In the third book of the famed and beloved Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the plot thickens as Percy's true purpose is revealed. After a surprise encounter with a manticore that allows Riordan to completely extend his cast of characters, Percy's world flips upside down. In this novel about new beginnings and impending endings, The Titan's Curse sets the perfect tone for the rest of the series with its discussions about being a teenager and death, and even with its choice of cover art. Read on for my reasons as to why the third book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is so great.
Rick Riordan's 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 his website at www.rickriordan.com. You can find more of my reviews of his works here.
When Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he'll need his powerful demigod allies at his side; his trusty bronze sword, Riptide; and . . . a ride from his mom. The demigods race to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two new powerful half-bloods, whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The Titan lord, Kronos, has set up a devious trap, and the young heroes have just fallen prey. Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge yet—the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse.
The first two books in the Percy Jackson series are so clearly middle grade—that silly, innocent way of seeing the world while barely caring about how you present in it are perfect for readers who are also breaking into the teenage years. But there is a fundamental shift in Percy's age and behavior in The Titan's Curse, suggesting that there is also a shift in age for the rest of the series. While not yet young adult, Percy is very clearly becoming a teenager. He's embarrassed by his mom (even though he will always recognize how cool she is), and he's feeling awkward about himself around people he's known for years (*cough, Annabeth, cough*). Percy is still the same humorous, brave main character we've grown to love, but he's also addressing the universal experience of growing up—not feeling tall enough, not feeling strong enough, not feeling enough. I feel like understanding this shift in Percy's behavior is crucial in understanding why he makes the decision to claim the prophecy at the end. He wants and needs the chance to prove himself, to himself and to the people around him. He's still young enough not to understand that this could mean his death, running headlong into danger the way he always has. This perfectly sets up our understanding of Percy's shifting motivations for the last few books in the series, while also keeping readers invested, involved, and relating to Percy's character.
While not entirely a big part of the plot itself, the cover art is certainly important in our understanding of the third book's purpose. A friend of mine and I had a conversation about images that would pay homage to the storyline, tone, and purpose of the book, and we both came up with several ideas as to why the cover art is what it is, and ideas as to what the cover could have been. On both the original cover and the remastered one, Percy is aboard Blackjack (his pegasus) and on the way to complete the quest. It is a non-spoilery cover that captures the "New York City" and "Greek mythology" vibes of the entire series, for lack of a better phrase. However, it is strange that New York City (at least in this book specifically) is a big enough location to depict on the cover, as most of the book does not take place in NYC. It is also strange that while Percy's leaving for the quest is important (and I will get to that in a second), the quest itself is more important than Percy's decision to go. My friend and I came up with images that could have played well on the cover, such as the dragon guarding the apples, or a misty/stormy Mount Tam. After I finished the book, however, I started to understand why maybe Percy and Blackjack were the main images. In the third book of five-book series, we are always on the cusp of something—whether that be finally understanding the world (such as in The Hollow Boy of the Lockwood & Co. series) or fighting the ultimate fight for that world (such as The Titan's Curse of Percy Jackson and the Olympians), there is an ominous tone in the third book. Percy aboard his Pegasus ready to complete a quest perfectly captures that tone—it is obscure, it is on the edge, it captures that moment before the entire world changes. So while I think my friend and I are correct in some instances, I do believe that that was the point of this cover art, though I would understand why it would remain controversial. I certainly hope it remains that way, so we can continue to have intelligent conversations about cover art.
While the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books are great, it is always important for me to think about the things that Rick doesn't do so well, and why or how we can forgive him for that. In The Titan's Curse, I think about Percy's loyalty to Annabeth, and his need to save her after his recklessness caused his team to lose her. For a moment, after Percy converses with Aphrodite, it seems that maybe Percy's feelings for Annabeth lie beyond pure loyalty—he is totally crushing on her. It is clear especially after how he caught flashes of his best friend in Aphrodite's projection of herself. Yet, when Percy and Annabeth are finally reunited, there is no big moment for them to confirm that the other is safe and well and that they are glad to be reunited. I've pondered through reasons for why this could be. It could be a side effect of the fact that they're both exhausted and running to Olympus, and that maybe a reconciliation moment would come later. It is true that later they do finish that dance that was so rudely interrupted at the beginning, and they do have a quick moment in the sky when they realize they're glad to be together. Yet, based on Percy's great anxiety about losing her, I'd have expected more of an outpouring of relief. In my opinion, Rick really could have hyped up their moment of reunion better. But at this point, it's wondering why we forgave him that interests me. Is it because he gave us that Olympus dance that was more than enough for middle grade readers? Is it because a big moment of reunion would have seemed not only out of character, but also out of age (they are both 14, but I'm not sure how strong the age argument would be)? Or is it because we know that Rick is building towards something more meaningful, and showing his hand early in The Titan's Curse would foil, in some degree, the moments to come between Annabeth and Percy in The Battle of the Labyrinth? Whatever it is, no one seems to be talking about their expectations for this moment, so I guess I can set aside my qualms and evaluate other choices Rick made in his middle grade series that still haunts me to this day.
You guessed it: these choices relate to how Rick talks about death. This book's prophecy reads, "Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,/ One shall be lost in the land without rain,/ The bane of Olympus shows the trail,/ Campers and Hunters combined prevail,/ The Titan's curse must one withstand,/ And one shall perish by a parent's hand." Pretty dark, but pretty typical of the prophecies we've seen thus far except for one thing: two characters are expected to either die or end up lost (which, as we all know, can be a euphemism for death). The word "perish" is probably the strongest death-related word this entire series, and even then it maintains a sort of distance, being such an "old-sounding" word than things like "die" or "lost." Rick talks about death in a childlike way, in a sense, skirting around it and using euphuisms and figurative language and hiding behind the curtain of myth and storytelling to avoid discussing grief in great detail. Even after Bianca's death (she is the one who ends up "lost"), Percy recovers fairly quickly, convincing himself that either Bianca is still out there (because "lost" doesn't mean death, right? despite what he has seen, it could still be possible that she's alive, right?) or that if Bianca is truly dead, he cannot be bogged down in grief or confusion like the others because they need a leader. That demonstrates two things to me: that these kids don't truly comprehend the enormity of what just happened, and that they literally have bigger issues to deal with than death. This is pretty profound, for a middle grade series, and something that needs to be better developed in the next books. While we can't have expected Percy to have a profound reaction to Bianca's death (he didn't know her that well, after all), it is very strange that he reacts so distantly, and almost without a second thought until Nico comes back around. All in all, I'm hoping for more development with Rick's handling of death and grief, especially since we can expect to see more of that in the coming books.
Percy has now taken the weight of the world in his hands—literally. How will his years before he turns sixteen turn out? Will he survive? We can only find the answers to these questions by reading the next book in the saga, The Battle of the Labyrinth. Stay tuned for my review!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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