The Sea of Monsters

Many in the Percy Jackson fandom find this book to be the weakest of the series. I must say, I am forced to agree. While this is by no means a terrible book, it is still the weakest of the series. Perhaps this is because Riordan, in an effort to reference the Odyssey, feels constrained by its story line. Maybe this is because he does not like the journey that he takes Percy on, both plot and character wise. Whatever the reason, this book, although fun, feels like a set-up-book for things to come.

One of the best ideas of this novel is how Riordan manages to shake up the formula of the three companions. In this case, he makes sure to trade out Grover for Tyson, Percy's cyclops half brother. I just love Tyson's loyalty and ability to fix almost anything. He shows Percy the value in faith in others, and confidence in your own abilities. I loved seeing the change that Tyson went on, and I am glad to see him continue to improve to who he will be by the end of the series. Annabeth gets a nice arc here too, in that we see her overcome her hatred for Tyson and learn to be more accepting of him, and her past as well. Also, I have to admit, I am glad there was little to no Grover in this one. I still don't like him anymore here than I did in the last book, so I can appreciate how he does not really have as much of a presence in this book.


Another aspect that gave me a chuckle was the references to Greek mythology. We have Grover who keeps showing his bridal train every morning, and then destroying it every night. Then we also have the battle where Percy and Annabeth assume the identity of Nobody. All these and more made me chuckle.


In terms of negatives, this does feel like a set-up-book in terms of what we see here. We get set up of Tyson and his metal-working skills, the larger plot with Kronos and Luke, as well as additional characters at the end of the book. What this amounts to is feeling like we are setting things up for the next book, without saying much for this story. Also, there is the problem with the main plot being based on The Odyssey. Riordan's creativity just feels constrained by this premise, and this makes the book the weakest for me. I love his other books more because, when he has the freedom to do so, he can just go crazy and really take the plot into places that I would not have seen coming. Yet, here, it feels in some respects like he is going through the motions, with a Percy Jackson twist that is just enough to make it entertaining and different from the source material.

But don't let my negatives dissuade you. This was still a very fun second outing with Percy Jackson, and I enjoyed it immensely. I give it a five out of five.