Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Sea Of Monsters (Book Review)


*Please read with caution spoilers are ahead!*
Hey everyone sorry for the delay! Any ways this story starts with Percy having a nightmare about Grover being chased by a cyclops and the nightmare ends with a booming voice "Mine!". After being startled it is the last day of school for Percy Jackson at Meriweather Prep. He has also made a friend name Tyson, who is always being teased by bullies. When it came to P.E for both of them the bullies are later to be revealed as Laistrygonians as Annabeth appears to have been following Percy so she could talk to him about her dreams. She helps Percy and Tyson defeat them and all three of them return to camp in the Gray Sisters taxi. The sisters tell Percy "the location he seeks" is 30, 31, 75, and 12. He is confused what this means but something else happens, the camp is under attack by the Colchis Bulls but Clarisse and some of her cabinmates are trying to defend. With help from Tyson, Percy, and Annabeth manage to defeat the monsters, but Percy finds out that Tyson is a cyclops. Clarisse tells them that Thalia's tree, that protects the camp, has been poisoned by an unknown intruder and is dying. Also the magical borders that protect the camp are failing. Clarisse tells them that Chiron has been fired because he is suspected of poisoning the tree ,and is replaced by Tantalus, a prisoner who has been brought from the fields of  Punishment. Later at dinner Tyson is claimed by Poseidon and the night goes on with Percy having another dream of Grover. This time Percy and Grover talk (He had earlier had made an empathy link, allowing them to communicate sometimes while Percy is sleeping). He tells Percy that he is trapped in The Sea Of Monsters by a cyclops named Polyphemus. The dream ends with Grover saying "it" is here but Percy wakes up. He later tells Annabeth about his dreams and asks if she understands what the dreams mean. She tells Percy that he might have found the Golden Fleece and they both realize that it could cure Thalia's poisoned tree. At night during the campfire both Percy and Annabeth ask Tantalus to send someone on a quest to find The Golden Fleece ,which he does but sends Clarisse. Percy gets angry at him but doesn't know what to do. While everyone goes to sleep Percy sneaks out to the beach and meets Hermes who gives him 3 duffel bags full of money and clothes, a magical thermos that holds the four winds, and box of Minotaur-shaped multivitamins. He tells him that he must choose to board a passing cruise ship. Annabeth and Tyson arrive, and they decide to go to the cruise ship before security harpies consume them. Percy receives help from his father, who sends them three hippocampi, and together the end up on the cruise ship, The Princess Andromeda, which is revealed to be owned by Luke.They are captured and learn that Luke is trying to reform Kronos, the titan lord. They manage to escape on a lifeboat and go to Chesapeake Bay, where Annabeth leads them to a hideout that she had created a few years earlier when running away with Luke and Thalia. Tyson gets a box of donuts which he got from a nearby donuts shop (Monster Donut). They are attacked by a Hydra, which is killed by Clarisse who has a boat of her own that was given to her by her father Ares. The boat is the Civil War boat which sails to the Sea Of Monsters (Which has moved to the Bermuda Triangle) and Clarisse plans to destroy Charybdis and also encounter Scylla, who devours the captain of the ship and some of the crew members. The engine over heats and explodes, and Clarisse's boat is destroyed and eaten by a monster.  As for Percy and Annabeth they make it out (Tyson is presumed dead), but lose their duffel bags; plus the thermos has been emptied because Annabeth opened it "a little too far". They eventually find an island where Circe lives, and dock at her island, which turns out to be a spa. However, Percy is turned into a guinea pig and is put in a cage with six others. Annabeth frees him by using the multivitamins to become resistant to magic, and gives some to Percy and the others, who become human again. It turns out that the other six guinea pigs were Blackbeard (Son of Ares) and his crew and Percy and Annabeth use Blackbeard's ship to get away. As they are sailing, they pass the land of the Sirens. Annabeth, who knows that the Sirens tell of their innermost desires, she decides that she wants Percy to tie her to the mast and have her listen to the Sirens songs. However, Percy forgets to disarm her and she manages to free herself, almost reaching the island, but Percy manages to save her; in doing so, he learns that the Siren's song made Annabeth see what she wanted most: her parents reunited and Luke converted back to the side of the gods, all having a picnic, in front of a brand new Manhattan, rebuilt by Annabeth. He grabs her before she can get out of the water and gets her back under, creating a giant air bubble so she can breathe, and they make it back to their ship. On board Annabeth tells Percy that her fatal flaw is hubris (deadly pride). They reach the island of Polyphemus- were they find Tyson safe and alive - and save Grover with the help of Tyson and Clarisse, recovering the Fleece in the process. They make their way to Florida, and Percy sends Clasrisse, with the Fleece, back to camp. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson are captured by Luke, and are taken back on the same cruise ship. Percy manages to contact camp with an Iris-message, tricking Luke into admitting he poisoned Thalia's tree. In a duel with Luke, Percy is nearly killed. He is saved by Chiron and his relatives, the "Party Ponies". Chiron is rehired after proven not guilty, and the Fleece cures Thalia's tree of it's poison; however, Thalia herself is spewed out of the tree. Chiron realizes that everything that had happened had been to bring back Thalia, just to "put another chess piece into play".
Characters:
Tyson Percy's half brother; he is initially portrayed as a homeless child before Annabeth helps Percy realizes that he is a cyclops. He is also a son of Poseidon.

Overall Ranking:
This book is shorter than the other books of the series, quick, and an easy book to read. I loved everything that happened and the ending is quite a twist in the plot of the series which I find it very interesting how Thalia will play out in the next book. I also liked Rick's style of the book because sometimes I forget that I'm reading a different perspective other than a girl's which he plays out the story in brief detail which is easy to understand. The things I hate was just the cliff hangers that the author has been doing and makes me think what will happen to Thalia or if Luke will be stopped. Regardless, I recommend this book if you enjoyed the first of the series. Please don't forget to follow me for more movies and book reviews!