Stepping It Up...

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first: (1) there is still too much of Percy being surprised at magic or that something seemingly innocent could be dangerous and (2) the Greek name is Heracles, not Hercules.

Aside those two things, I loved this book. This is easily the best of the first three novels of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. We are really moving now, and I cannot wait to get through the final two books. I am into this story.

Yes, The Titan's Curse is mostly predictable. It is a children's book. Predictability does not have to be bad. In the end, everything comes down to execution. This is where The Titan's Curse succeeded.

Rick Riordan did an excellent job of pacing the story and aging the plot. The cartoonish violence of The Lightning Thief has grown into real violence. Hormones are recognized and acknowledged now. The most impressive thing about the story, though, is the way Riordan wrote the relationships and interactions between the young characters. They all seem real to me, especially that between Percy and Annabeth.

I was pleasantly surprised by the development of Thalia's character arc. I loved everything about the way Riordan handled Artemis and her Hunters. That could have very easily been messed up--and it seemed it was heading that way in the beginning--but he developed them nicely into real beings.

My fear is that the greatness of The Titan's Curse will not be carried over into the next book. But, boy, am I hoping it does.

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