I am SO behind on blogging these books!
I wanted to note that we had, in fact, read them, and that I am, in fact, still doing this blog... it's been a crazy summer so far, though, so let me apologize ahead of time for the fact that this post is going to cover three books, and that it might not be the format I like to do...
I promise to do better in the future.
Titan's Curse: In this book, Percy and his friends have to help rescue the goddess Artemis from her prison as a stand in for Atlas, holding up the earth, as the Titans strengthen their forces and ready for battle with the Gods. Along the way, they meet a couple mysterious demigods, and the future of the world, mortal and immortal, hangs in the balance.
Battle of the Labyrinth: When it is discovered that Daedelus' labyrinth really does exist, and that it has actually expanded over time, and like Olympus, has shifted to lie under the US. With the Titan army rising, it could be disastrous if they gain control of the labyrinth, with access to anywhere - including Camp Half-Blood! Percy and his friends need to prevail if the world as they know it is going to survive.
The Last Olympian: The Titan War is at hand! This is a nearly non-stop action-packed book, full of battles, betrayals, monsters, friends, enemies, and seemingly insurmountable difficulties. The Titans are strong, and it doesn't seem like the Olympians and the demi-gods will be able to defeat them... Percy and his friends go through much to try to save the world.
So that's that. I can honestly say that Evalina is completely obsessed with these books. She's read the Battle of the Labyrinth three times by herself, after we read it together. She has proclaimed herself a "Greek God Geek," and knows more about some of them than I do..
Next - the Heroes of Olympus series!! Halfway through The Lost Hero already... I will do a better post on it, promise!
Showing posts with label Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters
I've fallen behind in blogging Percy Jackson books - we finished the second book, The Sea of Monsters, a few weeks ago (and dove right into the third one, and now the fourth one!)
The Story: Percy has been having nightmares about his best friend, the satyr Grover, in trouble, stuck in a cave by a cyclops... he is stunned when he finds out that his dreams are in fact caused by an empathy link to Grover. He and his friend Annabeth and his newly discovered half brother, a young cyclops named Tyson, set out to try to save Grover, and to do so, they have to travel through The Sea of Monsters, which is (currently) located in the Bermuda Triangle - like all mythological places, it travels around with the center of Western Civilization. Along the way, they have to battle Luke, the half-blood who abandoned Camp Half-Blood the previous summer to serve and try to ressurect the titan lord, Kronos. Meanwhile, at Camp, the tree that protects the camp from magical attacks, and is the embodiment of Zeus' daughter, Thalia, has been poisoned. When it is discovered that the cyclops who is holding Grover prisoner also holds the mythological Golden Fleece, which holds powers that could heal the tree and save camp, the quest becomes even more dire. Can they save camp, stop Luke, and rescue Grover in the end?
The Good: As in the first book, the characters in this are compelling and you really root for Percy to save Grover. The mythology is great - Evalina has been reading her Greek Mythology reference book right along with it, and she is now calling herself a "Greek Mythology Geek." I love it. Tyson is sweet and a wonderful friend, even though Percy was initially put off by his cyclops nature. We couldn't read it fast enough! What a great story.
The Bad: Nothing much I can think of.. sometimes it was scary, but she's doing well with the scary parts. Much like Voldemort in Harry Potter (which I have not read with Evalina yet), Kronos is an evil not to be trifled with. That can be difficult to take, but she's mostly good with it. Harder was the fact that Luke has turned so completely to the side of evil... but again, this was nothing to turn us off!
The Verdict: Another winner! I adore how Evalina is delving into the mythology and the history. Again, I think it might be a bit much for her to read on her own, but she loves having me read it aloud! Another great thing about reading aloud is that I can help her understand the context of some things when needed. We are adoring this series! (I'll blog #3 soon!)
The Story: Percy has been having nightmares about his best friend, the satyr Grover, in trouble, stuck in a cave by a cyclops... he is stunned when he finds out that his dreams are in fact caused by an empathy link to Grover. He and his friend Annabeth and his newly discovered half brother, a young cyclops named Tyson, set out to try to save Grover, and to do so, they have to travel through The Sea of Monsters, which is (currently) located in the Bermuda Triangle - like all mythological places, it travels around with the center of Western Civilization. Along the way, they have to battle Luke, the half-blood who abandoned Camp Half-Blood the previous summer to serve and try to ressurect the titan lord, Kronos. Meanwhile, at Camp, the tree that protects the camp from magical attacks, and is the embodiment of Zeus' daughter, Thalia, has been poisoned. When it is discovered that the cyclops who is holding Grover prisoner also holds the mythological Golden Fleece, which holds powers that could heal the tree and save camp, the quest becomes even more dire. Can they save camp, stop Luke, and rescue Grover in the end?
The Good: As in the first book, the characters in this are compelling and you really root for Percy to save Grover. The mythology is great - Evalina has been reading her Greek Mythology reference book right along with it, and she is now calling herself a "Greek Mythology Geek." I love it. Tyson is sweet and a wonderful friend, even though Percy was initially put off by his cyclops nature. We couldn't read it fast enough! What a great story.
The Bad: Nothing much I can think of.. sometimes it was scary, but she's doing well with the scary parts. Much like Voldemort in Harry Potter (which I have not read with Evalina yet), Kronos is an evil not to be trifled with. That can be difficult to take, but she's mostly good with it. Harder was the fact that Luke has turned so completely to the side of evil... but again, this was nothing to turn us off!
The Verdict: Another winner! I adore how Evalina is delving into the mythology and the history. Again, I think it might be a bit much for her to read on her own, but she loves having me read it aloud! Another great thing about reading aloud is that I can help her understand the context of some things when needed. We are adoring this series! (I'll blog #3 soon!)
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
A friend has lent us the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series, and so far, we've finished the first one - amazing!! A while back, I bought Evalina Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters, which she has been poring through and memorizing, so I knew that the Percy Jackson series would be right up her alley - and how right I was!
The Story: Percy Jackson has always been considered a "troubled" child. He has dyslexia and ADHD, and gets kicked out of every school he attends. He loves his mother dearly, but never knew his father. His stepfather (Percy refers to him as Smelly Gabe) is unloving and unlovable, and wants to just play poker and drink beer while ordering Percy's mom around... Percy runs into trouble during his sixth grade year of a kind he never expected. His math teacher turns into some kind of monster on a field trip and tries to kill him, and his favorite teacher gives him a pen that turns into a sword with which he saves himself. And then no one else remembers it at all. They don't even remember the monster math teacher *before* she turned into a monster. And that's not even the strangest thing... his aforementioned favorite teacher turns out not to be a wheelchair bound man at all, but in fact, a centaur - and Percy's best friend, Grover turns out to be a satyr! Percy himself finds out that he is much more than a normal, if troubled, kid... he's a half-blood, and his father is a god! Chased by monsters, his mother brings him to Camp Half-Blood, where other demi-gods live and train (at least in summers), and while Percy makes it, his mom has a run-in with a minotaur, and is not so lucky. At Camp Half-Blood, Percy works on coming to terms with his new life, figures out which god is his father, and then finds himself given a quest in which he must succeed, or there will be a war between the gods on Olympus the likes of which the world may not survive.
The Good: The storytelling in this book is wonderful, and we are looking forward to the rest of the series very much. Percy is a likable hero, and isn't perfect, so he's easy to relate to. His friends Grover and Annabeth (a daughter of Athena), who accompany him on his quest, are great characters in their own rights. The gods are portrayed in ways that mesh with classic stories, but also make them fit into our modern world. It's very clever and compelling storytelling.
The Bad: Sometimes, it was rough for Evalina to take. Percy lost his mom in the run in with the minotaur (is she dead? Is she trapped in Hades? Can he get her back?) was the source of many tears... we kept reading, and she got over it, but it is jarring. The story is action packed, and that is mostly a good thing, but the more sensitive child might have problems with it.
The Verdict: Excellent. We are already several chapters into the second book, and would recommend this series to others. It does help to have a reference book of Greek mythology handy, and I think that Evalina (at 9) might be a bit young to read it on her own yet - but it was a great read-aloud!
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| Image courtesy Amazon.com |
The Story: Percy Jackson has always been considered a "troubled" child. He has dyslexia and ADHD, and gets kicked out of every school he attends. He loves his mother dearly, but never knew his father. His stepfather (Percy refers to him as Smelly Gabe) is unloving and unlovable, and wants to just play poker and drink beer while ordering Percy's mom around... Percy runs into trouble during his sixth grade year of a kind he never expected. His math teacher turns into some kind of monster on a field trip and tries to kill him, and his favorite teacher gives him a pen that turns into a sword with which he saves himself. And then no one else remembers it at all. They don't even remember the monster math teacher *before* she turned into a monster. And that's not even the strangest thing... his aforementioned favorite teacher turns out not to be a wheelchair bound man at all, but in fact, a centaur - and Percy's best friend, Grover turns out to be a satyr! Percy himself finds out that he is much more than a normal, if troubled, kid... he's a half-blood, and his father is a god! Chased by monsters, his mother brings him to Camp Half-Blood, where other demi-gods live and train (at least in summers), and while Percy makes it, his mom has a run-in with a minotaur, and is not so lucky. At Camp Half-Blood, Percy works on coming to terms with his new life, figures out which god is his father, and then finds himself given a quest in which he must succeed, or there will be a war between the gods on Olympus the likes of which the world may not survive.
The Good: The storytelling in this book is wonderful, and we are looking forward to the rest of the series very much. Percy is a likable hero, and isn't perfect, so he's easy to relate to. His friends Grover and Annabeth (a daughter of Athena), who accompany him on his quest, are great characters in their own rights. The gods are portrayed in ways that mesh with classic stories, but also make them fit into our modern world. It's very clever and compelling storytelling.
The Bad: Sometimes, it was rough for Evalina to take. Percy lost his mom in the run in with the minotaur (is she dead? Is she trapped in Hades? Can he get her back?) was the source of many tears... we kept reading, and she got over it, but it is jarring. The story is action packed, and that is mostly a good thing, but the more sensitive child might have problems with it.
The Verdict: Excellent. We are already several chapters into the second book, and would recommend this series to others. It does help to have a reference book of Greek mythology handy, and I think that Evalina (at 9) might be a bit young to read it on her own yet - but it was a great read-aloud!
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