The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan

Summary: When Percy Jackson gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side, his trusty bronze sword Riptide, and...a ride from his mom.

The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The titan lord Kronos has devised his most treacherous plot yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.

They're not the only ones in danger. An ancient monster has arisen — one rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus — and Artemis, the only goddess who might know how to track it, is missing. Now Percy and his friends, along with the Hunters of Artemis, have only a week to find the kidnapped goddess and solve the mystery of the monster she was hunting. Along the way, they must face their most dangerous challenge yet: the chilling prophecy of the titan's curse. (Summary from Powells.com and image from runjeanrun.wordpress.com)

My Review: In The Titan’s Curse, Percy is once again battling evil of epic proportions, facing God’s in disguise, new half-bloods, and of course, another mysterious prophecy. Riordan also introduces several strong new female characters to make up for the fact that Annabeth, for reasons I won’t divulge, is largely missing from the book.

Riordan always manages to keep the story fresh with new characters and his creative blending of mythology with the modern world. He consistently tweaks the characters of each God (and Goddess) and the rolls that they assume, so that while they embody the Greek version, they are never quite what the reader expects.

The further I read into this series the more I like it. It’s been a while since I’ve read a series that I’ve been able to enjoy (from an adult perspective) and still be excited to read them to my children. So far this has been a faced-paced adventure, perfect for the young reader but laced with enough humor and mythology to retain my interest with little difficulty. Right now - when I'm having to do, be, and think a million things at once - that is epic!

Sometimes authors start churning out books, just to appease the masses (or their publishers), and their writing suffers from it. I hope Riordan doesn’t let me down by running out of steam before the end of the series. Fingers firmly crossed.

My Rating: 4 Stars (I realize this is becoming quite a trend). I still feel like this book can be read by anyone as long it is at their reading level. There is a section surrounding the Hoover Dam where the word “Dam” is used liberally, but with humor.

Sum it up: I’m having to make myself read other books before I pick up the next one. Apparently I’m some sort of masochist.

Also reviewed by Kari.