The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) [LARGE PRINT] (Hardcover)

by Rick Riordan (Author)
Key Phrases: seaweed brain, golden fleece, golden drachma, San Francisco, Westover Hall, Zoë Nightshade (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9–In this installment, Riordan continues to enliven ancient mythology with wit, contemporary staging, and teenage heroics. Percy Jackson is now 14, a bit older and wiser, yet still entangled with the Fates. Friends, monsters, dysfunctional gods, and the romantic stirrings of all things natural and mythological are encountered. His good friend, if oft-time rival, Annabeth (daughter of Athena) is missing, as is Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Joined by best buddy Grover-the-goat-boy and an argumentative array of accomplices, Percy sets off to fulfill, and hopefully foil, the foreboding prophecy of the Oracle. Plagued by ominous dreams, thwarted by hideous monsters, and challenged by conflicting partnerships, the search party's success hinges on unlikely unity. The droll pitch is teen-perfect, as when Apollo heats up the scene by arriving in his fire-red Maserati, wearing jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt, and loafers. 'Wow,' Thalia muttered, 'Apollo is hot.' 'He's the sun god,' I said. 'That's not what I meant.' Intricate prophecies and relationships are neatly braided into the adventurous plot. Teachers will cheer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians as they inspire students to embrace Greek mythology and score the ultimate Herculean challenge: getting kids to read. All in all, a winner of Olympic proportions and a surefire read-aloud.–Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Just after finding Bianca and Nico, two newly discovered half-bloods, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia end up trapped between a helicopter and a manticore. Artemis and her Hunters save the day, but Annabeth disappears over a cliff; then Artemis rushes off to hunt a dangerous monster. Back at Camp Half-Blood, the Oracle foretells that Artemis must be rescued and makes a prediction that bodes ill for one of their number—but which one? Percy, who is supposed to remain behind while others pursue the quest, follows in search of the missing Annabeth. Their adventures range widely across the U.S., taking them to locales that include Washington, D.C., and the deserts of the Southwest and pitting them against the usual assortment of colorful adversaries. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is built around a terrific idea—that the half-mortal offspring of Greek gods live among us, playing out struggles of mythic scale—and Riordan takes it from strength to strength with this exciting installment, adding even more depth to the characters and story arc while retaining its predecessors' nonstop laughs and action. Tixier Herald, Diana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 401 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (September 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786297018
• ISBN-13: 978-0786297016
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,097,823 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gods and Monsters, April 13, 2007

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) (Hardcover)

You know, it still strikes me as odd when I run across a kid who hasn't read a Percy Jackson book yet. Take, for example, the homeschooler bookgroup I run. These kids aren't exactly sheltered, but at the same time they don't feel unnaturally compelled to follow the latest trend due to peer pressure. They hadn't even heard of Rick Riordan when I proposed to them that we read, The Lightning Thief the other day. Obediently they took the book home and in a week some of them were back, basically begging me for Book #2. Now they've found out that I've a copy of #3, "The Titan's Curse," hidden about my person and if I don't give it to them soon there will be blood shed. My blood. So while I usually take a long time to process a book before finally getting around to reviewing it, in Mr. Riordan's case I'm gonna make an exception. The third in the series, in "Titan's Curse," Riordan raises the stakes, adds in a couple new gods and monsters, and basically ratchets up the tension while cutting down on the easygoing moments. It's bound to make the fans happy.

Percy's on a rescue mission. Nothing new there. The fact that he's getting a ride to the rescue mission with his mom and two of his camp mates is definitely a unique occurrence, though. Percy, Annabeth, and the now re-humanized Thalia (daughter of Zeus) are traveling to a private school where their friend and satyr Grover has made an important discovery. There are two new half-bloods there, a brother and a sister, and it's up to our heroes to get them to Camp Half-Blood before the resident monster spirits them away. Unfortunately the rescue mission is botched, Annabeth disappears with the enemy, and Percy finds himself facing a whole new bad guy. He's called The General, and under his command he's captured the goddess Artemis and is hellbent on destroying the Gods for his master, the Titan Kronos. Now it's up to Percy and company to rescue the goddess, find Annabeth, and stop The General's plans before it's too late. Which, I might add, it might already be.

Riordan's a much cleverer author than anyone gives him credit for. He's smart enough to know that many of his readers have probably read up on their Greek myths all thanks to his books. Therefore, when someone like Apollo says, "I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees," you may or may not know what he's referring to, depending on how well you know your myths. And in retrospect when I look back at the series, it was a really good idea for Riordan not to make Percy the son of Zeus or something like that. It would've been the easiest thing in the world to make Mr. Jackson a latter-day Hercules and let the story write itself from there. Far more interesting to give him a lesser god as a pop. Still powerful, mind you, but not heir to the big bad father of them all. Extra kudos for his treatment of Artemis and her Hunters in this book. In the story, the girls that join Artemis to hunt with her have, for one reason or another, eschewed the company of men. Annabeth, it soon turns out, was contemplating joining them. This easily could have been played up as an evil choice or one that no right-minded woman should go with. Instead, Riordan prefers to be nuanced. The choice, we learn, may not be for everyone, but for some people it's a legitimate lifestyle. It would have been too easy to demonize an all-woman group of this sort. He could have made them into nasty man-haters. Instead, they don't particularly like men but they also don't act cruelly towards them.

Riordan's also a big fan of casting mysterious phrases the reader's way. This is nothing new, of course. He's always loved to bring up an important sentence, then delay its explanation via a fight or some other distraction. Normally he knows how to keep this instinct under control. In "The Titan's Curse," however, he's gone a little overboard. There are more times in this title where the book will say, "It was a long time ago. Never mind," or, "I decided not to ask what she meant," or something to that effect than he can really justify as an author. He also isn't afraid to throw in a convenient plot twist when the fancy strikes. Like, for example, finding an abandoned truck with a full tank of gas when you really need to drive as fast as you can across America. Or someone just happening to fashion bullets out of celestial bronze and then placing them in a helicopter not long before the moment when evil monsters are nigh. That sort of thing. Even Percy's dreams are never explained, even though they act as perfect little narrative devices. It's a pity.

Which is not to say that the situation in this book isn't direst it's ever been. The pace and plotting of this book work together very well here. Possibly better than they've ever worked before. Riordan juggles humor and action together fairly well, always taking time to introduce new, interesting characters. I also have a weakness for Riordan's chapter headings. Titles like "I Learn How To Grow Zombies," or, "The Gods Vote How To Kill Us," just reel the child reader in. As for his hero, you always root for Percy. Unlike his magician equivalent, Percy never really stays on top of things. If something bad can happen to this guy, it will. He's a hero but he's also kind of a screw-up, so he tends to be interesting to watch since you never know who'll be putting him down next.

Some series books have a clear cut sense of when they're going to end. Take Harry Potter as your example here. Harry attends seven years of school (in theory) so therefore he has seven books in his series. A Series of Unfortunate Events follows a tragic and unlucky set of characters, therefore their books are the unarguably unlucky number thirteen. The "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," series, however, isn't so clear cut. We do learn in this book that Percy may have to fulfill a prophecy of some sort around his sixteenth birthday. So at the very least that may mean two more books, always assuming Riordan makes each title exactly one year. However he chooses to wrap the series up, it really doesn't matter. For the time being, "The Titan's Curse," will satisfy its die-hard fans. I don't know how Riordan managed to find the right child-reader sweet spot, but he definitely managed it. A fine supplement to a fun, fast-paced series.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beware of Greeks siring kids, May 11, 2007

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) (Hardcover)

If you've been following this fascinating series, you'll already know that it is based on Greek mythology, with a touch of artistic license and a ton of humor. Apparently, the big three of Olympus (Poseidon, Zeus and Hades) had reluctantly agreed to stop popping over to earth and siring offspring with the local mortals, in order to nullify a prophecy that foretells certain disaster when said offspring reach the age of sixteen. However, gods will be gods, and as we pick up the story from The Sea of Monsters), we have two potentially dangerous demi-gods running around, namely Percy Jackson, star of the series and son of Poseidon, God of the Sea, and Thalia, who formerly had roots on Half-Blood Hill, and is the daughter of Zeus, Lord of the Sky. This is not to say that some of the other gods weren't busy as well, and the majority of the supporting cast is made up of children of the other residents of Olympus.

This third book of the planned five book series starts with a rescue mission to save two newly-discovered demi-gods from a monster attack, and during the battle, a daughter of Athena is taken, despite the timely arrival of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and her hunters. While Artemis sets off alone to hunt another monster that is destined to cause the downfall of Olympus, the rest are sent to Camp Half-Blood for their safety. While there, The Oracle (whose description makes her sound like Norman Bates' mummy) delivers a prophecy that leads to the rest of the action that packs book three from cover to cover.

To cut the story short, a team of five is chosen to set off in search of Artemis, but there is a last minute unplanned substitution, who has another quest or two to fulfill along the way. The route takes them through Manhattan and across the country to San Francisco, where our hero experiences what it's like to carry the weight of the sky on his shoulders.

Cool monsters, skeletal warriors and bad guys abound, as well as gods behaving badly and making bad haiku, but the most upsetting thing about this book is that after reading the ending, it will be a very agonizing and excruciatingly painful wait for books four and five. This is one of those series where you just gotta get them all.



Amanda Richards, May 11, 2007

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 25, 2007

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) (Hardcover)

The The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2) ended with a bang, with another child of the three gods emerging from the tree guarding Camp Half-Blood. Percy Jackson now has his hands full in THE TITAN'S CURSE, the third volume of the series.

When he answers an urgent call from his best friend, Grover, at a school in Maine, unexplainable things start happening. Grover has found two more half-bloods, who are siblings, but the assistant principal is a powerful monster in disguise. Grover will never get the half-bloods to camp without help. Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia set off for Maine to help Grover, but don't realize that they're walking into a trap.

Dr. Thorn, the assistant principal, has some tricks up his sleeve. When Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, arrives, things get out of hand. Dr. Thorn falls off a cliff with Annabeth. Artemis goes after her and everyone else returns to Camp Half-Blood. Here, they try to act as normal as possible, but two camper's dreams indicate severe trouble with both Artemis and Annabeth.

The Oracle speaks and five campers must find and bring back Artemis before the Winter Solstice. For the first time, Percy remains behind, but not by choice, and not for long. When Percy meets up with the group, the enemies start showing themselves--and the race to reach Artemis and Annabeth alive becomes more crucial. Can Percy save both them before the Winter Solstice?

THE TITAN'S CURSE leaves the reader hanging, waiting for several important questions to be answered in the final two books of the series. This fast-paced novel, along with the action, makes it a great series for fantasy lovers, reluctant readers, and anyone looking for a good story.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel