Review: Loki

TITLE: Loki
AUTHOR: Mike Vasich
PUBLICATION: 2011 by Createspace
FORMAT: E-Book

BOOK SYNOPSIS

God of Mischief. Father of Lies. Harbinger of Destruction. Exiled and tortured by the gods, Loki swears vengeance. He will summon the mighty Fenris Wolf and the legendary Midgard Serpent, and they will lead an army of giants and all the dead in Niflheim. Brimming with the power of the most destructive being in the Nine Worlds, he will not rest till Asgard is in ashes.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

This book was my first long term commitment on my new Kindle and I can say that it’s been a pleasure to read on my new e-reader.

The first thing that I noticed about Vasich’s novel was the rather enjoyable prose. There are several moments in the novel where he delivers exquisite passages of what is going on and the emotions experienced by the characters. There are short italicized chapters that recount the traditional tales of the Norse gods, but then we are given Vasich’s version of events in this retelling. I did like how some of the myths were altered for this version of events.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected. I think this novel might have been more aptly titled The Asgardians because the third person perspectives are not only from Loki. In a way this choice is good, but for someone like myself who was expecting a more Loki-centric narrative, it might be a bit disappointing. There were things I wanted to know in the story but didn’t receive… and it made me rail against the relevance of other things that were included. And it’s never satisfactory explained how Hel can be both Loki’s daughter and the eternal mistress of Niflheim since before Loki was even born.

Odin remains caught in and out of time, experiencing past, present, and future. Why does he do nothing to try and prevent the future from happening at the death of his son and the other Aesir? I pondered this question for a spell and can only come to the conclusion that he was an ancient entity that was tired of living. I imagine it gets pretty boring when you live forever, wouldn’t you agree? The other gods were interesting at times too. This is how I want to see Freyja in a story. A dwarf touches her thigh? Boom! She crushes his neck.

I think this title would be a good selection for anyone interested in reading books of Norse mythology. It wasn’t as good as I was hoping to the point where I would love it as much as Runemarks, but I feel that it is still worth a read if you have an interest in the subject.

Review: The Serpent’s Shadow

TITLE: The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles #3)
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLICATION: 2012 by Hyperion Books
FORMAT: Hardcover

BOOK SYNOPSIS

The end of the world approaches as the Serpent of Chaos breaks from his prison and runs amok in the mortal realm. Carter and Sadie must find the spell of a dangerous secret that could be their only hope of stopping the total destruction of everything they hold dear. Along the way they struggle to find a way to revive Ra to his former glory so that the mortals and gods will have a fighting chance in the final battle.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

My collection is complete! Yes! The one thing I like about Riordan is that he has a set number of books he wants to use to tell his story and he’s not going to extend it beyond that to the point where we the readers are going to get tired of the characters or the story. I’ve noticed that each book in the trilogy gets smaller.

This book still maintained Riordan’s trademark humor that I find greatly amusing in his books. It was interesting to see the solutions to their obstacles. I like how the book leaves the idea open that we can see Carter and Sadie again. This is in relation to the notion put forth earlier in the trilogy about other gods besides those of Egypt. It makes me wonder if the magicians of Brooklyn House have a part to play in the events that happen in the Heroes of Olympus series. Would it take more than the combined powers of immortals and demi-gods to overcome Gaea? Although I really don’t see how magicians could help where that alliance would fail, but perhaps I’m not seeing the bigger picture of that scenario.

Other characters I am really starting to like. Cleo also seems the perfect character to describe me if I were part of this fictional world. What’s not to like about a girl who turns her enemies into life-sized books of classic literature? She reminds me a lot of Yomiko Readman from the Read or Die franchise. And for some reason Felix and his penguin obsession is growing on me. Ice magic has always had a certain appeal for me since Final Fantasy VII entered my life.

Sadie started to annoy me in the second book, but she really gets on my nerves in this one. The world is coming to an end and all she can think about is going to a school dance?! And I have come to the conclusion that I don’t particularly enjoy love triangles so the whole drama of her and Anubis and Walt bugs me. Again Sadie can’t tell the obvious is going on. I also think she has bigger problems than the fact that the gods do not wish her and Anubis to be an item. I know she’s only thirteen, but really? And even despite the fact that the perfect solution to her problem is revealed she still has to complain.

Overall I found it a satisfying conclusion to the Kane Chronicles. It could have been better, but I also think it could have been a lot worse.

Review: The Throne of Fire

TITLE: The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles #2)
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLICATION: 2011 by Hyperion Books
FORMAT: Hardcover

BOOK SYNOPSIS

After the showdown at the Red Pyramid, Carter and Sadie have learned that Apophis is trying to return from the Duat prison. Their plan is to discover the pieces of the Book of Ra and awaken the missing sun god to challenge Chaos with Order. However, not everyone is happy about the return of Ra and the rebel magicians will have their hands full just trying to stay alive on their quest to restore the first king of the gods to his throne.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

I really put off reading this book too long, but once I bought it last year I decided that I was going to wait until the conclusion to the trilogy was published and read all the books together. I didn’t want my faulty memory to be an issue with trying to pick up a series again and that’s one reason why I reread The Red Pyramid.

Thankfully the second installment of Riordan’s Egyptian trilogy proved to be as entertaining and as much of a page-turner as the first book. There were several moments where I failed to stifle a laugh as I read. It continues the same style of narrative as the first book by narrating between Carter’s and Sadie’s perspectives as they are recording their adventures. It was interesting to see how the siblings would fare as they took the hard path to be worthy of the power of the gods. It seems as though roles could be reversed because gods that were allies in the previous volumes could become deadly enemies now, and those who seemed the biggest threat are the most amusing/helpful. I think I like the change. It keeps our protagonists and their new friends on their toes!

As for the characters it’s nice to see both new and old characters joining the frey. And can I mention how much I am enjoying the character of Set? He made me laugh so hard. I grew to look forward to his appearances with great anticipation. However, I was a little disappointed to see how much of a hypocrite that Sadie turned out to be when she dared to judge Bes of being concerned about a person’s superficial qualities due to the fact that she makes a comment about the gorgeous appearance of Anubis every time she sees him. Just a bit of the pot calling the kettle black there. And she claims she’s not the boy crazy one like her girl friends in London, but then she starts crushing on Walt.

More little hints of the Greek pantheon have popped up as Carter mentions he thought he saw a flying horse in Manhattan when gazing from his balcony. Yet that’s the only one that I remember coming across this time.

Oh, I think that these books would be just smashing as film adaptations! (I really enjoyed The Lightning Thief.) It contains a nice blend of action and comical relief and I believe it would do very well on the big screen.

I found The Throne of Fire to be a worthy successor in the Kane Chronicles trilogy and I feel like other readers would think the same. I now have my hands on the conclusion to the trilogy and I am off to read it and see how it ends.

Review: The Red Pyramid

TITLE: The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles #1)
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLICATION: 2010 by Disney Hyperion Books
FORMAT: Hardcover

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Since the death of their mother, Carter and Sadie have been raised apart for the past six years. However, when their father unleashes the gods of Egypt into the world, things start to get interesting. The children only have each other as they learn of an ancient order of magicians tasked with fighting the gods and their own special lineage to Ancient Egypt. Soon the evil machinations of Set are made clear and the fate of the world lies with the legacy their parents left them.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

This book is a reread for me and thank goodness because I had forgotten a lot more about it than I care to admit. I had originally resisted the urge to get The Red Pyramid because of my mixed feelings for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but my boyfriend spoils me and makes whatever willpower I have mute by purchasing this book for me as a gift. (Which also kicks in my OCD because now I must have all the books in hardcover.)

My experience up to this point with Rick Riordan’s books have been exclusively with his stories that are aimed at a younger audience (although that’s not to say that adults can’t enjoy them too). I have yet to read anything regarding his adult novels so I can’t tell if his writing differs in respect to the target readers, but I can notice the obvious: the man knows how to pen a good yarn. He mixes a good blend of humor in with the suspense of his adventure tales. I’m far beyond the problems of kids of twelve and fourteen, but thanks to Riordan I was sucked into the tale of Carter and Sadie.

This book is formatted as a transcript of a recording that the siblings have made detailing their adventures. The perspective switches between Carter and Sadie every couple of chapters as they relate their adventures. These narrators are quite entertaining as they learn of the magic that has always existed on the edges of their respective realities. I liked both of them equally so I don’t really have a favorite between the two. And I confess that I have developed a new appreciation for Bast over the course of this second reading.

This novel also poses an interesting idea that it’s not only the Egyptian gods in the world. If I remember correctly in the Percy Jackson books it was only the Greek deities that receive any mention. However, on page 52 of The Red Pyramid when Amos explains to the kids about living on the east bank of the river and looks at the Empire State Building saying, “Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It’s best we stay separate.” Can you imagine how much fun it would be if Riordan wrote an American Gods-style mesh-up of mythologies one day? Anyway I rather liked this notion that not just one civilization’s gods are the only gods out there. It makes me wonder if the Norse series that Riordan plans to write after the Heroes of Olympus books are done will contain any references to the Egyptian or Greek/Roman gods from his previous books. Even Thoth mentions Hermes at one point in The Red Pyramid.

I like how the gods require a host to exist in the mortal realm and that it explains their dual nature of being both human and animal in appearance. Although the notion that mortals perceive what they want to where the gods are concerned remains consistent in the rules of the Kane Chronicles.

I am happy to say that I enjoyed The Red Pyramid as much if not more than I did when I read it two years ago. For anyone who enjoys a good adventure and loves Egyptian mythology, this would be your cup of tea. Riordan’s books might not be considered high-brow literature, but they’re so bloody fun to read.

You can find out more about this series by visiting The Kane Chronicles Website.

Review: Odd and the Frost Giants

TITLE: Odd and the Frost Giants
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLICATION: 2009 by Harper Children’s Audio
FORMAT: Audiobook (read by Neil Gaiman)

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Winter is not coming to an end as it should. Odd has decided to leave his home, but he soon encounters a bear, a fox, and an eagle that will lead him on a quest to save Asgard and the Norse gods from the clutches of the frost giants. Still what can one crippled boy and three animals accomplish?

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

I think this may have been the shortest audiobook ever at ninety minutes! Still I think it’s rather neat when the authors are able to read their own work.

I have resisted getting this book for awhile, but not because of my uneasy relationship with Gaiman’s books. I judged it as not really worth the trouble being a children’s book and not that long either. Guess what? I was wrong to judge this book before giving it the chance it deserved. (It’s not the first book I have dismissed in such a manner so I really need to stop this.) I enjoyed reading it to be honest. The story itself was simple and naturally words were not wasted in accomplishing Odd’s journey or his objective. Short, sweet, and to the point… if American Gods was more like this book I think I would have loved it.

The characters were charming and delightful. I even liked Freya from the small exposure we receive of her toward the end of this short narrative. We are given the bare essentials about Odd yet it provides an adequate picture of what his life has been and what kind of person he is. There was one comment that I rather liked when Odd sees Loki in his normal god form. He muses that Loki appeared to still have the fox’s eyes, or perhaps it was that foxes always had Loki’s eyes.

I would suggest readers interested in Norse mythology give it a try. It’s a fun little book to read and it won’t take long at all to breeze through. I would probably buy it if I seen it in the stores. Or at least get it from the library to read again.

MY RATING

Review: Giants of the Frost

TITLE: Giants of the Frost
AUTHOR: Kim Wilkins
PUBLICATION: 2006 by Warner Books
FORMAT: Paperback

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Vidar has waited almost one thousand years for his mortal lover to be reincarnated in Midgard. In the present day she is Victoria Scott, a skeptic working at a weather station on Odin’s Island. With the help of the trickster Loki, Vidar will risk his father’s wrath to be with the woman he loves. Will there finally be a happy ending for Vidar and Victoria?

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

I found this while browsing for books featuring Loki and I confess the summary had me a bit wary, but the library had a copy and I was willing to take a chance on it. I read a review for it on a blog although I fail to remember where I stumbled upon it. So I went into this book with a few expectations. I tend to write out my thoughts of things I encounter while reading a book in these review posts and I can see how much my opinion changed once I reached about the middle of this particular book.

Giants of the Frost is divided between two narrative styles. The episodes on Midgard are told through first person in Victoria’s perspective and when the story moves to Asgard events are related through the third person point of view. I don’t love this form of telling a story, but I can live with it. I’m thinking I would probably be annoyed hearing the entire 500+ pages from Victoria so it’s a good thing. I rather enjoyed the irony of fate delved out at the end, but I suppose it would be too good to be true and actually last as it should. Although it doesn’t end all neat and tidy either.

The portions of this novel which seemed like a horror story were good, and I liked the idea of a romance between a mortal and one of the “gods”. It’s the inner mythology fan speaking I am sure. Most of what we are given about the residents of Asgard is filtered through Vidar’s own bias. It’s almost the similar problem I had with the novel Ice Land. Some of the brief appearances or anecdotes that we get of the Asgardians even sound like really bad fanfiction. Is it truly necessary to make everyone else except your main characters so vile just so that we the readers would like them as the lesser of two evils?

I like the notion of reincarnation, but I wasn’t sure that I liked Victoria’s immediate acceptance of Vidar and her instant attraction to him. She’s supposed to be a skeptic and a level-headed individual so shouldn’t she at least try to show a token resistance? I didn’t really like the rapidness of her growing affections for him. She’s alone on an island and fawning over a man that showed up out of nowhere? She has an easy budding friendship with a co-worker that she can’t think about being involved with romantically, but she’s practically drooling over a stranger she just met? She treats Gunner with the indifference that Vidar treats Aud, and Aud is the one whom apologizes to Vidar for treating him badly on the last page!

There is a lot of Loki showing up in this book. And I like his character in this author’s perspective for the most part. I think Loki himself sums up his character rather well with the following statement in reply to Aud’s question about what payment he would extract from the Norns when he collects their debt: “Oh, I could think of a hundred things. It would depend on what presses me as being the most important when I find them. Something wicked, perhaps. Something that would annoy everybody.” I did find myself laughing at his constant flirting. Although the final decision he made of the Norns was predictable.

I entertained the idea about getting this book from Amazon should it prove to be an exciting read, but I would have searched third party sellers rather than pay that nearly twenty-five dollars price for a mass market paperback. Now that I know what I would have gotten? I am so glad that there was a library with a copy out there and I could save myself the money for something more worthwhile. It started out promising, but ultimately fell flat for me in a big way. Fans of paranormal romance or Norse mythology would do well to look elsewhere for something good to read. Were it not for Loki I probably would have abandoned it and given it a lower score. I keep telling myself I am going to quit reading books that don’t grip me, but the eternal optimist holds out for some redeeming aspect. Maybe someday I will learn my lesson.

MY RATING

Review: American Gods

TITLE: American Gods
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLICATION: 2001 by HarperCollins
FORMAT: Hardcover

BOOK SYNOPSIS

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace…

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

I think I have a love-hate relationship with Gaiman’s works. Or perhaps hit-and-miss would be a more accurate term for it. I don’t think that I will allow myself to be discouraged from reading more of his books. I have authors I read where I like just as many of their books as I dislike.

American Gods started out with an interesting enough premise. I actually really enjoyed what the story was essentially about regarding the gods of mythology immigrating to America as their believers come to the new shores. It was interesting to see the different pantheons meshed together. I wondered if it would be easy to guess the gods as I read the book. Although I only recognized Wednesday right away as really being Odin because a day or two before starting the novel I had read something about the origins of the days of the week and I knew that Wednesday was Odin’s day.

However, throughout most of the novel I wasn’t even sure whether or not I liked the story or not. This opinion pretty much remained a constant until I got closer to page 300. There were times where Gaiman had some pretty good writing or philosophy going on and then I found myself experiencing moments of “Huh?” It was often at times where it felt like there was no point to the narrative, or the characters discussing something that seemed trivial. I had hoped there would have been more time spent with the Egyptian gods in the house of the dead. I really enjoyed those segments. My initial interest in the book was for the Norse gods yet I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I gravitate toward the gods of Egypt since they were my original mythological obsession. Actually I contemplated abandoning the book halfway through it, but then I figured that since I’d read that much of it I should finish it. And I was a little bit interested to see if the gods of legend or the gods of technology prevailed in the war.

As far as the characters go I wasn’t really too taken with any of them. I confess that I wasn’t expecting Shadow’s dead wife to come back as a zombie… and I wonder if that was really necessary. I don’t know. It just seemed kind of out of place with the rest of what was going on, but then again considering what the book is about…

Overall I would say that I was intrigued by the premise of the novel, but was disappointed with its execution.

MY RATING

Review: Ice Land

TITLE: Ice Land
AUTHOR: Betsy Tobin
PUBLICATION: 2008 by Plume
FORMAT: Paperback

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Iceland, AD 1000
Freya knows that her people are doomed. Warned by the Fates of an impending disaster, she must embark on a journey to find a magnificent gold necklace, one said to possess the power to alter the course of history. But even as Freya travels deep into the mountains of Iceland, the country is on the brink of war. The new world order of Christianity is threatening the old ways of Iceland’s people, and tangled amidst it all are two star-crossed lovers whose destiny draws them together-even as their families are determined to tear them apart.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

I seem to have traded my obsessive reading of Greek mythology for the Norse pantheon. I discovered this book while looking for someplace to talk about Runemarks. It wasn’t very long compared to other books I’ve put on my wish-list from the library so I figured that I would give it a try. I thought that something from Freya’s perspective might be interesting.

This novel is an easy pace to read and even at 350 pages it doesn’t really seem to take that long to read. Tobin has written a tale where the gods walk and even live among the mortals, which I confess was one of the reasons that I wanted to read this book. She didn’t seem to want to revision many of the myths, just the ones dealing with the characters she was concerned in this particular tale. I could see how this book might appeal to the older teen audience.

I was under the impression that this entire book would be told from Freya’s point of view, but this was not the case. A portion of it was through her eyes, the only first person narrative in this novel, yet it only totals for about a third of the entire book. Another portion follows Fulla, the young woman who falls in love with the son of the man that murdered her father. A second third person point of view involes Dvalin the dwarf-man. It alternates between the three. A few chapters do follow what happens with other characters. Although I think I may have enjoyed it a bit better on this part if it had just been Freya and Fulla alternating the narrative between them.

I wanted to like this book better than I did. It started out promising, but I quickly lost interest in all of it except for the forbidden romance between Fulla and Vili. I usually don’t like forbidden romances because they just don’t appeal to me, but that’s the only thing I looked forward to reading after awhile. Not that it was particularly good. The other characters didn’t really intrigue me, even Freya herself. When it came to payment for the gold necklace, Freya explains that the Vanir are a practical people. Does that make her any less a whore by trading her body to the dwarves in exchange for the necklace? It didn’t endear me to her in the original myth and Tobin’s take on it fails as well. And I couldn’t help thinking about Idun’s golden apples. Who keeps them now if she is no longer in Asgard? But since in this retelling of the Aesir, the gods live on the earth alongside humans and not the realm apart as Freya informs the reader, such things no longer apply. It is a tradition that the Norse gods are not immortal, so perhaps it is fitting that they live alongside humans.

It almost seemed to me that Tobin is trying to destroy the beliefs held about the gods while elevating Freya to be a sympathetic character to point out all their lies and deceit, but I must admit that it wasn’t working so well for me. I really wanted to like this more, but ultimately I cannot claim to. The characters and the overall story itself just wasn’t grabbing me despite an interesting premise.

MY RATING

Review: Runemarks

TITLE: Runemarks
AUTHOR: Joanne Harris
PUBLICATION: 2008 by Random House Inc.
FORMAT: Audiobook (read by Sile Bermingham)

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Maddy Smith was born with a rusty-coloured runemark on her hand – a symbol of the old gods and definitely cause for suspicion. For magic is dangerous. Or so everyone thinks. But Maddy enjoys working magic. Even if it is just to control some pesky goblins. And every time her friend, One-Eye – a good-for-nowt Outlander – comes by, he teaches her more and more about the gods and the runes. Now he wants Maddy to open Red Horse Hill and descend into World Below to retrieve a relic of the old gods. Otherwise it is likely to be the End of Everything.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

This book follows mythology from the Norse region. It’s not strictly necessary to be familiar with the legends, but if you’re like me you will want to know about the legends before tackling the novel. Some of the myths of the Norse gods are explained in some detail in the novel when they are deemed important enough to elaborate upon such as the reason for the scars on Loki’s mouth. As much as I enjoy stories that center around the Greek and Egyptian mythologies, I find myself a bit excited by the Norse pantheon as I am still new to it. I found myself becoming enraptured by the story and really enjoying it as I listened.

It’s been 500 years since the Tribulation, or Ragnarok as One Eye informs Maddy. I think it’s interesting that this book takes place after the world has ended. I think I skimmed over a review somewhere that mentioned this book was confusing, but I didn’t find myself confused. Perhaps that means that I have chaos inside me like Salvador Dali advises? One could see the pagan versus Christianity at times. Still it seems plausible since the Order seeks to banish all traces of magic and the old gods from the world to impose it’s own theology in service to the Nameless.

The characters are a delight. I rather like Maddy Smith and I found myself intrigued to see what she would do throughout the story. Although there were times where it seemed like Maddy should have known about things from One-Eye’s stories of the old gods, like the fact that Hel and the World Serpent were the children of Loki. However, I suppose that it goes without saying that I liked seeing Loki in this story and couldn’t wait to see what tricks he would be up to. Just a little bit of a crush there. I wasn’t sure whether I would fancy the goblins, but oddly enough it didn’t bother me. Sugar started to grow on me actually. I like how Harris doesn’t focus on one or two characters, but rather jumps around so that we get the perspective of the key players in the situations. Even if we don’t like them.

For the most part I would agree that Sile Bermingham is a decent narrator for this audio production. Although there were some of her voice inflections that simply grated on my nerves as in the case of the Examiner. I think I’d almost rather have her not try to distinguish the speaker so much in that case. It seemed like Hel should have had a different sounding kind of voice. being the guardian of Death. Now I don’t mean that I wanted Christopher Lee style Discworld Death voice, but something more regal as befits the guardian of death. Something more like what was given to Frigg. I wasn’t sure I would fancy the voice she created for Loki, but it seemed suitable for the trickster.

So the real question is whether this book is worth reading and I think that it most assuredly is and I’m glad that there was someone out there in the blogsphere to bring it to my attention. I would very much like to purchase a copy of this book (in paperback, of course) for my own collection. How can this be? I’m supposed to be trying to reduce books on my shelf and avoid buying more to add to the chaos of finding a place to keep them! I would really like to read the sequel, Runelight, but the library system doesn’t have one so I will have to buy it if I want to read it and that means I need to wait with my current restrictions in place.

MY RATING

Review: The Son of Neptune

TITLE: The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2)
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLICATION: 2011 by Random House, Inc.
FORMAT: Audiobook (read by Joshua Swanson)

BOOK SYNOPSIS

In The Lost Hero, three demigods named Jason, Piper, and Leo made their first visit to Camp Half-Blood, where they inherited a quest:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Who are the other four mentioned in the prophecy? The answer may lie in another camp miles away, where a new camper has shown up and appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea…

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT IT . . .

If my review of The Lost Hero didn’t convince you that I was excited for this book, let me repeat it: I COULD NOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK! I didn’t have to wait too long for the audiobook to get to my hold on it at the library either. I was particularly hoping that the audiobook would be narrated by Joshua Swanson again and I wasn’t disappointed.

I want to go to Camp Jupiter! The camp/city for the Roman demi-gods sounds a whole lot more exciting to me than Camp Half Blood. Except for the prospect of satyrs becoming begging bums, everything seems better.

As far as characters go I will say again that I like this form of narration where you get the perspectives of everyone without resorting to first-person bias. I say this and the irony is that some of my favorite books are told in first person… Anyway there is one thing I would like to point out and that is the fact that I liked Percy Jackson better in this book than the series revolving around him. Odd? Probably not. I’ve noticed that one of the aspects of Riordan’s writing is that he throws in comical lines and makes dire prospects a bit lighter with humor and hope. I laughed quite a bit listening to this book. Impossible quests can be done with the help of your friends. I confess that I like books like this and Harry Potter.

Tyson shows up in this book! I confess that I adore Tyson in all truth. He was my favorite character amidst all those you meet in the five Percy Jackson books. And I really liked the harpy we meet in this book, Ella. Seriously a harpy who loves books? What’s not to love?!

The only character that I didn’t like, although on a level that I found him kind of annoying was Frank. I’m not sure precisely why he bothers me, but this character I just wasn’t clicking with even though his family’s talent was something I would love to have.

I am quite pleased that the narrator for The Lost Hero returned to do this one. I enjoy listening to Swanson narrate this tale of a quest from the Roman demi-gods’ camp. I should really look to see if he reads anything else.

So if you liked The Lost Hero, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this installment of Riordan’s new series. I look forward to seeing what adventures await our heroes now that the Greek warship has arrived at Camp Jupiter.

MY RATING