Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2007
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians #3
312 pages (paperback)
Books one and two were the beginnings of an epic adventure and were stepping stones to a larger story. In book three, The Titan’s Curse, the series’ plot really starts to unfold itself. This is, so far, my favourite book in the series. There was a real sense of saving-the-world, a real epic feeling involved in this book.
In book three, Percy, Annabeth and new companion Thalia are scouting out two possible new half-blood recruits, Nico and Bianca. With the help of Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, and her band of Hunters, they manage to temporarily ward off the dangerous servant of Kronos who tried to stop them. Afterwards, Artemis leaves on her own to hunt down a dangerous monster believed to have the power to destroy Mount Olympus, but to everybody’s horror, Artemis becomes kidnapped! Percy and his friends must find Artemis, and quickly, before the Winter Solstice, when the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus gather together to decide on how they will deal with the impending second war with the Titans.
There’s definitely something different about this book compared to the first two. Oh, it is definitely just as funny and adventurous, but something about the plot made it not quite as light hearted as The Lightning Thief or The Sea of Monsters. Like I mentioned before, I think starting with this book, the series’ plot’s complexities are starting to be revealed; that Percy’s story is not as simple as going from Quest A to Quest B. The first two books dealt with minor adventures; this third book reveals that there is something way more sinister working in the background. Because of that, there is a greater sense of urgency and seriousness that the characters must take on. The climax of the story, in particular, was an incredibly epic battle. As usual, things happened in the fight that made me laugh or snicker, but I think overall, this has been one of the more serious scenes in the series thus far. I mean, there were real deaths in this book!
The characters certainly have matured, if only by a little bit. The characters are what, fourteen years old by now? Love and romance is definitely starting to poke its head through, to become a theme. More importantly though, loyalty and friendship shine through. Throughout the novel, Percy has to cope with thinking he has lost friends, and what he could have done, or can do now, to help them. Of course, he has always cared about his friends before, but there is something more mature in the way he is tackling the situation now. I think this is most exemplified when Percy is told that his fatal flaw as a hero are his loved ones.
The only thing that bothered me was Thalia’s introduction and to some extent, her role. In book two, it ended off on a cliffhanger — Thalia, daughter of Zeus, has been “brought back alive”. I guess I expected some sort of flashback at least that explained how Percy and Annabeth handled the whole situation initially now that the daughter of Zeus is among them, but The Titan’s Curse opened up in such a way that it felt like Thalia has been adventuring with Percy since book one, like she’s always been there and is not a new addition to Percy’s posse. Then, at the end of this book, Thalia basically decides she’s not going to adventure with Percy anymore. So I guess what bugged me was that Thalia was a main character for one book, possibly as a replacement for Annabeth, who was missing for the majority of the novel, and now that Annabeth has returned, Thalia conveniently finds a reason to remove herself from the main action. I guess I expected more from the daughter of Zeus.
Anyway, to sum it all up — The Titan’s Curse is definitely one of the best installments of this series :) If you are reading this series as well, I’m sure book three will rank somewhere in the top for you as well. I’m really excited to start on book four now!
My Rating: 4/5
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