Rick Riordan is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and two sons. To learn more about Rick, visit www.rickriordan.com. You can find more of my reviews of Rick's works here.
Percy Jackson's seventh grade year has been surprisingly quiet. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get . . . well, ugly. And the unexpected arrival of his friend Annabeth brings more bad news: the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed. In this fresh, funny, and wildly popular follow-up to The Lightning Thief, Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family—one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.
A friend of mine and I have had several conversations about sequels, specifically second books in series of more than three books. Usually, a good portion of the world building is developed in the second novel—as the first book is dedicated to introducing a compelling main character to a new world, whereas the third book and on is meant to build into an epic finale. The first book, like The Lightning Thief, has a type of innocent to it, as the main character is usually unsuspecting or ignorant as they enter a brand new world. After that original innocence wears off, the second book arrives, and it has the duty to answer all the gritty questions. In The Sea of Monsters, those questions pertain to what exactly is happening with Luke and Kronos and a prophecy Percy still knows nothing about. Rick doesn't give us all the answers, of course, to build suspense for the rest of the books, but finally more is revealed about Percy's purpose in the series. He, of course, discovers more about this prophecy on a quest that is really more of a wheel setting the rest of the series in motion. Despite this "in-between" feeling, The Sea of Monsters is incredibly successful in how its events feel useful to the overall plot of the series, and to the overall development of all of the characters. It is not entirely bogged down in world building, but nor is it as light as the first one, which creates a balance not often seen in second book sequels, another tick in the list of what makes the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series wildly successful.
Villains are incredibly difficult to write, as one can imagine. We learned at the end of The Lightning Thief that Luke, son of Hermes, is our main "bad guy" as he betrayed the camp and Percy, which almost caused a civil war amongst the gods. Yet, it seems like Luke is just the main henchman for the titan Kronos, who is trying to come back and take his power from the Olympians. Still, in The Sea of Monsters, Luke is the main villain we see, and thus the main villain Rick has to relate to. We learn that Luke feels abandoned by his godly parent, and wants more agency in the world. Annabeth mentions the fatal flaw of hubris, with the question: what if I could tear it all down and make the world better than it was? Luke seems to want this world that he can build, and have control of, after being at the mercy of the gods for his entire life. A reasonable desire—wanting control, wanting agency—but taken too far is the best way to create a villain. It makes them complex, in the sense that we as readers (and even the protagonists) can often agree with some parts of their thought process. Percy admits to feeling abandoned by Poseidon, but disagrees with how Luke has gone about finding control, finding attention and agency. This is one of the reasons Percy Jackson and the Olympians is more successful than the Harry Potter series—we are able to relate to and empathize with (to a degree) to the villain of the story. We only learn more about Luke as the series goes on, and tracking his villain's arc is going to be one of my main priorities.
The thing about Rick Riordan is that he always takes the time to develop all of his named characters. Clarisse is no exception. Percy's bully at camp, the daughter of Ares, gets more page time as she is the one destined with the quest to find the Golden Fleece. In The Lightning Thief, Clarisse attacked Percy in the bathroom and then tried to seriously hurt him in the game of capture the flag. Yet, at the end, she grudgingly admits Percy's success at his quest. While she isn't a favorite character by any means, she seems to become a bit more subdued. In The Sea of Monsters, it seems her focus has changed from torturing new campers to protecting the camp. While her personality is a bit more aggressive, it becomes clear that she and Percy are actually on the same side of this fight, something that neither of them are quick to admit to. While Clarisse's actions in The Sea of Monsters does not excuse her previous bullying, it becomes clearer as to why she felt the need to assert herself so aggressively and remain a dominant force at camp: her godly parent, Ares, does not think her strong enough or capable enough to do him proud. Like Luke, Clarisse wants attention and agency, and to prove herself, and she also goes about it in ways not entirely socially acceptable. But unlike Luke, she doesn't try to tear the world down. She is able to draw the line, which is what makes Clarisse's level of "villianry" different from Luke's. While Clarisse doesn't get a lot of development in The Titan's Curse, her arc is still one that Rick is going to develop throughout the series, so I encourage you to keep an eye out for how he continues to develop her character!
Rick just always finds ways to be completely entertaining. The battle and fight scenes—intense moments of competition for Percy, literal life-or-death situations—are imbued with humor. The jokes are meant to make readers laugh, similes that seem outrageous but that are so specific we can't help but form funny mental images. He reinvents some of our favorite old myths in refreshing ways. C.C's spa, and her changing the men into rodents, had me giggling. Not only was it a fun homage to the original stories, but it was full of its own heart and hilarity. And mixed in with these moments of joy are heavier moments of thoughtful reflection. Percy's arc of getting over the embarrassment of Tyson as his brother could be its own essay on childhood perception—why Percy felt that way, how he acted in specific moments, how he did and did not respond to Annabeth's prejudices are all really delicate themes and topics that Rick dives into in a subtle way. They don't take up a big portion of the text necessarily, but are developed perfectly in a way that can slyly teach younger reader a valuable lesson. Percy's small, three sentence statement about Annabeth in makeup is also extremely telling. Having Percy recognize Annabeth as different and pretty in makeup, yet somehow wrong and not-Annabeth was a wonderful way for Rick's thousands of female readers to understand that Annabeth's power and beauty comes from within. She never had any need for makeup, because she was already beautiful and herself without it. That is something that spoke very powerfully to me as a child, and still does.
After that cliffhanger, we're all begging to know more about the prophecy, and who will be the one to fulfill it. Maybe we'll learn more in The Titan's Curse, the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Stay tuned for my review!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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