The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan Book Review

 Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters 

(Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2)

By Rick Riordan 

Published Year: 2006

Page Count: 265 pages 

Medium Used: Paperback 

Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Ancient Greece, Mythology, 2025-read. 

Rating : 3.5/5 

The ending .. more precisely, the ending line .. had me in knots. Left me thirsting for more dosage of the Percy Jackson universe. Somehow this book didn't satisfy me enough. It is not magical enough, not like the first book in the series. But, I am still amazed at the skill and knack of Mr. Riordan in bringing together the modern world with creatures and beings from ancient lore. 

Percy is having dreams of his friend Grover, the satyr, who has gone on a quest for Pan. He sees the satyr imprisoned by a giant, near blind Cyclopes and the friend is calling him for help. As coincidence or fate would have it, the camp half blood is also losing its protective capability. Something, someone has done to the tree Thalia, which was protecting the camp, had rendered it powerless. As usual, Percy, son of Poseidon, and his friend Annabeth,daughter of Athena, embark on the adventure of finding for a solution. From his dreams, Percy learns that the place where his friend is being held hostage is also the location of the cure. So they meet Luke, son of Hermes, enroute and learn that he is also looking for the same cure to reinforce the strength of Kronos. They encounter Charbydis and Scylla when they struggle to navigate a midway path to their island, crossing the sea of monsters, near Miami. Annabeth almost crashes to her death while crossing the island of Sirens. Percy almost ends up a guniea pig in the sorcerous mansion of Circe locked away with no release for centuries. The encounter with the Cyclopes that is keeping Grover imprisoned would have gone  without much excitement except for a couple of surprises there. 

I wished this book was longer. But probably the author was being honest and giving only what is necessary to keep the reader hooked without more roundabouts. I missed the presence of other Gods - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, even. There are a couple of prophecies but they dont apply till much later in the series. Anyways, its not a boring read. Do check out.