The Greek Gods

 The Greek Gods by Evslin, Evslin, and Hoopes. 

"The Greek gods had more powers than mortals could even imagine. They could change day to night, turn people into animals, and punish men with eternal torture. Their whims and desires changed the course of human destiny. No legends are more fabulous than those of the Greek gods. This classic collection tells their stories."

General Thoughts: I read this book in my 8th grade English class and after my son and I finished reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, I thought it would be a good idea to get the most widely believed versions of Greek Mythology. 

Plot: These are the stories of the major Greek Gods. Each three to five page chapter is the story of them muddling about with mortals. They are short, concise, and simple stories that showed the basic characteristics and actions of most of the Gods. Though it doesn't have all the stories, it has enough to walk though Rick Riordan's books without losing a shoe. 

Setting: There isn't much here in the way of setting. If there are descriptions they are short and don't give you much in the way of a feel for the "world" that the Greek Gods are in. It almost has the feel of a text book, kinda dry but give the information. 

Characters: Each of the character, God or mortal, are simple. They are portrayed as if it was a story being told around a campfire, not a masterly crafted literature piece with characters you'd want to read about over and over again because they were so enticing.

Spice: 1/5 Spicy Chilis. I could probably say 0 instead of one just for how dry it is, but the fact that offspring happen and you have the Goddess of Love there, I'll give it a 1. 

Writing Style: It feels like a text book. Something you'd want to reference if you were writing a paper, not necessarily the best piece of fiction. 

Overall: It was something to show to my son that not all the stories in Rick Riordan's books are "mythologically accurate" but that he does a pretty good job at staying true to the myths. It was okay, but probably not a book that he or I will be reading again for a long while.  

Circe

 Circe is a retelling of the goddess Circe in Homer's Odyssey. 

Circe is a minor goddess, daughter of the Titan Hileos. She is forgotten and ugly compared to the other nymphs and gods she associates with. She can't do anything that her father or mother, also a nymph, does. Circe waits at her fathers feet, forgotten at his counsels and therefor hears everything. The titans are angry with Zeus and the other gods telling them what to do. After her brothers and sister leave to be kings and queens of their own nations, she finds a mortal and falls in love him. To make it so he doesn't die she gives him magics to make him his "true self" and he becomes a god then forgets her. When she confesses to a crime she committed for that love, the gods exile her to the island of Aeaea where she considers it a lenient punishment (for freaking the gods out because of her magic, not for the actual crime itself) and enjoys her solitude away from the ever pompous, obnoxious, and boisterous gods, titans, and nymphs she calls family. While on her island, people come. Hermes brings her news, her sister beckons for her to help with her birth of the Minotaur, and a very few others. Sailors who have lost their way and men take advantage of her isolation. Too late for some magic, she turns them to pigs as she deems there is no other image more suitable for them than swine. More and more sailors breech her shores until one day Odysseus, the famed Greek hero, comes to her island. 

It was a very interesting book. Aside from Percy Jackson, I knew only the bare basics of Greek heroes let alone some of the "villains" of the stories. Circe is very much her own person. Curiosity, yet having bounds on it, is refreshing. And I think it was good to see the repercussions over centuries of deeds, good and bad. Because it is a new fictional piece, it doesn't stick to all of the mythology around her "accurately." There are some stories it completely negates and others it gives a turn to fit the narrative the author wanted. 

Circe was relatable is some instances. She was naive and then grew knowledgeable about the world around her and how the gods manipulated everyone. She understand that manipulation, then refused to be apart of it any more. She was able to weave her magics like she would a cloth, and later her words as well. Her threats became real. I also liked how she would do anything to protect that which was most important to her. 

I also appreciated the way Ms. Miller handled sex. In the story, there was quite a bit of it, but it was never graphic, which I very much appreciate. Even when she was raped by sailors it wasn't harsh (which some people might have problems with, but I don't). It isn't a story of her rape; it is a story of all of her life. She does deal with that moment and invites all the suckling pigs in for bacon and sausage which is pretty crazy and rather nuts, but there is more to someone's life than the injustices they are dealt. 

The other characters were enjoyable as well. They seemed like their own people, which I think can be tricky with "historical" figures, but it was well done. I did find the ending kind of odd in who her two daughters come from... and her other mythological children aren't mentioned. It's weird. It's odd. It's Greek Mythology. 

Please do enjoy it. 

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 Battle of the Labyrinth

Book number four in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. 

The Titan Lord Kronoss' armies are gathering and doing so quickly. Camp Half-Blood knows that the enemy needs to take the camp before they can take over Olympus, and that they are one of the only defenses left. Their numbers are dwindling, however, and the Titan's army is coming for them. One of the Labyrinth entrances are found inside the camps boarders. If Luke and the army were to find their way through, the boundaries that protect the camp wouldn't keep them safe. With Annabeth leading the way on her first quest, Percy and his friends dive into the labyrinth to find Daedalus and ask for his help in stopping the Titan's army from  passing through it. They also must make it through themselves without dying from he many traps and monsters and gods that call the labyrinth home. 

Out of all of the other books so far, this one seems the most dark. There seems so much more at stake along with the fact that most of it takes place underground which gives it that foreboding atmosphere. I would have appreciated more lighthearted moments to break the ice, especially for the younger audiences who would be reading this book. It reminds me of Harry Potter in a sense, because as Percy gets older and there are more troubling things the aura of the book gets darker and it almost makes me hesitate to read on with my son as he has actually shed tears in this book for certain characters. 

I do like the characters. I've always liked the characters. I do wish that there was a bit more character development, other then we are now deeply troubled. Nico matures. Grove isn't the scared satyr that he was in the first book, he is now able to stand taller than he did. Percy and Annabeth, though, seem just as confused as they had in the last book. There didn't seem to be large enough steps forward for them as I would like. It is the fourth book and they will make major steps, hopefully, in the last one, but this one seemed to be missing that still. 

I liked the idea of the labyrinth and the flashbacks for Daedalus and King Minos. I liked Daedalus as a character and that he even grew over the course of time. The complication between King Minos, Nico, Daedalus, and the others was engaging and gave us a feel for what was really going on. I also liked that the labyrinth gave us a new realm to be in instead of the struggle of "How do we cross the entire country again?" We were able to cross it and get all over the place without us struggling so horribly with that question again--it can get old. 

I do think that the ending of the battle at the end was kind of a let down, though. Simple, I guess, but "the thing" happened then suddenly they ran for it. I wanted more. "The thing" seemed to come out of no where without any type of foreshadowing or letting us as the readers know that it was even a possibility. It felt as though it were coming out of nowhere and then it worked. 

The rest of it though, without the darker atmosphere, was good. Between ranches, sphinx's, arenas, Calypso, King Minos, and many other fun adventures, it was a good book that kept us engaged though it did seem a tad long. But set up for the final battle always takes a little bit of extra effort. 

Read on! 

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 Sea of Monsters

 The Sea of Monsters is book two in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. 

Percy was waiting for something to go wrong. He had been able to spend the whole school year without getting in trouble, so it was about time he did. He just wasn't anticipating Cannibal Cyclopes coming to his school as being what got him expelled. Then when he's finally able to get back to camp, Thalia's Tree the protects the camp has been poisoned and more monsters are able to get into the camp and has harmed many a camper. His friend Tyson is also somehow related to him which is like a punch in the gut. Charon is fired and the new camp counselor does not like Percy at all. Grover is also sending dream messages of help because a cyclopes has him captured in a wedding dress. The quest to save Grover and get the Golden Fleece has arrive, only it's not Percy's quest. How is he going to save his friend and the camp and watch out for Luke and the big sarcophagus that he's floating around with?  

It's a pretty good book. More monster mayhem erupts that Percy and Annabeth have to fight off. It's fairly similar to the first book in that it isn't until 'almost too late' that they remember who the bad guys are in this Sea of Monsters before they save themselves and there are constant monster fights. Differently though is that Percy grows with pretty much each encounter. He internalizes them and recalls them and the feelings he had through those experiences. He feels the lose of losing a friend, though I think it probably could have been a tad more heavy or emotional because lose of family members are real. Percy was sad, but he didn't grieve, which I think is important especially for young audiences--a grieving process would have been beneficial here, whereas Annabeth (I think) didn't even mention it as a condolence later.

I enjoyed Percy's character development. I do wish there was more development and character arcs for more than just him, though. Everyone else is kind of stagnant and stays as "the smart one," "the bully," "the kid," and so on. Luke, I guess gets some, but minimal. I want more from the other characters. 

My son enjoyed it, as I was reading it aloud to him, and actually cried a few time because he like the characters so much. 

We're reading onward! 

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.