Underworld Lore in my story:

What if instead of someone choosing rebirth and not getting to reunite with their loved ones after death, only their soul leaves the underworld and memories remain as a separate entity that are essentially themselves? Like, they can choose to leave their thoughts, personality, experience and consciousness formed by their old life (a person in a nutshell) behind so they still exist because when rebirth happens the soul has no need for those memories anyway so they might as well let their old selves be happy.

This can be really funny when a soul arrives in the underworld only to find a group of inhabitants who are strangely interested in the life they lived like a bunch of nosy relatives. They feel a sense of familiarity with them, then they realise who they're looking at and just laugh because it reminds them of the spiderman pointing meme.

A soul can choose whether or not to leave their old self behind, but before making that decision they will need to go talk to the World (inspired by Hades, World is just a title don't think too much about it) first. Usually these visits are short when they want to do it, while the longer discussions are for those that don't. They will talk about their reasons for not wanting to do it like if their old self will only be miserable or that they have done unforgivable things during their lifetime and are better off not existing.

To prevent rash decision making, souls are not allowed to choose rebirth if they have unresolved issues that can be reconciled. They need to work through these issues first and only then may they be reborn, basically therapy with either the World or someone else.

Question: How did you decide to do a Ballad AU rather than the original trilogy?

Hi! Thank you so much for your ask!

It was several reasons, honestly! For one, it was something I hadn't seen done before; the Hunger Games AUs that I've seen are all so fucking cool, and while I wanted to add mine to the collection of all the incredible ones, I wanted to add a sort of twist to it.

Secondly, I thought the themes of a Hunger Games AU fit better for Percabeth, while the themes for a Ballad AU worked a lot better for Solangelo. In my mind, certain AU's work super well for different ships. A Ballad AU lets me play around with a shit ton of different themes that fascinate me endlessly. I thought it was a great way to really play around with the characters of Nico and Will and explore what makes them tick as characters. I can discuss it more in length once the fic is complete, but with a Ballad AU, I found a way to really craft character arcs for Will and Nico that I found incredibly interesting and compelling.

Now, for a more personal anecdote; I had started writing a one-shot that was in the Percy Jackson universe, in which Will played La Vie En Rose for Nico on an enchanted guitar. The music caused a Tangled-like effect where Will was surrounded with gold swirls and stuff like that, and that combined with my hyper fixation on the character of Lucy Gray Baird led me to combining the two in my head, with the added bonus of the gold in the story leading to the inspiration for the fancy shirt Will wears. I ended up abandoning the one-shot, and I wrote a one-shot that entailed Will's introduction in The Ballad of the Sun and the Star. From there, it was obvious that I wanted to complete the story. There are a fair number of interesting character parallels between Lucy Gray and Will that really gave me the freedom to play.

The role of Snow was the hardest to adapt for Nico. I waffled a lot between Sejanus and Snow for Nico, but he didn't fit neatly into either category. AUs are fun because you get to figure out how a character would act in a different world, and after a lot of studying Nico lore and playing around with different ideas, he ended up as a sort of blend between Sejanus and Snow. Internal conflict is my favorite kind, and I loved the idea of Nico battling between his life in the Districts versus the life he lives in the Capitol. Bianca is the person that keeps him the most tethered to his past life in the Districts, but he's surrounded with people that have fully been groomed by the Capitol, so he's at a strange place where he's aware of the injustices in place, but he feels powerless to stop it, and has resigned himself to going through the motions.

That is, until Will comes along. (Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge.)

Sorry for the rambling lmao, I could talk for hours about the themes in this fic that exist in my head.

way to gaslight your own fans on the annabeth racechange in adaption

comments on youtube

I’m so happy you’re talking about this, Rippa.  I read Percy Jackson in the 5th grade.  It spoke to me, it influenced me, and I grew up idolizing Rick Riordan.  I read his statement yesterday and my heart dropped into my stomach.  I couldn’t believe this guy who had been such a great childhood inspiration had just basically called me racist for wanting the character to look how he told me she looked. I really don’t understand why having an actor that actually looks like the character they’re portraying is such a bad thing to these people, makes me even more surprised that Nami wasn’t race swapped in the live action One Piece show, and she’s a ginger. The thing is that race swaping a character for the sake of inclusion is insulting to both ethnicities involved. They're basically saying that the original white characters are either worthless, bad or defective and they need to change; and that the black race being use as a substitute doesn't have original heroes or historical characters worth exploring and that the only way for them to be worthy of attention is to give them the character/positions of previously established white characters.

I am beyond happy that you're tackling this, Eric. I've been a Percy Jackson fan since 6th grade. This is criminal like you wouldn't believe, this is not Annabeth. Annabeth is white with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, a daughter of Athena. She ain't black and never will be, I've been reading Rick's books for years and this feels terrible. I know he's been going woke in his latest series, but I truly thought that's PJO fans were getting the show we deserved. Never again, I'm not buying any other book from this man ever again. Not even the new Nico book that he's writing.Show less

Rick is such a liar. On the one hand he admits that he was beholden to Disney’s hiring practices which is nothing more than a racial and sexual quota system. On the other he suggests it was an open casting and they were going to hire the best person for the job regardless of their intersectionality traits. Sorry, but you can’t have both. Unless of course he is suggesting that after the year-long auditioning process there was a possibility he was going to cast three blonde haired blue-eyed actors in the three main roles. I’m fairly sure that was an impossibility.Show less

The thing that's crazy is that there are characters of different races in the story. Especially in the sequel series. Niko and Bianca are from the first story and Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Piper are from the sequel series. All of them are major characters in the story My best friend is a huge fan of the books and was looking forward to seeing this series. But not anymore, because of the casting of Annabeth. She loves those books, but now believes that the author is a sellout. Also, if the show makes Athena black, I'm gonna be pissed.

Basically any white character (or even historical real life person) is free game to be changed for whatever reason. But any POC character is absolutely never ever allowed to be changed in any way, ever.

I have seen people try to defend changing annabeths race  by going annabeths race didnt have anything to do with her story  so its okay to change it and have her played by a black actor when would that logic apply to a character from a book series who was black but then in the adaption was played by a white actor if you would ocmplain you have no right to complain about someone getting upset if say a character who was white in the original story was played by a black actor ( the claim that they were just looking for the best available actor is bs for they wouldnt ever do this  in reverse where was say a character who was black in the books but then they had a white guy play him even if he was better than the black guy they would pick the black guy

no diversity/representation doesnt make it different

( its not different

lets be real here if say a black person and a white person tried to audition for blade ( who in the comics isblack) the black person should get the role ( I doubt that they would even accept/allow any white person to audition for the role 

I never saw leah act but it really doesnt matter if she is a good actress or not the fact is annabeth is white she is black the actress should match annabeths features  so it doesnt matter  whether or not leah is a good actress she shouldnt play annabeth just like a white person shouldnt play blade(Eric Cross Brooks) from marvel comics  regardless of whether or not he is a good actor ) no one would use the what if he was the best actor for the job argument for a case like that and the attempts to justify it by going but there arent many black characters makes me roll my eyes it doesnt matter ( make your own you dont get to complain  about a character being whitewashed then claim racism if someone isnt okay with blackwashing   ( one bad justificationto the other to misusing the term racism  )  I wouldnt be okay with miles morales being played by a white person )  we both know that the race change isnt because she is best actress for the job its because they had a problem with the fact that keeping it accurate to the races meaning the main characters would mostly be white ( which isnt a problem unless you would have a problem with most of the main cast being nonwhite)

Hey, I’m already warning that it’s Angst! So, what would Nico, or even most of Camps and Percy’s family and friends do if Percy die? This after the Giant War and he dies in a quest. What would they do?

I know this is a weird question but I need to know! I’m writing a story about this. But I wanted to know your opinion since your PJO stories inspire me to write!

Well, first of all, I'm very flattered that I spird you to write and I wish you good luck with your writing! <3

Then mh. Generally, I try to avoid death fics, both in reading and writing.

But in this fandom you can find great ways to work around it. So the real question is, where do you want to go with it?

Percy who dies, but due to his heroics in the past earned himself godhood and now his family and friends have to cope with the fact that he is dead and a god.

Percy who dies, but Nico says "fuck this shit", storms the underworld, grabs ghost!Percy's hand and does the second jail break because let's be real Thanatos owes Percy one for saving his life so he'd turn a blind eye and Hades doesn't even dare to speak up because Nico's been annoying him about Percy Jackson's pretty eyes for years now and if he doesn't allow Nico to steal the soul back, he will never hear the end of it.

Percy who dies and just... hangs out in the underworld. It's chill, honestly, he finally gets to bond with Nico who lives down there and they get together that way (I think I literally wrote that fic before. Or a Hades/Persephone/Percy fic. Or both. Unsure).

Percy who dies and becomes a ghost. New Rome is full of ghosts in canon, isn't it? Percy could just decide to hang out with his friends. Still painful, but they adjust to it.

Percy who dies and gets reborn and like 15 years from now, his friends get to meet him again, in a new body and have to cope with that.

Percy who dies and is just... gone.

Sooo, before you can really work on "What would they do?", you have to pick what you do. Where do you want Percy's death to go, because depending on the route taken, the reactions would vary.

Obviously, everyone grieves in their own way. So keep in mind how the characters act in canon. (Which, quite frankly, in the case of Nico really only leaves the "fuck this shit" Orpheus and Eurydice version, considering he tried to bring back Bianca for years and successfully revived Hazel.)

And "What would they do?" also depends on what you want them to do. Because if you stick with canon, most of them would just be sad for a bit and then move on, if canon's anything to go by. Annabeth in HoO never even mentions Luke or her grief for her first big crush slash mentor who had died just a few short months before. I refuse to touch ToA but from what I gather no one attempted to bring back Leo and they were all just kinda sad until he returned on his own. Jason's dead too now and I don't think anyone tried to bring him back either and Piper's already smooching her new love interest from what I've heard. And "camp" as a large entity wouldn't do much; all of them have lost so many siblings in the war and they moved on from it. They'd burn a shrout for Percy and move on from it, though he is our protagonist, in the general picture of a war riddled society with child soldiers who have lost dozens of siblings in the past few short years already, his death is not that much more significant than any of the others.

You can go with the route closest to what is considered "in character" by orienting yourself on the way these characters have been shown in canon to react to character deaths.

Personally, I think Riordan was a coward who vastly downplayed the PTSD, survivor's guilt and grief these characters should have been going through by the time HoO rolled around and I think that you should make the judgment call yourself. You've read the books, you have a feel for how they acted, how they felt, how they reacted. What do you think would be their appropriate reaction?

Sure, you could give me a list of characters you want involved in this and the scenario you want to go with and I can directly answer the question you asked and tell you how I think they'd react. And that can be a good guideline if you are unsure yourself. But at the end of the day, this is your story and it must feel like yours. You have to be the one who, when reading it, is satisfied by the reactions and behind how they acted. And that can easily be derailed by looking to others for guidance. That's not meant to be me declining your answer; if you do want to know what I think specific characters' reactions would be like in a specific scenario, then come back to me with that and I'll offer you my opinion.

It's more meant to be encouragement for you to look into yourself and test your own grasp on the characters and go with whatever reactions you think would be most satisfying; they don't necessarily have to be the most in character. Not just because sometimes, as above mentioned, "in character" can be dissatisfying and deliberately play down emotions a real person would be feeling in certain scenarios (often due to the author's own lack of knowledge about the specific scenario, deliberate ignorance or ratings; it's tough to sell a kids' book series if you genuinely confront the trauma that comes with the reality of being a child soldier), but also because sometimes, being more "out of character" is just... more fun, sometimes things are thought experiments, sometimes you want the extreme reaction because it makes for a better or more entertaining read.

Since this turned, uh, longer than anticipated, to sum it up shortly: Decide what Percy's death is supposed to mean in the larger context of the story and where you want to go with it, then decide which specific characters' reactions you're looking for. In some cases, you can easily compare to how they have reacted to a similar scenario in the past and then see for yourself if you want to stay in line with that reaction, or if you feel like a different reaction would be more appropriate, or just more fun to write/read.

You read the books and, I assume, enough fanfiction to know the characters and find your answer yourself, even if you're unsure about it right now. And if you do want more detailed input, you are free to come back to me with specifics, or message me in private and we can talk certain scenarios or particular characters you're struggling with through and I'll see if I can help you. ;)

Happy Storyteller Saturday! Are any of your WIPs inspired by anime/TV/video games? If not, what's something that has inspired a WIP?

happy sts Char! thank you for the ask!! here are some quickfire inspirations for FaF, most of which are taken straight from childhood favs:

-Harry Potter: (the obligatory mention). the magic schools. the idea of aging with the characters and watching their progression. a secret society of magic users with their own systems. the worldbuilding that just absorbed multiple generations. 

-Percy Jackson: amazing incorporation of real issues alongside fantasy issues. great diversity. progression of Percabeth was well done. when Nico came out, i cried (i was 8???). magic that varied with the person! started out innocent, killed Zoe and Bianca in book 3 and said “these are children in a war because of adults” while still being funny and easy to read for younger kids. sarcastic narrator. side characters with fun characterization. meddlesome gods. prophecies and destinies that annoy characters.

-She-Ra Reboot: time resets were already majorly important to the plot of FaF, but the episodes with time resetting were so good it inspired me to keep writing FaF! also the relationship between Catra and Adora is... similar to a major relationship in FaF (i like finding parallels and crying)

-ATLA and LOK: avatar was such a huge source of inspiration for me! redemption arcs. Korra’s story in season 4, her suffering from PTSD and facing a villain who is similar to her. Azula’s arc. large amount of lore! a character with powers passed down from past lives. characters were all very well-written. 

-Merlin: Morgana’s arc inspired a main character! also, a main character who feels the need to shoulder everything on their backs.

-Oneshot videogame: it’s not majorly known but it has this energy to it that really sunk into FaF. maybe it’s the mc’s need to save the world, but the conflicting choices between dong that or having their own happy ending. it’s also... so pretty... it makes me want to write every time i see anything from it. just, journeying through the world with it’s fate in your hands, growing to love it and the people in it, and then having to make the final decision... wow.

-Oxenfree videogame: the time loop in Oxenfree!! it’s such a fun game- my girlf and i played through it twice to get the closest thing to the good ending you can, and it's super fun to see how one little choice can offset everything, until you have to go back to the beginning, and try again. it’s very trippy at some points, and it also has so many small details to notice.

-Girls Made of Snow and Glass, A Thousand Nights, Graceling Realm, Eragon, Gods and Warriors: the writing, the plots, the characters, the diversity, the worldbuilding, all of it. these are books and series that are must reads, seriously. especially the Graceling Realm books, they are just gorgeous

-The Unwanteds: a book series about magic based on the arts? huge inspo for FaF, just vastly different worlds and plots! it’s a good series, one i loved when i was younger

it’s not a super impressive list, but it was fun to try and think of some major inspirations of FaF! thanks again for the lovely ask!

Thoughts on the Heroes of Olympus series (Part 3)

(The ending is somewhat spoiled in this one, so if that bugs you, read with caution.)                      Apparently, yesterday was Percy Jackson's birthday. So he's a Leo. Makes sense, I thought, and set to integrating this piece of trivia with my mental image of Percy, but then I realized that I already knew it from the following exchange in The Blood of Olympus: "Like the zodiac sign?" Percy asked. "I'm a Leo." "No, stupid," Leo said, "I'm a Leo. You're a Percy." The bad puns in this series are so real, guys. Anyway, given that it was Percy's birthday, it would've been neat if I could've posted this review yesterday, but alas, I just didn't have the energy after work. But hey, my lateness won't stop me from tagging this post with #happybirthdaypercy in a shameless attempt to increase my readership. Happy Birthday, Percy! I know you won't mind my using your birthday as a marketing tool.   The Blood of Olympus  Reyna and Nico are by far my favorite parts of this book, both separately and as a pair, but especially as a pair. Both are characters with deeply traumatic pasts who feel a respect and kinship for one another that eventually evolve into familial affection. Hazel may be Nico’s sister in name, but Reyna seems closer to filling Bianca’s role as big sister to Nico: whereas, historically, Nico has had to protect and guide Hazel, Reyna is someone who will not only do the same for him, but who will also worry for him. She has the magical ability to literally empathize with his need, as a boy who has lost a mother and an older sister, to feel cared for and considered, and is therefore uniquely qualified to respond to it. Nico’s bonds with both Reyna and Hazel, though, are beautiful.  As for Reyna herself, as much as I love all of the female characters in both this series and the original, in my estimation, she's the best, simply by virtue of being the most complex. Riordan's skill with developing characters through their internal struggles shines in Reyna's chapters. Let's not kid ourselves like the other characters do: she killed her father, even if it was in self-defense and even if he'd degenerated into a mania, giving her what is certainly the darkest backstory of any character in this series and probably of any character in any middle-grade series ever. I'm surprised that the publisher didn't insist on cutting the murder, though Riordan does gloss over its moral ambiguity somewhat. Nico's pretty terrifying in that one scene, too, and in his case, Reyna and Coach Hedge fully acknowledge the immorality of his actions. You all know the scene I'm referring to, or will if and when you read this book. Can I get some Dark!PercyxDark!Nico fanfics in addition to the Dark!Percy ones I already tried to commission in my previous blog post? (Oh, and if you're wondering about my thoughts on Reyna's sexuality, as I know many have imagined her as gay or bisexual, I personally ship her with herself regardless of her sexual preferences. To be clear, I have nothing against either interpretation of her character, but I got a little disenchanted with every character being or wanting to be in a serious romantic relationship as the series progressed. There are single teenagers, you know. I was one of them.) Before I conclude my discussion of Nico and Reyna, though, I have to mention the scene where Nico finally confesses to Percy that he once had a crush on him. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one cheering for him and wishing that I could be that cool while simultaneously laughing at Percy’s confusion and Annabeth’s amusement. And oh man, that high five between Annabeth and Nico. Perfect.  But it's time that I commented on Leo’s happy ending, in which he fulfills his role in the prophecy by dying (but not really) and keeping his oath to Calypso to free her from Ogygia.  Their whole relationship is comprised of moments of subtle tenderness, but the line in the last chapter that struck me most was:  “Leo Valdez,” she said. Nothing else - just his name, as if it were something magical.  I fangirled when I read that line, and the entire last chapter, for two reasons. The first is that, no matter how I try to deny the tendency in myself, I’m a hopeless romantic (yes, I’m a hopeless romantic who doesn’t read straight romance and who wants to see more single characters in middle-grade and YA novels. Everyone has their contradictions) who was invested in this couple from the start. However, the second reason pertains to Leo’s character. He’s the “seventh” wheel of the group, who’s spent the whole series doubting his own merits and developing crushes on girls who either take no interest in him or take no interest in him and seem interested in one of his friends instead. To be fair, one of these girls is a villain anyway, but her rejection still validates Leo’s insecurities. Even Calypso herself has a history with another of the Seven (Percy) and initially reacts to Leo's arrival on Ogygia as though it were a cruel joke of the gods'. The fact that the other characters largely disregard Leo - even I've ignored him until now, ironically, despite how hilarious I found his dialogue and narration - is what makes Riordan’s positioning him as the hero of the series so emotionally and narratively satisfying. He forms a plan to defeat Gaea without even consulting the others (might it be said that his inherited tendency to work independently and in isolation, which he and dad Hephaestus both perceive as a flaw, is what enables him to save the world?); he breaks Calypso's curse without leaning on the gods or on Percy's bargain with them. He goes from being the most overlooked of the Seven to someone whose very name inspires awe (and you can't tell me that Calypso's awe results solely from romantic feeling - I'm sure that, when she utters that line, she's also thinking of how Leo is the first and only person to manage to free her, to even remember her after leaving Ogygia). His is an underdog story done right. Overall As I hope you've gathered from my individual comments on each book, there's a lot to appreciate in this series: it's by turns light and funny and dark and morally ambiguous; it's smart and subtly overturns stereotypes and prejudices; and, perhaps most importantly, it's full of likable, relatable characters who feel distinct and real. It's self-aware too: as in the original series, Riordan raises the question - here, most notably in Arachne's version of her myth - of whether the gods are truly good or merely better than the alternatives of Gaea and the Titans; whether theirs is the side the demi-gods would willingly choose or merely the one they happen to be on because of their parentage. It's not often in children's adventure stories that the heroes consider that the villains may have a valid moral point, and beyond that, one that invalidates theirs. Even the last two Harry Potter books don't go as far with humanizing and demonizing Voldemort and Dumbledore, respectively. Unfortunately, the narrative does not adequately answer this question or many of the others that it raises. Take, as another example, Percy's "fatal flaw," loyalty, which I noted in Part 1 of my review never seems to result in negative consequences for either the Seven or the quest, despite being talked up by both gods and monsters throughout the series. Were the repeated warnings about it supposed to be foreshadowing Percy's decision to fall into Tartatus with Annabeth? If so, that makes no sense, as at least one demi-god was needed on each side of the Doors of Death, anyway, and Percy and Annabeth were obviously more successful as a team than either would've been alone. Or, as is more likely, was Percy's "fatal flaw" part of a larger plot thread that was dropped due to time and space constraints? But if that's the case, then why couldn't the first two books in the series have been condensed into one, or the series extended to include six or seven books? Surprisingly, considering how tightly plotted the original series was, the plot in this series fizzles to near nonexistence by the end of The Blood of Olympus, the tension building inconsistently as the climax approaches. Compared to the final battle in The Last Olympian, which engrossed me even more than the Battle of Hogwarts did (fellow Harry Potter fans, you don't have to call me a traitor; I assure you, I already feel like one), the stakes in the battle against Gaea and her army seemed the equivalent height of those in a fight involving elementary school children wielding sticks. Riordan's failure to deliver in this respect was especially glaring considering that he'd promised readers not one major battle in The Blood of Olympus, but two. Instead we get a one-on-one fight between Reyna and Orion that feels more internally than externally resonant and forestalls Major Battle #1, the Roman attack on the Greeks, before it even begins; a fight with the earthborn during which no one but Jason is really needed, as he's shown to be tremendously overpowered; and a fight between Leo and Gaea, which should've been Major Battle #2 but which is over within a page or two. The characters reiterate throughout the series how powerful Gaea is and how much more substantial of a threat she is than the Titans, but even the lowest monster in Tartarus was scarier and took longer to defeat. Hell, the Minotaur in The Lightning Thief would've been a worthier opponent for our heroes. The only explanation I can think of for the disappointing finish to this series is, again, that Riordan must have run out of time or space to give readers a proper final battle (though he hinted at two, I would've settled for one). Or possibly steam.   Still, although the series as a whole has a rushed and sloppy quality to it, I would still highly recommend it, both for the reasons listed above and for its resemblance to fanfiction. Yes, sadly, only in fanfiction would I expect to read a continuation of Percy Jackson's story with as many minority as white demi-god protagonists, whose cultures, used respectfully by Riordan, inform rather than define their identities; a gay character who is revealed to be in love with the protagonist of the first series; and an emphasis on female empowerment and the glorification of the feminine. There’s even a character -  arguably the most physically attractive of the Seven, might I add - who discovers that he needs glasses! I was shocked, albeit pleasantly so, to find a published series containing all of these elements, and I'm not even gay or a minority. If you pick up these books for the representation alone, you won't regret it.     But that won’t be necessary: there are a multitude of other fun reasons. 

#14 Percy Jackson & the Olympians:

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4/5

Pages: 361 (with a brief excerpt from the final book: The Last Olympian)

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Books (an imprint of Disney Book Group)

It's a new year and I'm reviewing a book I finished at the end of December 2016. (And let's face it, by the time I crank out this  review it'll be New Year's Day again...) I will preface this review by stating that while I do have reading goals, I don't necessarily have a numerical goal. I don't really like to place numerical goals on reading since, for me, it deters from the reason I read—absorbing the story—(basically: quality over quantity). But I do like to review books and I completed my goal of posting five book reviews. I did read way more than five books in 2016 but I didn’t review them because of reasons (mostly life). This year I upped my goal to six books reviews. It does seem like a tiny goal but because of life, if I do more than six I will be very happy. My other reading goal would be to post a review at least within a week after I've finished reading a book that (in my opinion) is worthy of a review. (UPDATE: I’ve already failed hard in that resolution.) Other goals this year include: finishing posting a month's worth of  pictures on Instagram as part of a monthly challenge. (UPDATE: perhaps every other month, beginning with February!) My last goal for this year is to organize myself better. (UPDATE: although this last resolution is vague, it's the one that has worked out the best so far. Weird.) Anyway, Happy New Year!

During the last week of December I was taken on such a great adventure! I actually don't have any anecdotes about this book. It’s completely brand new in the sense that nothing eventful happened prior to reading it nor do I have any news on a new Percy Jackson film, or reboot. Not even rumors on a television series. (In my opinion, it would make such a great series—if done right.) In a way this fourth book is in keeping with the theme of this post of a new year, new feelings, and new experiences and it is, of course, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan.

(WARNING: Reader discretion is advised. Spoilers up ahead of PJO.)

In this story, we're back in the summer months, and just two seasons after the events of The Titan's Curse. We open as Percy attends his ninth grade orientation at Goode High School. (They grow up so fast.) As always, ancient monsters show up and try to destroy him. But we come to learn that Camp Half-Blood is in danger of being invaded by Kronos's army. The war with the titan king is drawing to a head and the only way to stop the attack on the campus is to journey into the belly of the earth through the mythical labyrinth. And unfortunately, things aren't looking too good for Grover and his search for Lord Pan.

Although there were a few new characters in this book I actually want to talk about a a few that have already been established and introduced to us. As promised, we have Nico di Angelo, Bianca’s younger brother. Unfortunately, he's still angry at Percy after the events of The Titan's Curse. We found out that he and Bianca are Hades' children, who were born before the World War II pact. I can’t see the impact—if there is any—on the overall picture of this story line. Then there's Rachel Dare. She was introduced to us during the pit stop at the Hoover Dam. She rescued Percy from an army of skeletons. The surprise came when we learned that she is a mortal who can see through the “Mist.” We get to know her a little bit more this time since she'll be attending the same high school as Percy. I couldn’t be happier. I like her. This brings me to the character I've wanted to discuss for a while: Sally Jackson. She was the first mortal we know who can see through the “Mist.” Aside from that, she is always there for her son, does her best to both protect him and support his destiny. I'm sure that as his mother Sally is worried about Percy. I'm glad to see that she's growing as a character and living her own life. She sets and reaches her goals. We only see Sally's development in bits and pieces through Percy but she has come a long way.

This book, for me, is a series of cinematic proportions. It has the slow buildup of plot, story and character arcs that span these four books but everything appears on a grander scale (case in point: defeat the titan king … but apparently save Luke whom Kronos has now possessed). The actions is amplified; the stakes—already high to begin—just becomes intense. I'd like to think that I have that good of an imagination; however, I like to know that it's Riordan who has done a wonderful job of having this story streaming through my mind with each word I read. I know that as a “good reader” you are supposed to be able to have this type of visualization in your mind, but it's the job of the author to help you construct the scenery, speak through the dialogue and react through the action.

Another thing about this book is the running theme about heroes and their fans (that “heroes rarely live up to our own expectations”). There were three characters who failed to live up to the expectations of our three main characters: Tyson with the hekatonchires, Briares, Annabeth with Daedalus, and Grover with Lord Pan. This disillusion had our main cast becoming their own heroes and ironically inspires Briares and Daedalus (Lord Pan is another story.) It was a very nice message to the readers revealing that you are more than enough as heroes. While it's nice to look up to others, “heroes” make mistakes, fail, and fall apart. Begin a hero doesn’t just mean triumphs and battle stories but having the courage to try again, having compassion for others, and doing the right thing. That is why heroes never fade.

After reading That Titan's Curse, I honestly thought that there wouldn’t be any other competition against The Sea of Monsters and that the story line would be a straight shot through without much climax or dip. But I was wrong. This adventure resembles the second book in the series insomuch that while there is a specific goal in mind, the route to this mythological place doesn’t have a set location on the surface of the contiguous United States. Therefore this makes the journey grander. There were occasions where they did pop back in different cities across the country but quickly returned to the labyrinth. Time also travels differently above and below the earth. It runs slower in the tunnels and faster on the surface. This helps the story move further away from reality making it more magical, mystical, and mythical without really leaving the present time.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. This series has definitely been a roller coaster. It has many ups and downs, loop-de-loops and steep drops. This pattern through the series (book 1: 3.5 stars, book 2: 4 stars, book 3: 3.5 stars, and now book 4: 4 stars) leads me to believe that while the ending will be satisfying it won't bee anything extraordinarily great, which is fine with me. As long as things have been constructed logically toward the endgame I don’t think it'll let me down. I am very pleased with Riordan's weaving of intricate detail into plot and his great use of characters and their roles (both gods and mortals). He does not forget them. I am very curious to see how he finishes this tale and ultimately Percy's fate. Until next time (hopefully very soon with the final book review).

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading.