Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Title: The Sea of Monsters
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2
Published:
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages:
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 6/10

The Sea of Monsters is the second installment of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of five novels, and really, it’s a little less exciting than The Lightning Thief.

In Riordan’s novel, Percy and his friends go on an adventure to the Sea of Monsters to help save their beloved camp. The magical tree that used to be the half-blood girl Thalia, daughter of Zeus, was poisoned and all manner of monsters are trying to break through and destroy Camp Half-Blood. Percy and his friends travel beyond Florida and into the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Sea of Monsters, to collect the Golden Fleece and heal the tree.

I really enjoy Riordan’s use of mythology. The Golden Fleece is part of Hercules’ myth, and everybody knows who Hercules, but by modernizing the myth, Riordan makes the novel more relatable to his young demographic.

Like always, I really enjoy his characters, also. Percy Jackson is hilarious. Annabeth Chase is so smart. Clarisse, a daughter of the Greek god Ares, is a fighting machine. These characters have their upfront powers, but they all battle their own demons within, which makes them real. Riordan does a fine job sculpting these demigod heroes into real human beings for his readers.

However, this novel wasn’t as good as The Lightning Thief. I’m not entirely sure why, if it was all the action, or not enough growth, or what, but there was just something I didn’t quite like as much in this. It felt almost as if Riordan didn’t put as much effort into it, creating plot devices just to push the plot along instead of weaving a plot that goes exactly as it feels it will.

Mostly, though, I really like these unique and fun kids’ books. I almost kind of hate being 25 and reading these now, because I feel like I missed out on a lot as a kid not having read these exciting and imaginative stories.

Overall, I think I’m going to like this Olympian series. Riordan does a nice job bringing the many characters to life, creating these indescribable situations and describing them in a modern, yet ancient, way. I can’t wait until I can crack the spine on the third novel.

To read the rest of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, or the other series by Rick Riordan, check out Amazon or Barnes and Noble in-stores and online. Also, check out Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters on the silver screen.