Percy is back, and he's got a whole new set of banisters!**
Well, sort of. It's the same world as the original Percy Jackson series, but this book focuses on three new heroes. Sarah insists that Rick is a better writer, but I suspect that maybe our level has been set, we know what to expect, and Riordan delivers on that promise. There will be strongly-drawn characters whom we like (the main heroes). There will be annoying minor characters (usually a satyr). There will a prophecy that foreshadows some long-range plotting in a great way for the YA crowd. There will be some good conversations between the demigods and their parents that are good character-building exercises, and reveal a bit more about the long-range plotting. There will be a thrilling final battle.
And... there will a bunch of haphazard episodic scenes to get us from the prophecy to the final battle, each of which has, at best, a tenuous relationship to the overall plot. Sigh. More problematic, for me, is the mis-characterization of Midas and Medea as among the worst evildoers in Tartarus. Midas might have made some mistakes, but was otherwise a good citizen. Medea is a complex and tragic figure who perhaps took vengeance against Jason too far, and not a simple villain.
It's still perfectly fun fantasy, I was entertained, and will be reading book 2.
** I'm paraphrasing Don King, talking about Mike Tyson's new lawyers? Anyone? Bueller? (yes, this is to further underscore that I'm not the demographic Riordan is writing for)
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