Monday, October 7, 2013

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5) by Rick Riordan * * * *

Aw, it ended. I feel sad now. Anyway, the last story wasn't like the previous ones in many respect. First of all, it didn't start in a school. Second, there wasn't a quest to travel around. This was war. I cried several times. It wasn't pretty, or fun. It was often gruesome, though the description was kept to a minimum. Still managed to sneak in a few jokes here and there though. It was a good conclusion.

Percy. Now what can I say about him? I saw him become a man. He really recognised his position in this world in this story. He became a spectacular fighter, and a good leader. He also realised what was important in life for him.
Annabeth. I always loved her character. She never gave up, she was brilliant.
I can't even list the important characters in this book. It had a lot of action, a lot of things happening.

Overall, great finish! It wrapped up the story nicely, while also leaving room for more. It of course has a continuation in a new series, which I don't know if I should start now, since it's not finished. I'll see.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4) by Rick Riordan * * * *

Things are getting serious in this instalment of the series. It kind of reminds me of the 5th or 6th Harry Potter book in that. Percy is growing up, his 16th birthday is getting nearer, and his quests and actions are becoming more and more dangerous.
I found this book to be the most complex so far. A lot of things happened, and now my mind is just replaying event after event. Again, I had a difficult time putting it down, and if I hadn't had some actual social life to attend to, I may have read it in a day again. Though I think this one was longer than the previous books, but it's hard to determine on Kindle.
An interesting thing to note is that this one started in a school as well. Poor Percy, trying to get into another one. But I stop right here, don't want to spoil it. Though we all know that Percy + school; not a good equation.
Another part of the story that I have to mention is Pan. I felt that had a very strong message about the environment, and I hope that kids will be touched by it.

Like I said before, Percy is maturing, getting older, and takes on more dangerous situations. If I hadn't know that there was another book, I would have feared for his life. He's also getting romantically more involved, but only in the emotional sense. A lot of the time he's still a clueless teenage boy. He is, however, taking charge in the fighting aspect of his life. He doesn't always succeed, but he is more ready to jump into a fight, and to figure things out on his own. He is also more aware of his powers, something that I'm sure he'll need in the final book.
Annabeth got a bit shaken at the start of the story, and that effects her behaviour through the story. She did feel a bit out of character, but towards the end everything was cleared up. She was a bit on the outside again in this book.
Grover and Tyson were absent through the majority of the story, which was a bit sad, but it had a purpose. I was glad for Grover though.
Rachel makes another appearance. I had my suspicions, that she would at some point. We got to know her a bit more. I took instant liking to her in the previous book, so I was happy about that.
Nico is in this as well, of course. I was happy about the growth his character went through. Though his situation was a bit sad. Okay, sometimes very sad.

Overall, a really exciting book. The complexity of the story reached a new height, and definitely stepped out of the kids' realm. The monsters were more horrible as well. I'm a bit sad that the next one is the end, but it was a great ride!