Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

This was a much different--and much better--book than The Lightning Thief. Finishing The Sea of Monsters, the second book of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, gave me the sense that the first book exists for the sole purpose of introducing readers to the characters. Nothing in The Lightning Thief seems important to the overall arc of the series. This is a good thing.

The Sea of Monsters really gets things going. Of course there are a few paragraphs here and there that rehash things for readers who did not read the first book, but that is to be expected in a series. What I liked best about The Sea of Monsters is that it is a lot less hokey than its predecessor. The action begins right away and does not stop until the end. It is a quickly moving plot.

One major drawback is the high quantity of moments during which someone acts wary or concerned and Percy reacts with an attitude of What can go wrong? Everything is normal. I realize that the Percy of The Sea of Monsters has only just completed the seventh grade, but the kid isn't stupid. He knows who he is and what's going on around him; these moments were not at all believable behavior. I hope these moments die down as the series gets deeper, Percy gets older, and Riordan becomes a better writer.

The most disturbing trend about the series thus far is the propensity to make everyone with any type of disability a mythical creature. I find it very patronizing. The demigods are all dyslexic because they are hardwired to understand Ancient Greek. They all have ADHD so they can be more keenly aware of everything around them. The stupid kid turns out to be a monster. This kind of writing belittles those who do suffer from these afflictions. Some is not a problem; all is.

The main arc has me, though. I shall keep reading.

B-