”My nightmare started like this.”

From Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters.

Percy Jackson is back for his second epic adventure with the Greek gods and goddesses that he calls family. After the non-stop action of The Lightning Thief, Percy now finds himself almost looking for an ancient Greek monster to fight, but there are no life-threatening dangers. Percy befriends a tall, homeless boy in the normal world, and there’s something slightly off about Tyson that Percy just can’t put his finger on (and I’m not going to ruin the surprise, either). Just when you think that things have been going okay for too long and something bad is about to happen, something bad happens. Camp Half Blood is losing the protection that the magical boundaries that keep evil out and the campers safe. Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson soon embark on another crazy god-sponsored quest to rescue Grover from an ancient cyclops… that lives somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle. And if you haven’t figured it out already, it’s never just a simple quest for Percy & Co. and the quest soon is complicated by Greek heroes and anti-heroes alike. Can young Percy Jackson save the Camp, can he and his friends find a way to rescue Grover, and can our favorite preteen demigods find out who is really behind this attack on Camp Half Blood?

First off, this book is not like the movie, and if you love the book, I would skip the barely-based-on-the-book-and-slightly-infuriating-to-those-who’ve-read-the-book movie. If you’ve watched the movie, but never gotten around to reading the book, it takes all the best minutes of the movie and carries them across each and every page so that the story flows and makes sense. The book is a very quick read even though most printed versions are over 300-pages. Riordan once again brings his characters to life through sarcasm, wit, and blatant honesty. All the characters from the first book are brought back and further developed, even minor roles such as some of the campers, which only helps to make the world of Percy Jackson come to life. As a book in a series, it builds very well off the foundation laid by the first book and it also helps pave the way for the rest of the series. Riordan handles the confusion of the Ancient Greek mythology well and connects it to the modern world in ways that are fun and believable. Sea of Monsters is an story that is definitely equal parts fun, action, and heart for readers of all ages.