that pose more than a passing danger to Percy and his friends.

The time is getting nearer when Percy or Thalia will fulfil the prophecy laid out by the Oracle. One of them will make a choice – a dangerous choice – that may signal the end of the gods’ reign. Will one of them slip? Will they fall prey to the Titan’s curse and, in doing so, endanger everyone they hold dear? This is what lies ahead.

Percy Jackson continues to be an engaging read. There’s enough mythology to keep myth buffs happy, but is unique enough to be entertaining to the uninitiated. Percy is a likeable and relatable hero, one who does what he thinks is right, even though it often results in trouble for himself. The series is progressing in a pleasing manner, and I am looking forward to see what is coming next. 4/5

Battle of the Sexes!

Olympic Games
Leslie What
234 pages; published 2004

Hera could practically smell the seduction on his breath; the way Zeus offered her a goblet of sweetened wine, how he plumper her feather pillows and tenderly slid them beneath her back. He rubbed her feet with clove-scented oil, then performed her favourite little trick: lighting the clouds on fire to leave warm, moist trails of smoke. Delightful. Oh, her husband was an expert at seduction when he wanted to be.

There was only one problem and it was a big one.

Zeus was not seducing her. (12)


Since the beginning of time, Zeus and Hera have been King and Queen of the Gods: greatest of the Olympians and supreme overseers of mortal beings. This hasn’t changed, though the times certainly have. Thing is though, what is a god without anyone to worship them?

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, worship of the Greek Gods has all but disappeared, and many of the Olympians (all but Hera and Zeus, in fact) have elected to do just that themselves, simply fade out of existence rather than continue in an unworshipped state.

For Hera and Zeus, however, it’s life as usual: Zeus charms and philanders while Hera gripes and deals with the consequences of having such a husband. This is all well and good until, as prophesised by a street oracle, a flame from Zeus’ past comes back to wreak havoc on their newly re-established alliance.

Penelope was a water naiad Zeus seduced and trapped inside a tree back in the “old country.” When freed by a love starved hermit named Possum, her human presence alerts Zeus, whose interest is immediately reinflamed.

Meanwhile, Hera’s abandoned and genetically curious son, Igor, (half Greek God, half common bar beetle) mourns the absence of his ‘father’ in his life. Despite Hera’s, admittedly somewhat indifferent, wishes he sets out to seek Zeus out.

What will happen when all characters collide? Will Zeus accept his ‘son’ and, by extension, his long-suffering wife? Or will he go onto disrupt the happy life of Penelope and Possum, claiming what he thinks of as his own? And what of Hera? Will she learn to love her son as she should, or is everything simply lost in her unending task of reigning in Zeus?

Leslie What’s Olympic Games was an ‘almost’ book for me. By that I mean that the characters, story, writing, humour, everything, was ALMOST right. I enjoyed the book, but it left me with a feeling of falling short, as if it had potential that it didn’t quite meet.

Zeus was nothing more than a hedonistic womaniser and Hera a bitter, self-centred prima donna. While I accept that, as gods of a central idea of concept, these characters may become very focused, What’s interpretations were, in places, almost two dimensional. In all fairness, I am a long-time fan of shows such as Xena: the Warrior Princess and Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, whose visions of the gods are much more rounded; I already had high expectations.

Secondary characters (Possum, Igor) were a little more interesting, but it’s redeeming character was that of Eddie, the mentally retarded shop assistant, whose chapters were heart-wrenchingly honest. He made me laugh and he made me cry. For me, he saved the book.

I was interested to read that it was a short story that had been rewritten into a novel. That cleared up a lot for me. I think that, for me, it would have been more satisfying as a short story. 2.5/5

Purchase Olympic Games here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!