Dams, Demigods, and Hunters REVIEWING The Titan's Curse

Welcome back to another review here at The Real World According to Sam. 

A Percy Jackson book on a Wednesday. Whaaaat? "But Sam, I thought you were doing them for Magic Mondays since they were published by Disney Hyperion?" That is true, and I'm still going to have several on Magic Mondays, but then I had an idea. 

Once upon a long time ago when I was a teenager and the Harry Potter series was not completely released yet, I remember how excited I was for the release parties and the new books. It has been a bit of a while since I actually paid attention to new book releases for series I loved (crazy sounding I know!). I got backed up on the series done by Rick Riordan when I got into college (college homework and reading often sucks away a lot of your personal reading time), and I've only just now been able to catch up, somewhat. This year, there's also going to be a new book released that continues with these series sooo......

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm counting down the weeks and days to the release of Rick Riordan's new book, The Tower of Nero. It will be the fifth book in the Trials of Apollo series. To celebrate and mark the countdown, I'll be posting up a review EVERY week for each book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Heroes of Olympus series, and the Trials of Apollo series! You've already gotten two, and today marks number 3!!! 

Book reviews for these books will come on alternating Mondays and Wednesdays. One week Monday, the next Wednesday, then back to Monday, and so on until late September when we finish moving through each series that leads up to the new release. 

We are currently 11 weeks and 6 days away from the release of The Tower of Nero on October 6, 2020.

This is a Sea of Monsters SPOILER LAND, clearly, because this is a sequel. 

 

This review of The Titan's Curse is completely spoiler free for this third installment. 

Let's jump into it. 

The Titan's Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fantasy

Year: 2007

Synopsis

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, Annabeth and Thalia, 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 his most devious trap yet, 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 so far: the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse. 

Review

So where we last? Oh yes, Percy survived again and then got thrown back into danger. I remember now. We are in a place almost no different from the last time you all were here for a Percy Jackson review! Except now we have more information. Thalia, daughter of Zeus, is no longer a tree for instance. She's a real living, breathing, walking, talking person again. The Golden Fleece worked its magic and the balance of demigod power has shifted again. Now we don't just have one kid of the Big Three, we have two...or so we think!

I read this book back when I was in high school, as I've mentioned before. I re-read this one in March of this year, as you can see in this Reading Round-Up.

This book is the next bit of Percy's journey in the fight against Kronos. Luke is still a traitor, we have new friends, and we have returning friends. We throw a bunch of young teens into mortal peril, send mythological fiends to try to kill them, and see if they can come through it with only minimal maiming. Well, I gotta say friends, this one goes next level. This is our first taste of the heartbreaks that are to come. This is where the series first really takes a turn for the darker, although it is still manageable. In this book, there will be major losses, major defeats, and lots of decisions to be made by the characters we follow. 

The story here is that Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia come upon Bianca and Nico di Angelo. We meet the Hunters of Artemis, who Bianca joins up with, and then we go to try to save the day...without Percy. Why? The Hunters of Artemis are warrior maidens who live without romantic entanglements in exchange for immortality and camaraderie. The demigod leader of the Hunters is Zoe Nightshade, and she selects Thalia, Bianca, Grover, and another Hunter to accompany her on an official quest. Percy naturally doesn't likes this, and finds a way to force himself into the adventure, because he's Percy.

What kind of creatures do we get this time to fight? Without being too specific about who or where they're found, we've got a pretty good line-up. There's a manticore, Nemean Lion, Erymanthian Boar...what more could we ask for at this point? There are things to fight and Percy is fun to read about when he's in fights. 

What wonderful places do we travel to, you ask? Washington, D.C., Mount Tamalpais in California, and the Hoover Dam, where we make a lot of dam jokes, because we can. It's a good dam time. Also, one of my personal favorite locations we hit up: Cloudcroft, New Mexico. "But Sam! What's the big deal about Cloudcroft? I've never even heard of it" or "But Sam, Cloudcroft is just a tiny place in New Mexico..." Yeah, well, I've been there, and I like it, okay? Personal abrasiveness aside, here's the big deal: 

Yes, for one, I've been there. I like finding places I've visited in the books I've read. It makes the story really come to life for me when I know what the place looks and smells and feels like. 

For another thing, Cloudcroft is beautiful. It's a small place, up in the mountains, and I like mountains a lot. I spent a lot of time living in El Paso, Texas, where there's a mountain right in the middle of the city. I spent a bit of time living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where guess what? There's a big mountain right in view of the city (Pikes Peak anyone?). I like mountains. I'm partial to them, they're big and awesome, so mountainous areas to me, are very nice. Also, Cloudcroft is just a nice, quaint seasonal type of town. You go around there to ski, see some snow, or you go when its warm and maybe see some deer. You drive around the area, see the forest, see Ruidoso, maybe head up to Capitan. It's just a real great weekend trip out in a more wild feeling, yet serene area. If you haven't been there, or around some of the smaller areas of New Mexico, I highly recommend it. It's a nice break away from the hustle and bustle of bigger cities and if you're in the desert, you can actually see a mass of beautiful trees that aren't too close together in a way that just ends up being creepy. ...I have very specific feelings about trees and types of forests. Ask me about it some other time, because this is supposed to be a book review, not a personal travelogue.

In summary: Cloudcroft is a random, but great setting within this book and it makes me happy. 

Characters! Let's talk about those because I haven't yet. Percy is the best, as always. We get to meet Thalia and see what she's actually like, instead of just seeing her as a heroic figure from Annabeth's stories. We meet Zoe Nightshade, who is pretty cool too. The Hunters of Artemis are a fantastic cast of characters and I really like them as a group. I honestly would love to see a Hunters of Artemis centric book series at some point. I think they do a lot and have the potential to do a lot more. Remember them, because they'll pop up a lot in the future. 

Overall, this book is fantastic. I think its a great addition to the series and that it progresses things along at a steady pace. Again though, this one is the first taste of worse things to come for our heroes. This is really where the tone of the series and the world of the book starts to shift. It is still fun and exciting and the characters rock. The settings take you on a road trip when you're stuck indoors. That being said, The Titan's Curse has earned a Lone Star rating of ✯✯✯✯. If you haven't read this series yet, you really should. It is super fun and super funny, no matter your age. You're never too old to learn how to tell a dam joke. 

Thanks for tuning in to this installment from The Real World According to Sam, where I bring the books straight to your screen and even put in my own two cents on them. 

Below are links to each Percy Jackson & the Olympians review currently available on this blog, just click on the cover of the book you'd like to see!