Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters ended with a bang. Quite an impressive one- it changed the direction of the whole series. I was wary that perhaps Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse could let it down-despite the wealth of positive reviews for this third  book. It didn’t let down. It magnified it, in fact. Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse is bigger and better than both book one and book two. That is a great achievement.

Sadly, the beginning doesn’t really show  much of this. The very first few pages left me confused and disorientated. I’m not sure if that’s because there was a long gap between me finishing Sea of Monsters and starting The Titan’s Curse or if it’s just generally a slightly disapointing start, but it picked up pretty swiftly. And I mean swiftly. We’re immediatly plunged into action, into what makes for a very promising story, and it certainly delivers. There are a host of new characters, and with them some fascinating histories…

The Titan’s Curse is much better character-wise. We’ve still got the trio and plenty of the other characters that appeared in books one and two, but joining them we have three or four great new protagonists. One of my favourite characters so far is perhaps Zoë Nightshade, one fo the newcomers. She has a fantastic history that is intertwined with the Greek myths, and Rick Riordan has done a great job in fusing his stories with Greek mythology.

One of the great things about the Percy Jackson series is that they are funny, in a down-to-earth way. This is immediatly demonstrated in the Contents pages…take one look at the chapter titles, and I guarantee they will make you chuckle! There are a few jokes contained in the actual narrative, and they are amusing withought distracting you from the story. I think one of my favourite PJ jokes so far appears on the last few pages, and I doubt you will miss it!

Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse still continues the trend that both of the previous books set; predictability. There are plenty of times when you realise that X is about to happen. This generally only happens in the sub-plots, which is good, but it can still detract from the overall enjoyment. The Titan’s Curse also has some great unexpected moments too, however. Most notably at the end (again…), but also in the beginning as well as all the way through. Some of the character revelations are quite neat, particularly if they involve Greek heroes….

As with the previous two books, Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse combines the Greek myths with some great, action packed prose. The material is informative, and you’ll probably do well in your history class when you study the Greeks…This third book is my favourite so far- it’s fun, exciting and a great light read for older readers. I think it is safe to say that this is very much like Harry Potter in that readers of all ages will love Percy’s third adventure…