The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian had me in tears a good few times. I largely chalk this up to a waves of backup Percy and the Campers receive over the course of the New York Battle. I’ve said it before and I will say it probably a thousand more times: I am a sucker for the “Big Damn Heroes” Trope in which everyone and their mother shows up to help save the day. The Last Olympian had many such moments and therefore: tears. Couldn’t help it.

I am rather glad that Nico got more characterization. I originally found him mostly a non-entity, so I’m glad that’s changed. I'm not sure exactly how much of a spoiler it is to say that Thalia makes a reappearance... but she does. It was the first of the "Big Damn Heroes" moments that had me tearing up. She seems much more grounded here, though I'm not sure exactly what gave me that impression.

After the reveals about Luke's mother, I saw Rachel Dare's fate coming. I honestly thought it was rather obvious, though I like her as a character. 

I don’t think I have much else specific to say about The Last Olympian. I enjoyed it a lot more than the other books, that’s for sure. It felt much more focused, which, given the New York Battle took up a sizable chunk of the book, makes sense. Definitely an acceptable and satisfying end to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

 On A Personal Note

I honestly would probably have enjoyed these more when I was younger. I've been told by and IRL coworker/friend that the next batch of books is better... however, I really have zero desire to continue beyond this point. Plus, well, I'm more excited to start The Wheel of Time. I might return to the Percy Jackson universe at some stage, but... not right now.

I'll do my customary pallette cleanser standalone novel before starting The Wheel of Time. Just so ya'll know where I'm at, reading-wise. 

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

So, yet again, I feel like there was a lot crammed in here. There wasn’t a lot of room for much of it to really breathe until the end. The aftermaths of the Percy Jackson series usually have more room to breathe than the core plot, I find. Which, ya know, is a choice.

Much of Nico’s characterization and growth happened off-screen, which was alright. There was already a lot going on with the adventure through the Labyrinth. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the Labyrinth itself. It’s kind of a neat concept, with the ever-growing and changing thing… and sort of a fast-travel hack if you find the right person to help out. Speaking of which, Rachel Dare. Not quite the most interesting character and I suspect mostly there just to make Percy and Annabeth snip at each other… well, and lead Percy and the gang through the Labyrinth, of course.

I did like Percy figuring out how to better use his powers. I feel like Camp Half-Blood should really have some kind of courses in power-usage besides all the battle training, but I also figure, since the Big Three weren’t supposed to have kids, it makes sense that Percy has to figure out his powers on his own.

The end battle was… a battle. I did have one of those teary-eyed moments when the Labyrinth denizens started showing up. Apparently my brain just cannot handle the “everyone joins in support of the hero” moments without some tears… even if I honestly didn’t have a lot of feelings about the characters themselves.

I think I liked The Battle of the Labyrinth better than the last two. It still doesn’t make it into my favorites, but it felt better.

Favorite Line

"Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names…well, it usually says more about them than it does about us." - Poseidon

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

I really feel like this one had too much crammed into it. These quests are all well and good, but ultimately, there’s just too much to fit well into such a short book. One set-piece after another in such quick succession… I can barely remember even the order in which they happened. It also did not help that there were new characters to get to know, which we barely do. I feel like Zoe ended up more fleshed out than Thalia and Bianca was barely a blip.

Favorite Line

"Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters." - Zoe Nightshade

In Other News

I finished 2, yes 2! OviPets projects this week. We have the Icy Leopards, first of my "Digi*s Leopards" Project and Pixie Lotors for my Digis Miscellany Project.

I am also on vacation this week, visiting my family.

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

So Percy more or less follows in Odysseus’ footsteps. That’s pretty much the plot. It’s a lot to be crammed into less than 300 pages. It was enjoyable, though.

I’m still not entirely sure what was up with Tantalus having it in for the half-bloods and Percy in particular. That felt really weird. His whole vibe was weird… which, like, I understand having the punishment he does but… ehh.

I liked Tyson well enough. Liked getting more from Clarisse, though her personality definitely hasn’t improved. I enjoyed the C.C. bit.

But yeah, that’s about it as far as my thoughts on this one.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

So, Percy Jackson. I kind of did this backward. I saw the movie when it came out and then the Disney+ show. Liked both for what they were, even if I didn’t yet have the background of the book to compare them too. I’m also not quite the target audience for the series, though it was good enough to not be an issue. Percy Jackson is right up my alley, really.

I quite like Riordan’s writing style. It carries the story along at a nice clip while still including a good amount of detail. It was fun to see the difference between book and TV show.

I liked most of the characters. I think Gabe and Ares both threw around the work “punk” too often. The gods were well realized, though I definitely had Jason Mantzoukas’ Mr. D in my head. He’s just so perfect.

The Lightning Thief was a nice, easy read for me. Definitely recommended, even if I don’t have a lot of thoughts about it. I look forward to experiencing the rest of the series.

Favorite Lines

     "You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.

     "Those are vegetables." - Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood

"Whoever said death was fair, young miss?"  - Charon