Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2006
Publisher: Miramax
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #2
279 pages (paperback)
Finally, finally, finally. These books are so popular at my library that I never even see them on the bookshelves, but on my last library trip, I finally saw them: books two through four. I would have grabbed all the way to book
In this second installment of the series, I am reintroduced to the lively and colourful world of the urbanized Greek gods and goddesses. And Percy Jackson, of course. It’s the last day of seventh grade for Percy and his new, misunderstood friend Tyson, and Percy hopes for the day to go smoothly so that he may go back to Camp Half-Blood for the summer. However, this is Percy, and of course, nothing ever goes smoothly for him. It turns out he may not get a chance to go back to the camp … possibly forever. Camp Half-Blood is in great danger: the magical tree of Thalia that protects the camp has been poisoned and is slowly but surely dying. Percy is determined to find a cure for the tree, or else the only place on earth where it is safe for a demigod to be — the only place where Percy has ever felt he belonged — will be gone.
The thing with the Percy Jackson books, that I feel like I must stress over and over again (because my friends give me the raised eyebrow whenever I say I’m reading the Percy Jackson books), is that it’s not “serious” at all like the movie portrayed it to be. These are humourous children’s (or tween) books that border on the silly side of things. So, my general thoughts about this book when I finished it were that it was fun and lighthearted, much like the first. I didn’t like it as much as the first book, but still a very enjoyable read!
In comparison to the first book, I felt the plot in this second installment was a bit less epic. From fighting the Titan lord Kronos in book one, to sailing in a ship to find the Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree in book two … well, you can see how one plot just seems more epic than the other. Not that the plot was in this book was bad or anything; I just mean, in relation. This book is probably just a stepping stone to the larger plot, maybe. I’m totally expecting a lot more from the next books in the series now! Considering how the book ended, I feel The Sea of Monsters is really acting as a bridge to connect book one to book three.
Anyway, if you have any sense of humour at all, I’m sure you’ll find this book hilarious. I mean, what do we have here? Cannibalistic giants with names like Joe Bob; the most adorable baby cyclops (who is also six feet three inches tall); a hippocampi (horse-fish hybrid animal) named Rainbow; a bunch of centaurs throwing a party and wearing T-shirts that say “Party Ponies”; a spa resort that turns men into guinea pigs (because actual pigs take up too much room) … I can go on and on, but you see what I mean about this book just being good fun, right? Some books I really need to concentrate when I read; others, like this book, I just have a blast.
The ending was interesting, actually. I didn’t expect a cliffhanger sort of ending because, if my memory serves me correctly, the first book didn’t end in a cliffhanger. I’m pretty sure it didn’t because I had no real desire to locate a copy of book two right away. But The Sea of Monsters ends in such a way that I am super curious to find out what happens next — and luckily, I have the third book sitting right next to me! I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say that the prophecy that involves Percy Jackson may or may not have become extra complicated due to recent events … haha. Actually, kind of reminds me of Harry Potter and his own prophecy. Ooooh, we’ll see what happens.
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My Rating: 3/5
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