I wasn't quite sure about this book when it first came out, but got it because I love the other books Jayme and Jody Morse has written. This book did not disappoint! I couldn't put the book down. I can't wait for the next one to come out to find out what will happen!

This is the fourth installment of the Percy Jackson series, and the most engrossing since the first one. Percy Jackson and his friends try to explore the Labyrinth in order to find the inventor Daedalus and prevent Kronos from controlling the Labyrinth. This book has a lot of the humor of the first three installments, but it does take itself serious at times. A lot of the plot threads like Pan finally come to end. I am glad that the series has not run out of steam, and I wait steadily for the final installment.

Rick Riordan's son told him that The Lost Hero, the first in the author's new Heroes of Olympus series, was his best book yet, even better than break-out sensation Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He was absolutely right. In May, I said The Red Pyramid, the first in new Egyptian series The Kane Chronicles was Riordan's best book yet. I loved the way he had come into his own as an author with a distinguished voice all his own. Unlike with PJ, you weren't comparing things to other popular series such as Harry Potter. This was a Rick Riordan book. It was HIM. I'll say the same thing about The Lost Hero. Riordan has really become a talented storyteller.

One thing I love about Riordan is the way he uses mythology, a genre that's always been dear to my heart. One thing that made The Kane Chronicles so fantastic was the fact that I learned so much about Egyptian mythology. I already knew a lot of the Greek mythology emphasized in PJ and it wasn't as detailed. With The Lost Hero, even though Riordan is delving into Greek mythology once more, he's taking the time to focus on little-known details and facts. There's a lot more information on the Romans, for example, as well as little-known gods and goddesses such as Khione, the goddess of snow.

The new book feels very tight and detailed. By the time the five-book series reaches its conclusion, there will be an epic tale for readers to return to. I like the way Riordan made the decision to split the book into the viewpoints of three different demigods, much as he did with The Kane Chronicles. It really allowed you to get into the head of everyone on the quest, not just one of the heroes. You could see the way they each struggled to come to terms with their new powers and immortal parents in their own way.... I anticipate that every book will be this way as we are introduced to each of the seven demigods revealed in the Great Prophecy. I also feel that there's a good chance the next book will feature characters we haven't met yet and that the heroes we've encountered in this volume either won't appear at all, or not until the finale. If this proves to be the case, it will further solidify Riordan's merit as an extremely talented writer; breaking your characters up between volumes writers can make the writing process harder, as seen by struggles that have delayed authors such as George R. R. Martin from releasing material more frequently.

As with his other books, Riordan creates a fast, nail-biting pace from the get-go in his new series and introduces new characters for his readers to fall in love with. There's Jason, whose name brings back memories of one of the greatest heroes of old, Piper, who takes everyone by surprise by having such powerful gifts, especially given her parentage, and finally Leo, a son of Hephaestus with a wicked cool toolbelt and a penchant for fire-breathing dragons. We're also given updates regarding the new of what has become of our favorite heroes and heroines from the first Camp Half-Blood series. The nice thing about The Lost Hero is that you don't have to read the PJ series in order to get into this one. The two series complement one another and work together, but for a first-time reader, things will still make sense.

The series is designed to keep readers on their toes. If you're astute and know your mythology, you'll probably realize who the main villain is early on. Given enough clues, you'll probably realize the truth about Jason as well. There's also a good chance that you may figure out the truth revealed in the final chapter (and the reason Riordan wouldn't reveal the name of the next book at the live simulcast launch party on Tuesday). At the same time, you may be blown away with each new discovery. I tend to be one of those readers who reads too many books for her own good and learned how to read with a critical eye, which makes fooling me harder than most. At the same time, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Some of my theories were very wrong and proven to be from almost the beginning, others developed as the novel progressed and I had an "Ah-ha!" moment, pleased with myself when my suspicions proved true. I was so involved in the novel and fate of all the characters. I wish I had the next book in my greedy little hands already. Scratch that. I wish I had the next two, if we don't get to see these characters again until book three.

If you liked Percy Jackson (or even disliked it due to its similarities to other novels, like some people I know) or enjoy mythology, this book is one of this fall's must-reads. My only hope for the rest of the series is that a closer eye is paid to the editing process. You could tell the book was rushed to press; I'm one of those annoying readers that can be pulled out of the moment when there's a word or comma where there shouldn't be (or something glaringly missing, too). These books are too good to let such neglect mar them and allow for criticism in the future.

Nadia Lee chose to reinvente two powerful myths : Ariadne and Dyonysus, and Cinderella.

The Cinderella choice is a common one, but I particularly enjoy the sexy version of that Greek Legend. Dyonysus is the God of abundance, and he has the nasty habit to turn his lovers into Meanads. However, Ariadne resists the ultimate price of pleasure he offers, so he can cure her despair after Theseus' abandon and she becomes his bride.

Though I was a bit doubtful about the writing style at the beginning, after a page or two I discovered that it was the perfect choice for this tale. I recommand this without reserve.

Tarsem Singh is truly a genius when it comes to artistic movie-making, as done before in his film "The Fall," which was one of the best dramas i have ever seen. Mickey Rourke was just incredible as the evil and merciless Hyperion, who just about brutally murdered everyone in his way. Henry Cavill was convincing as Theseus but could have done a bit better. Luke Evans was great as a younger-looking Zeus, and Freida Pinto was just beautiful eye candy as Phaedra, one of Hyperion's virgin oracles. As this film is impossible to not be compared to 300, i have to say, i think this one wins the war; 300 was a very incredible ACTION movie, but not as a whole complete film. It gave us a tiny bit of story in the beginning, little character development, and all action throughout the second and third halves of the film. Immortals on the other hand, mixed the action with story, carefully pacing the awesome visuals and fighting with dialogue and confrontations between characters. The visuals, by the way, were top-notch and i have no idea why it didn't make it onto the list for Best Visual Effects for the Oscars. I have to say though, it was mainly disappointing because of its short run time, but if they release a sequel, i am fully on-board for it, as a sequel is needed to complete this large and expanding story that preserves the classic "Gods needing a mortal hero" story line.

4.5/5 Stars***

I love how the authors always give SO MUCH DETAIL n all the boks they write. I was very hesitant to read this book, I bought it the day it came out cause I love the authors other books. I read up a little about Sirens and thought what can it hurt. I didnt expect to LOVE it as much as I did(I dont no why with cause im a fan FAV of these authors)They always give a great story and leave no detail out. The cliffhangers at the end OF ALL Their book always leave me craving more of their writing! CANT WAIT for the next book in the series anyone who might hesitate as I did, DONT its well worth it. FIVE STARS ALL THE FROM ME!!!!!!!

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

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.

There's always the "what to read while waiting for the next HP" question for some of us, but...now don't get upset folks - I like Harry Potter as much as you do - "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" has a modern, hip, even urban style that people weary of Harry's earnest heroism may actually PREFER.

Plus, people with an interest in legends and myths will bug their eyes out with excitement, because the premise of "Percy Jackson" is that there are a handful of kids who are in fact the children of Greek gods and goddesses, who had come down to dally with modern Americans. These kids, called "half-bloods" in the book, grow up not knowing their origins, alienated by their disjointed lives and absent parents. (A nice conceit of the book is that many half-bloods have dyslexia, but only because their minds are wired for ancient Greek, and ADHD, but only because their minds are wired for hunting, a notion that should give a lot of comfort to real kids with these real problems.) But there are forces of darkness - monsters - whose aim it is to destroy such kids. They are only protected at a special camp - "Camp Half-Blood." Percy, who turns out to be a son of Poseidon, lands at this camp, but must eventually leave it and risk the monsters, to fulfill a Quest.

Even on the basis of this short description you can see there are a lot of superficial similarities to the Potter books - an orphan, with supernatural powers, who has two friends (one brainy girl and one geeky sidekick), several envious rival students. He goes to a special school and learns he is highly skilled at the school's favorite sport (in this case chariot racing). He is personally charged with a quest that, should he fail, will result in the ruin of the world....

Author Rick Riordan almost seems to be teasing the audience with these similarities - but he's having fun with it, and his style and humor are refreshing, humorous, and quite different from Rowling's. (He gets to the point MUCH faster - the action starts on page 1 and never stops!) My 12-year-old son, to be honest, prefers this, and identifies with it more readily. It's a clever enough read for adults to enjoy. Highly, highly recommended.

My oldest son made me read The Lightning Thief a few years ago, and after whipping through that series, he and I both await each new entry into the series with excitement. I just finished reading it on the Kindle, and the hardcover awaits my son. So let me start by saying I enjoyed this book almost as much - but not quite - as the others to date. I enjoy the characters, the mythology, Riordan's ability to portray the ages and culture of the teenage characters. I loved that the new series (The Heroes of Olympus) brought back favorite characters and the familiarity of the demigod world while still keeping his material fresh with new characters and the introduction of the Roman camp and demigods.

In The Lost Hero, I enjoyed having the narrative voice switch from character to character - it made a nice change from the first series and gave insight into more than one character. Riordan repeated this device in The Son of Neptune, and while it still worked, I never developed the attachment to Hazel and Frank that I had for Jason, Piper and Leo. I realized that for me, it was because Percy's narrative voice was familiar and overshadowed the others. I couldn't get "into" Hazel and Frank because I just wanted to go back to Percy's POV. So, while I've enjoyed the changing narrative voice, which I think is one of the ways Riordan is distinguishing the second series from the first, it presents some challenges. And for me, using the different POVs was a challenge that didn't work as effectively in Mark of Athena.

As hinted at in Son of Neptune, Mark of Athena brings together all 7 demigods. So I expected to read chapters from all 7 points of view. That's not the case.... There are only 4 narrative voices, and I found it distracting from the story to keep wondering when/if I was going to get the other points of view. I'm first to admit that having seven different narrative voices would probably have been worse. That probably would have been too frenetic and fractured. So even though I was distracted by the "missing" voices, I'm willing to accept this was probably Riordan's best option.

Regarding the other "spoilers:" I'm not giving anything away. But I will say that in every previous book, Riordan has satisfactorily concluded a quest within the framework of the multiple-book story arc. The quest is complete and everyone's together at the end of the book enjoying some well-earned R&R. That's not *quite* the case in this book. A goal has been successfully achieved, yes, but it's definitely a departure from the other books in that it's more of a "prelude" to what will come next. The end feels more like a stalemate than a celebration. Think Empire Strikes Back, or even the end of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring.

It's going to be a very long time until the next one!

The series is getting more and more interesting, it is always a shock when it ends because it always (and I mean always) leaves you wanting more. CR Myers has become one of my favorite writers.

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