Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters (Book 2)by Rick RiordanMy first day back at work after the holiday break I had two goals to accomplish at lunch - go to the post office and mail a parcel that was long over due and then hit up the bookstore and pick up books 2, 3 & 4 of the Percy Jackson series. Mission accomplished I would like to proudly announce.(Potential spoilers of book 1 - The Lightning Thief below. I find it difficult to discuss the second book without giving away parts of the first. Nothing major, but be warned!)I have since completed the second book, The Sea of Monsters and I have to say I was just as entertained by the sequel as I was by the first book. I wasn't sure at first, I thought perhaps what made The Lightning Thief so original and funny might have made the second book seem pale in comparison, however it wasn't. The absence of Grover (Percy's best satyr friend who is away in search of Pan) and the addition of Tyson (a young Cyclops) made the story just as fresh and exciting as the first.I have to admit that I am not entirely a fan of Annabeth. I find her bossy and nowhere near as interesting as Percy or Tyson, but I suppose that's her character. She's lived at Camp Half-Blood since she was seven and here comes Percy at the age of 12 (in the first book) and suddenly he's getting a quest and is the son of one of the Big Three and suddenly her life changes. In a way, she reminds me of Hermione from the Harry Potter series, not completely, but in her defensive, bossy ways.In fact, speaking of Harry Potter, I like how this series is similar, but at the same time completely different. Harry Potter takes place during the school year and tends to gloss over the summer months, whereas Percy Jackson has taken place over the summer in the first two books. It's just something I thought of while reading this book.One other thing I thought while reading The Sea of Monsters was that if The Odyssey was this entertaining I might have remembered more of it. In 7th or 8th grade I read The Adventures of Ulysses, which was a young reader version of Homer's Odyssey and I recall enjoying most of it. I didn't enjoy the testing and analysis of it however. Why did I need to remember everyone's name and know what they might have been a metaphor for? Really! In CEGEP (college) and on University course I had to read the actual Odyssey and list every single name. Gah. I did not do well on those tests.In that way, I relate to Percy. Dyslexia makes for difficult testing. ;)I loved Tyson. I think he might be my favourite character in this series so far. Sure, it's only the second book, but I really, truly enjoyed his character. I think he made me laugh almost every time he spoke.I am trying to space out my reading of this series. I know the last book is still in hard cover and it doesn't seem to be coming out in paperback until August. That seems like a lifetime away right now. Of course I find these books to be a comfort while reading them, so I think I'll keep book 3 up by my bed for those nights where I am having trouble sleeping and need something light and fun to get me back into the right head space.If you haven't read this series yet, I urge you to go out and pick up the first book in whatever format you can find it (buy it, borrow it, listen to it) and enter a world of Greek Myth with an exciting twist and a sharp sense of humour.Oh and on a side note, I think it was around page 88 that I looked at the cover once more and realized that there's a giant EYE behind the rope bridge. It wasn't until the introduction of the word "cyclops" in the story that I notice that eye. I thought it was just swirly clouds and a moon. Oops.Percy Jackson & the Olympians series