Percy Jackson & the Titan's Curse-Rick Riordan

What could be the Titan’s Curse? The question is…do you really want to know?

“When Percy receives a distress call from his friend, Grover, he prepares for battle. He knows hel’ll need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side; his trusty bronze sword, Riptide, and…a ride from his mom. When they arrive, the demigods find more than just mythological monsters awaiting them. Grover has made an important discovery: two new half-bloods, Bianca and Nico, whose parentage is unknown. But before Percy and his friends can escort Bianca and Nico back to Camp Half-Blood, the are intercepted by the manticore, and an impulsive move by Percy causes Annabeth to go missing. And she’s not the only one: the goddess Artemis is believed to have been kidnapped. But who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess? It’s up to Percy and his friends to find out. They must rescue Artemis before\ the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the Titans. But first, Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared-a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.”

***Watch out! Spoilers ahead!***

Another bravo for Rick Riordan for continuing to develop his characters in the Percy Jackson series. I enjoyed the introduction of Bianca and Nico because it adds another dimension to the prophecy that one of the Big Three’s children will determine the fate of the Olympians. First there’s Thalia, Zeus’ daughter, Percy, son of Posiden, and Nico and Bianca are the children of Hades. Plot thickens!! This book to me was more emotionally charged (I know…a cliché term) with Percy’s guilt for Annabeth disappearing, the hunt for Artemis with a dangerous prophecy attached, and trying to figure out what the heck is the Titan’s Curse.

Another character I found really interesting was Zoe Nightshade. She is smart, determined, and for a “fourteen year old girl” very mysterious. I felt she was a mirror for Percy in his actions. She made him reflect on his actions and who he is as a person. I was so bummed when she had to die at the end. But she got her reward from Artemis by being placed among the stars.

So the Titan’s Curse? What is it? Well, I’m going to tell you: it’s Atlas having to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. I loved the idea that Atlas has gotten free and forcing Annabeth and then Artemis to hold the world on their shoulders, allowing him the freedom to serve his lord Kronos. Oh! And Zoe is Atlas’s daughter! Such a great plot twist.

My only complaint with this book is Bianca’s death. I felt it was undeserved. I get that in the prophecy that one will be lost in the desert, and I get that her death was heroic in that she was saving Percy and the others, but come on…she had to die in a robot foot? And it’s not very clear in the book what happens to hear. We get to the end of the book and suddenly Nico is asking what happened to Bianca. But, I did enjoy that by Nico freaking out on Percy that we learn that Nico and Bianca are Hades’s children.

I cannot wait to get my hands on Battle of the Labyrinth, to get one step closer to finding out what happens with the battle between the Olympians and Kronos.