Percy Jackson & the Olympians series review (Review #2)

BOOK(S): Percy Jackson & the Olympians series
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion
DATE: 2005 - 2009
FORMAT: Paperbacks
PAGES: (5 books) 1702
SOURCE: Bought

(Wikipedia Synopsis)
"Percy Jackson & the Olympians" is a pentalogy of adventure and fantasy fiction books authored by Rick Riordan. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek mythology and deal with a demigod, Percy Jackson, and his quest to stop the rise of the Titan lord Kronos. All 5 books are seen from Percy's witty and sardonic point of view. The series tackles themes like coming of age, love and teenage angst.

          The Lightning Thief was definitely the best out of all five. The characters were great, each had their own personalities and were relatable. I enjoyed the writing, it was simple, yet fast paced and got right to the point. Some parts were to continuous and were written as stalls before other events happened. Overall, I really liked book one.


        The Sea of Monsters, meh. New characters were introduced, they developed quickly, but i didn't like some of their personalities. There were definitely a few cliff hangers (literally) that made me want to read more. The general story line was good but the same order of events happened in this as it did in The Lightning Thief, which made it kind of boring. (cover = awesome)


        The Titans Curse, this one was actually good. There are a TON of more characters introduced in book 3, and it was AWESOME. The writing was still witty, funny, and enjoyable. I could still, vaguely, see the same thing going on with the plot, but other than that it was great.

        
        The Battle of the Labyrinth, I muchly disliked this. It was mostly all the same characters, which is fine but they didn't do anything, it was boring. IT WAS THE EXACT SAME PLOT AS ALL THE OTHER BOOKS, eeeergg.

                                                               
         The Last Olympian, I don't really know what I think about this yet. The plot was new (unlike 3,4,5) and was a good finish to the series. In a way, I didn't want to let these characters go. I realized how much I have grown to like them, and they make me despise characters in other stories. The middle of the story was SO BORING, it seemed Rick Riordan was desperate for parts and put in things that did't even make sense. All in all, it was a good conclusion that answered a lot of questions about the series.

Other Thoughts

   The conflicts and solutions are AMAZING!! there is always something new lying beneath every chapter.

The way Rick Riordan incorporates the Greek mythology into this book is mind blowing, he really makes the gods seem believable with their funny & witty personalities. 

An Abundance of Katherines 3rd cover reveal!

Newest Cover
(#3)

      And yet, another cover for An Abundance of Katherines by: John Green. And yet, another book I have yet to read. So, for the past (x) months, Nerdfighteria has been creating new covers for John Greens novel, An Abundance of Katherines. The cover was revealed at B.E.A. (Book Expo America) a couple of days ago, and its epic. Buying this book is now my top priority.

Cover #2

Cover #1

                                                                                                                                                             

R.I.P Ray Bradbury, 1920 - 2012

1975

       We have unfortunately lost Sci-Fi legend, Ray Bradbury. Luckily, he had accomplished many things in his extensive lifetime. From 1920-2012 Ray Bradbury has inspired many people, and changed the world of literature forever. He has written countless classics including,   "Fahrenheit 451," "The Martian Chronicles" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes."   I have yet to read any of his novels, but definitely will in his honor.  

               Bradbury died on June 5th, at the age of 91, in Los Angeles, California, after a lengthy illness. Although he never attended college, Ray has written over 25 novels, and more than 600 short stories.  Ray Bradbury will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.      

              

The Other Side of the Island By: Allegra Goodman (Book Review #1)

BOOK: The Other Side of the Island                           

AUTHOR: Allegra Goodman   

PUBLISHER: Razorbill

DATE: May 2009

FORMAT: Paperback

PAGES: 288
SOURCE: Borrowed

(Goodreads Synopsis)

Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there, the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place. . . .

Except Honor. She doesn't fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or latter, those who are unpredictable disappear . . . and they don't ever come back.

     Overall, I thought the general idea of the story was good, but the writing kind of ruined it. The book is told in 3rd person, which I enjoyed because not many books now are. But, the writing only focuses on significant parts in the story, and in between those parts it is carelessly written and not well planned out. Also, the time went by in a weird order. On some parts 5-10 pages = an hour, and then the next page will have a paragraph that = 4 days.

       

       I didn't really like the setting either. It wasn't explained enough, and I had to keep flipping back to pages searching for answers.

       As for the characters, I thought they were wonderful. The were really unique, and although i couldn't picture myself in their shoes, the developed nicely through the course of the book.

       Definitely a great story idea, but it could have been written a lot better.

Mark of Athena cover reveal & initial thoughts about Heroes of Olympus

As most of you may know, Rick Riordan is releasing the 3rd book in the Heroes of Olympus series, The Mark of Athena, on October second, 2012. The cover has officially been revealed, it was featured on Rick's blog the 1st of June. The cover was done (yet again) by John Rocco, who has done the cover art for Percy Jackson & the Olympians, and also The Kane Chronicles.
I still have yet to read either books out in this series, but i don't know if I want to. There are supposedly 2 more books coming out in this series, which I think is a bit ridiculous. For Percy Jackson, I felt the series dragged on for AGES. There was nothing knew what so ever in books 3,4, and 5. I'm afraid the same will happen with The Heroes of Olympus series if the books keep getting dragged on. I will get to these books soon, and hopefully my thoughts on Percy Jackson won't interfere with the other series.

Happy reading
-Max