41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lightning DOES strike twice, June 25, 2006
Rick Riordan comes through again, and this follow up to The Lightning Thief is just as entertaining, informative and action-packed as the first book. This time Percy (son of Poseidon) is at school in New York when things start to go downhill fast, beginning with some bad dreams about his friend Grover the satyr, followed by an attack by cannibalistic dodge ball players.
When Annabeth (daughter of Athena) arrives on the scene with more bad news, Percy has to embark on another quest, this time unsanctioned, to save Camp Half-Blood, which is vulnerable to attack since its defenses have been breached. He also has to save Grover, who's found himself in an inter-species entanglement in which he doesn't quite see eyes to eye with his suitor.
Accompanying them is Percy's class mate Tyson, a street kid who counts Percy as his only friend, but who is much, much more than he seems. The three travel to the treacherous Sea of Monsters in the face of insurmountable odds to capture the Golden Fleece, which hopefully can counteract the poison and restore the magical protection of the Camp.
Steeped in Greek mythology, yet written for young readers, this one is highly recommended for developing the imagination with its combination of thrilling adventure and legend.
Amanda Richards, June 25, 2006
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cornwall, Ny sixth Grader, March 10, 2007
A Kid's Review
Cornwall, New York Sixth Grader 3/7/07
I am a sixth grader. I think The Sea of Monsters is a great book. Percy Jackson returns in this story with new monsters, new surprises and a new camp director?! This exciting sequel to the Lightning Thief is with a plot and flow equivalent to that of the first. Who knew what could happen when a normal game of dodge ball turns into a struggle to survive? Percy is soon warned that Camp Half Blood is no longer safe for demigods. A crushing and devastating blow for Percy, who himself is a half blood. Someone has poisoned Thalia's tree and Chiron is the prime suspect. A quest must be taken up to retrieve the Golden Fleece!
Much to Percy's dismay he is not given the quest! Although he and Annabeth are forbidden to go this quest, they still go out into the mortal world to find the Fleece. Percy has been contacted in his dreams also by a person who is important to him. According to this person the Fleece is in the Sea of Monster. Unfortunately, that person is in the peril of death. He must now bring back the Fleece and save that person. Challenges await them though, so incredibly evil and ruthless...
Rick Riordan does a great job with this book. I like how the flow of the story fits in with the action theme. Riordan also pleases me with a splash of humor in this book. He also creates such great details on his characters that they come to life for me. Also, the spunk of Percy and his friends adds spark to the story. The creativity of the mixing of the Greek religion and modern day society produces an interesting blend. Whoever thought that Greeks were boring obviously never read this book. His creativity really makes this book shine. A two thumbs up book for any reader. I especially recommend this book for bookworms and fantasy readers, this book will really satisfy you.
Can Percy save the Golden Fleece and his friend? Will peace be restored to Camp Half Blood? Will Chiron be proved innocent?
EG
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the gods must be crazy..., July 27, 2006
The gods of old keep having kids. Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus, Athena, Aphrodite, Hera, Artemis (who, technically is a virgin and doesn`t have any kids), Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon all have children roaming the earth, stirring up the order of things and trying to keep humans from destroying themselves. These demigods, or half bloods, congregate in a camp in New York called Half-Blood Hill, where the activities are run by Chiron (the trainer of Hercules) and Mr. D, the infamous Dionysus, who is serving a sentence of sobriety for chasing after the wrong wood nymph.
The thing is that three of these gods should not be siring any more children. Since the debacle of World War II Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon have sworn an oath on the river Styx that they would not father any more children, seeing as how their children are infinitely more powerful than the other gods. All but one has broken this oath, and one of the offspring to be born from Poseidon's dalliance is Percy Jackson (Perseus).
Percy, known to many reader's from the first book "The Lightning Thief" is adjusting to the fact that he is the son of Poseidon, the Sea God. His Mother has sent him to a progressive school for troubled kids, Meriweather College Prep. Here he has befriended the school's charity case for the year, an overgrown teenager who happens to be homeless, named Tyson. Tyson has gotten Percy into many scrapes this year because of his sensitivity, his brute force, and his ability to break down into convulsive sobbing. Everything is going fine until a game of dodge ball one gym class turns into a fight for their lives as Percy and Tyson realize they are up against a race of cannibals called the Laistrygonians, and they are saved by none other than Annabeth, daughter of Athena and friend of Percy's from Half-Blood Hill. She takes them to the camp where all Hades has broken loose.
For one thing the protective barrier of the camp is weakening thanks to a the Pine tree of Thalia. Thalia is the daughter of Zeus, a half blood who some years before had been changed into the tree to protect the others from certain demise. Now the tree has been poisoned and the activities director, Chiron, has been fired because of this. In his place is a starving man named Tantalus who sees Percy as nothing more than a puffed up brat. Even when Percy reveals that he has been having dreams of his satyr friend Grover and how his quest has led him into a perilous place, the Sea of Monsters, Tantalus does nothing to help Percy save him. In fact when it is revealed that the legendary Golden Fleece is on the same island as Grover Tantalus assigns Clarisse to quest for it before Percy. It is believed that the retrieval of the Golden Fleece will save the camp, but Percy is more concerned that his friend Grover may end up as a meal for the cyclops, Polyphemus, and wants to rescue him. Together with Annabeth, Tyson, and some aid of the gods the three set off into the unknown, and learn a few new secrets along the way.
This is a fantastic sequel to "The Lightning Thief". Percy Jackson is simply the fantasy character to watch in the next few years. This book has everything in it one can wish for. The characters are deep and flawed, the quest is compelling, the drama oozes on every page. I found that this was a compulsively readable book, one that I had a difficult time putting down in the three days it took me to read it. I marveled at the introduction of Tyson, because he is such a sweet and sympathetic character, and the connection between him and Percy is just a great touch. The mythos surrounding Thalia heats up in this book too, and I am aghast at the role she will seem to play in the following books. Even the emergence of Luke as a villain is perfect, as he is the ideal character to have as a rival, and Kronos is a nemesis to be feared in the future. My biggest gripe is that the cliffhangers, the introductions of new characters (and the implications of said characters and prophecies surrounding them) will make it very difficult for me to wait for the next book to be published... this is, for all accounts, my "Harry Potter" series that I would wait in line at midnight for. I am on pins and needles to see what Riordan dreams up next for Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
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