Books I Still Need to Read

I'm reading much slower than I used to read so I've decided to record my wish list of books to here so I can remember and anyone interested can know what I'll be reading:

Snuff by Terry Pratchett
I am currently working on this book and about halfway through if not a little more.







The Fault in Our Stars by John Green






Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan








Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory







Mastiff by Tamora Pierce







The Goblin War by Hilari Bell







Triumph by Carolyn Jessop







Changes by Mercedes Lackey

Review Friday
The Lost Hero

Summary

Jason wakes up not remembering who he is, where he is, or how he got there. Unfortunately, the monsters chasing him aren't very considerate of his amnesia. He and his new friends Piper and Leo are soon drawn into a world of Ancient Greek gods and beasts of legend. They seek refuge at Camp Half Blood where they discover their godly parents and meet others like them. But the oldest and darkest power is rising, and even the heroes of Camp Half Blood won't be enough to fend it off. Could Jason be the key to finding the help they need or will he be the instigator of war?

Overview (No Spoilers)

I LOVED this book! It has a slightly more serious tone than the Percy Jackson series. In some ways I thought of it as American Gods for kids except a whole lot less depressing! This is not just because it's about gods but because it's about how gods need people. There's still plenty of humor, however, and it's just as action-packed as all of Riordan's previous books. My sister likes to say they're about to die on every page, and I'd have to agree with her. I also loved all of the characters almost instantly which is pretty rare for me with any book. For an amnesiac Jason is quite interesting. Probably helps that he has fragmentary memory and that even the reader doesn't know who he was before, so we're not shouting at him the whole time to stop being so stupid. We want to discover his past as much as him and are just as baffled by it.

I also loved both Piper and Leo, which I'll go into more in the spoiler's section. But it's not a spoiler to say that Leo reminded me a bit of Marco, my favorite character from the Animorphs (another excellent YA series). They're both, small, funny, and snarky with troubled pasts that make you just want to hug them, and they're both overshadowed a bit by their best friends, but they still transcend the average role of sidekick to be heroes in their own right. It also helps that the story is told from all three points of view. That's also probably what made it so long but hard to mind the length when it's such a page-turner. The chemistry among the three heroes as also so much fun to read! They're the perfect ensemble.

9/10 Stars * * * * * * * * *


Book Club (Spoilers)

One star deducted because he suggested a love-triangle at the end, and I am firmly team Piper. But the jury's still out on that. Riordan has written one of the few, if not only, tolerable love triangles before. He may yet do it again.

It was great that Leo was actually the only one of the three whose godly parent I guessed before they got to Camp Half Blood. In the Percy Jackson books I could pretty much always guess so he's getting better at being mysterious even if you do know the gods. Even though Jason showed he could fly early on that didn't tip me off that his father was Zeus because Thalia never showed any ability (or inclination) at flight. The lightning didn't tip me off either first because I wasn't even thinking Zeus would have another kid since he'd promised not to. Silly me. I even thought it was possible Jason didn't have a godly parent because of all the Roman stuff which baffled me pretty much until the end of the book and it's all still pretty mysterious. I thought he might be something other than a half-blood but clearly I was wrong about that.

I thought it might be Piper's dad who was the god after all because I couldn't think of anyone who fit her ability to talk people into things except for Hermes. But again I was stunned to find her mother was Aphrodite! Yet it made perfect sense even though Piper's the farthest from what one would expect of a child of Aphrodite. Even her beauty didn't tip me off since it was sch a natural beauty and you do always think about magic causing unnatural beauty (like Barbie girl beauty). I loved what he did with this fact, too, showing an entirely more formidable and admirable side to Aphrodite's powers.

I also loved that she had named her zit Bob.

Riordan's use of actual facts are very satisfying as well. I loved that when I looked up Jack London and Wolf House all the things Riordan said were actually true, or even better, were real life mysteries that are solved in his fantasy world. London, for instance, grew up thinking that a man named William Chaney was his father, but when he wrote to Chaney as an adult, the man vehemently denied the relation. Now, in the real world Chaney's accusation that London's mother slept around was either true or he was a deadbeat (or both). But it's more fun to think that London actually was the son of Mercury.

I didn't quite believe they would leave the burnt ruins of London's house on a national park but that's true too!

I liked the end of this book a lot but, of course, this is going to be a whole series so I'm not sure about the second one. On one hand I hadn't even guessed Percy might be with the Romans until the end which is another one of those impressively obvious things. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to an amnesiac Percy since that could get annoying. But if anyone can do it well, it would be Riordan.

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian: Book Review

In this last chapter of the Percy Jackson Olympian saga, the heroes of Camp Half-Blood make their final stand against the Titan Kronos and his armies to decide the fate of Olympus and the world. Faced with a fatal prophecy, sacrifice, and betryal, Percy is forced to question what truly makes a hero and whether Olympus is truly worth protection.

One word describes this book: Epic.

When I read this final book of the Percy Jackson series I felt most like I was reading a Greek epic poem updated for modern times. It still had the humor and camp of the rest of the series that I've enjoyed, but it's easily the darkest of all. The entire book is basically one huge battle scene. Normally that would be a bad thing for me, and I still felt like I had to catch my breath from time to time, but I do feel this book was amazingly well done.

I LOVED the identity of the Last Olympian referred to in the title. I never would have guessed who it was, but it was PERFECT. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first, but it gave the book a beautiful depth and meaning. It is the Last Olympian who helps Percy see what's worth fighting for.

I was also satisfied with the resolution of the romance and the ending as a whole.

BOOK CLUB

This is the section where I'll discuss the details of the book as if I were in a book club. Great if you've read the book, but if you haven't, beware the spoilers and zombie soldiers.

What I really like is how Riordan doesn't pull his punches. This book really dealt with death and war in a realistic way. Even when he killed secondary characters I got choked up every time, which both shows his skill in building up the characters and in making you care about a character who's not the main character. For example, both Beckendorf and Silena's deaths choked me up and I don't usually get choked up over characters I don't know all that well. But Riordan managed to make the circumstances so tragic. When Beckendorf sacrificed himself to destroy Kronos's ship and when Silena turned out to be the repentant spy I almost cried. I definitely got a lump in my throat when Percy declared Silena a hero in spite of how she had betrayed them. It also wasn't like a forced forgiveness like I've always felt the forgiveness of Edmund in the Chronicles of Narnia was. I truly believed that Percy was right; Silena did believe she was doing the right thing, and she sacrificed her life in an attempt to set things right. It beautifully mirrored what happened to Luke at the end.

I was also very happy that Percy and Annabeth ended up together. The kissing underwater definitely a great romantic use of Percy's powers. It was a little convenient that Rachel ended up the oracle and therefore couldn't be with Percy. But it was still good.

While I was glad the series had a definite ending, I was happy to see the new prophecy. I've watched interviews with Riordan where he promises that the first Olympian series is done, but there will be a new series, and I'm looking forward to it because I was glad that I'll be able to see how the changes in Camp Half-Blood will take effect. I was so excited that they finally bult cabins to all the gods. It changes things so much.

But by far my favorite part of this book was Hestia. Riordan read my mind again. Not only have I always wanted a story with hippalektryon, but I've always loved the goddess Hestia. Most people would think that's strange because she so rarely features in mythology at all and she's the goddess of the hearth. Hardly exciting. But I loved her because of those things. Hestia represents home and family, both things I love, and she is not renowned for cruelty like the other gods often are. She's also a mystery. Since she doesn't get in the same scrapes as the other gods, she's rarely talked about.

Hestia was the perfect last Olympian. At first, even with as much as I loved her, I thought it strange that Riordan didn't choose a more grandiose god to be the last Olympian. But in the end it was elegant and perfect. Hestia would be the only one who would never leave the hearth of Olympus. And she was the perfect goddess to guard hope for Percy since protecting home and family were at the center of Percy's hopes, and those are what he was driven to protect in the end.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth: Book Review

So I wanted to do a video review of this book but who knows when I'll actually get around to that so here goes:

The story continues with our intrepid hero Percy being kicked out of yet another school when he's attacked by mythological monsters in the guise of homicidal cheerleaders. But upon returning to Camp Half-Blood his best friend Grover is in danger of losing his life-long dream to find the wild god Pan, and his equally best friend, Annabeth, is pegged for an almost certainly lethal quest: finding the heart of the Labyrinth. To help them both Percy must use all his skills and wits to stay alive in the not-so-mythical deadly maze.

This is the BEST Percy Jackson book I've read so far. Depending on the fifth book, it may be my favorite. The other Percy Jackson books I have certainly enjoyed, but there's something about the style of writing and pop culture references that made it seem very much a flash in the pan type of book and not sustainable over the years. This one, however, surpasses the campy fun of the first three and qualifies, in my opinion, as seriously well-written children's fiction.

The reason I feel is while Riordan still had amusing modernizations of the myths (such as homicidal cheerleaders) he seemed to take them more seriously. There's a reason Greek myths have endured this long and it's always best when writers use that to their advantage. There was far more psychological depth to the characters and their motivations, and I think he was more effectively balancing the humor with the serious. But at the same time it was still an exciting and stirring adventure.

And now for spoilers and horse chickens!

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I was afraid this book would actually be my least favorite because of the love triangle with Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel. I usually hate love triangles (despite having one in my own novel...) Plus, I was originally really dubious of Rachel's character. I didn't like that she introduces herself as Rachel Elizabeth Dare (who does that?!) and they often refer to her by that full name. Plus, in the audio version of The Titan's Curse, her voice was REALLY irritating. But I read this book which I think did a lot to help her character grow on me since her voice was far less irritating in my head. Plus, I firmly believe she turned out to be a good character in the end.

But I'm still a firm Percy/Annabeth shipper.

I was worried about Annabeth's jealousy, but it wasn't too bad because even Annabeth seemed to realize at points that she was being unreasonable and tried to be friendly. That's all I really ask of a person. The other reason I hate love triangles is they often turn good characters into bad ones. I just find it irritating when girls are portrayed (or are in real life) uniformaly jealous and how that often overshadows every other aspect of their personality. But a little jealousy, as long as it's acknowledged and the person does make an effort to fight it, is a perfectly understandable human flaw.

Aside from the romance aspect, I also really enjoyed how Riordan seemed to feel he could finally try to say something important with his fiction. I thought the Sphinx in this book was a great satire on this country's test-obsessed school system "How will I be exceptional without my test scores?!" A little obvious, but still pure gold in my opinion. I had to smile.

The environmental message of the ranch they visited felt a bit heavy-handed to me, but I won't quarrel with the truth of it. I still also LOVED that he had hippalektryons! Horse chickens! Ever since I read as a child that these creatures were only ever found on Greek pottery but never in any stories, I desperately wanted to write a story with them in it. But it never fit into any of my own fiction. So, YAY! Thank you Riordan! You've brought the hippalektryon back to life.

Plus, I thought Pan's death was a very well-done and moving environmental message that we cannot wait for a god to come and fix this.

I also thought that Quintus was Icarus, but for the first time in a Riordan mystery, I was WRONG! Very refreshing. It still wasn't exactly Agatha Christie, but he managed to fake me out.

On a random note, the imagery of when Percy erupts the volcano with the power of his water pressure is amazingly beautiful, and I wish I could draw a picture of how I see it in my head.

So, yeah, if you've been naughty and read the spoilers without reading the book, then I still recommend you read it.