The Ruins of Gorlan

 Book one in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. 

Will is an orphan and Ward in Castle Redmont. He has dreams of becoming a knight, like he believes his father was--though who and what his father was is only in his dreams too. But when he is called up to become an apprentice, he is denied from battle school because of his stature. When Halt the Ranger gives the Baron a note and doesn't divulge what it says, Will has to find out and sneaks into the Baron's office to sneak a peek at it, only Halt and the Baron catch him as if they knew he was going to do it. With Halt's commendation, Will becomes the Ranger's Apprentice where he learns to be more sneaky and archery and tactics of being a ranger. His other Ward mates become apprentices to cooks, diplomates, scholars, and Horace goes to battle school. Horace struggles with battle school bullies. Bullies aren't going to be the only problems. Morgarath, an enemy to the crown who's been hold out on in the mountains, has sent beasts to kill leaders. It will be Halt and Will's job to stop them. 

This series is a long series of 16 books. Previously I've read the first four, so this will be an adventure reading the other ones. This has the same kind of feeling as Revenge of the Witch but with far less hibi-jibi's and more friends, which I find I like better. 

It's a very basic story, which can be nice. There is plenty of world building in a basic "medieval" world which makes it different. Different peoples and cultures, though they share some similarities with history-ish. There were some times when it was a little long, going through the plains was maybe a bit unneeded. 

My son really liked that the bullies got beat up. I was glad that it gave us an opportunity to talk about bullies and that it's important to let adults know what is going on, that "hazing" isn't okay either. 

We can kinda tell that it is a debut novel. There is a handful of repetitive words that were weird or alliteration that was off that probably should have been caught by an editor, but somehow didn't. 

The Last Olympian

The final book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series made me cry. 

Percy is less than a week away from turning sixteen, when the Prophecy is supposed to take place and he has the fate of the work resting on a decision. What decision, he doesn't know. What he does know is that there is going to be a major battle for Olympus and the Gods aren't here because they are trying to defeat Typhon, another titan, who is marching his way across the United States. 

The ultimate Hero's Journey and it's a, in the words of my best friends, "constant fight scene." For those who like action and battles, this one is jam packed full of it. Percy must save New York City and the known world from Kronoss. What could be more "final battle" than that? Though it is well balanced between fighting and plot and character development.  We now get the final "fleshing out" of characters whom, I felt, needed a little love. 

It very much did make me cry. Half-bloods die--though I do wish we had gotten to know more of them throughout the series then these final stands with characters whose names we knew and characteristics we remembered would have been even more heart wrenching. 

I also like when Percy does get to New York and we get to meet Hestia. Our Last Olympian. Goddess of Hearth and Home. We're reminded that Home is where you make it. I loved that theme throughout the book. 

I also enjoyed the ending. Not only "boss fight" but the conclusion to it, and their attempts to make it so then circumstances don't happen again that could give Kronoss power of Half-bloods again and that everyone will be claimed so we don't have a packed Hermes cabin. 

It was a good story. My son cried so much when it was over and asked me if we could re-read the series right then and there. He very much enjoyed it too. 

The Titan's Curse

 The Titan's Curse is book three in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. 

Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia have been given orders to go help Grover as he was sent to a school to scout out for more new half-bloods. But trouble is around the corner when a chimera, disguised as a teacher, tries to kill the two new half-bloods and ends up disappearing and capturing Annabeth. Returning back to camp without Annabeth and with a whole group of Artemis's Hunters instead, Zoe (Artemis's head Hunter) is given the quest to follow the Goddess and stop the next step in Kronoss' plans to take over Olympus where they must travel to San Francisco, the most dangerous place for half-bloods to go. And Percy isn't invited to join them, how is he going to save Annabeth? 

Book three felt similar to the first book, you can only go so different it seems on quests in this series. They have to travel from New York to San Francisco (like New York to LA). They have to travel fast and there is a time limit. They get help from the Gods and there is major trouble from other's of the Gods, too. 

The difference here is that Percy is "joined" by Zoe instead of Annabeth and Zoe is much different than Annabeth is. Zoe has her own background from ages past with a lot of baggage that comes along with it. I really like Zoe's character.  Many of the other characters grow too which is nice because I feel like they didn't grow much in the last two books. Here there was some real character development for pretty much everyone. 

I also really liked Apollo. He's always been a fun one to talk about and I think Rick Riordan did a good job making him fun and likeable. 

The Lightning Thief

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a great series that I read aloud to my son.

Percy is a boy who always seems to get into trouble. He's gotten kicked out of so many schools for things he just can't explain. Now suddenly he slays his math teacher and she turns into a puff of smoke and no one seems to remember her at all? What is going on? Percy goes home for the summer and while on his way to vacation with his mom, they get attacked by a Minotaur. Suddenly he finds out he's a "Half-Blood" and is supposed to believe that the Greek Gods are a real thing and that he's the son of some Olympian. Finally, some things start making sense, but then things go wrong again and he's sent on a quest to find Zeus' Master Bolt that They all think he stole. He need to prove his innocence and catch the thief. 

I love this series. It's one that I've held on to since I was in junior high. It is perfect for young adult kids, especially those seem to be having a hard time--which is most every junior high kid. Percy has a wit and sarcasm that makes everyone smile. The metaphors and similes are hysterical and you can see that by simply looking at the chapter titles. 

This is also a good book to get the basic of the Greek pantheon. From what I know about it, Rick Riordan has done an excellent job at keeping the Greek mythologies accurate while still giving us that modern twist. Having Mt. Olympus in New York City and the Underworld in L.A. is fitting and comical. Minotaur, Furies, chimera, and hell hounds are only a few things that Percy has to face and, again, they are done well. 

It is a very simple read, great for young adult audiences, and one that gives the reader a good sense for the world they are in. If the reader doesn't know anything about the Greek pantheon, then they are given explanations for them, even pronunciations a time or two. We get to know who all of these characters are and how think (or thought in mythology) and have such personalities giving us something new to constantly visit or revisit. 

I think the thing that I love most of this is that Percy is a troubled kid. He struggles in the "real world" with creatures constantly attacking him (though that was unknown to him in the beginning), struggling in school, ADHD, and dyslexia (which I also have). They are real life problems yet are given reasons as to why he has them. ADHD so he can take more in and fight better when the badies come around and dyslexia because his mind is "set" for ancient Greek not American English. It helps the reader think more about what they might consider "disabilities" or "flaws" and gives us a little hope that there is a real reason behind it beyond "Oh, it's just in your DNA," but that they can be used to for our benefit. I also really love the fact that he has a horrible stepdad. There are many kids who have similar struggles and, in the end, those get resolved--and the fact that his mom pulls out something big and has major character growth (that made me very happy). 

It's a great story that I believe should be reread on occasion. It's not just a book that you can read once and never want to pick up again, but one that has more to it and funny humor.