Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is the best-selling sequel to The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (which I reviewed last week).

Percy Jackson is the Sea God Poseidon's 13-year-old demigod son. He is desperate for the summer term to finish so that he can return to Camp Half-Blood, even though the school year has gone swimmingly well. However, on his last day of school Percy and his friend Tyson, a gigantic homeless kid whom no one else likes, find themselves playing a game of Dodgeball with a group of very dangerous opponents. Things go badly and Percy and Tyson have to flee the school in the company of Percy's Half Blood friend Annabeth. They manage to reach Camp Half-Blood only to find it under attack and Thalia's pine tree, which usually magically protects the borders of the camp, dying. Then Percy dreams that his friend Grover the Satyr, has been captured by the bloodthirsty Cyclops Polyphemus. Percy wants to rescue him, but is forbidden to do so by Tantalus, the new Camp Activities Director. Fortunately others want Percy to go after Grover and want him to retrieve the healing Golden Fleece, which is kept on Polyphemus' island. Encouraged by the Winged Messenger of the Gods, Hermes, Percy sets off for the Bermuda Triangle anyway with his friends Annabeth and Tyson, who turns out to be Percy's half-brother and a Cyclops as well.

Once again, the chapter titles gave me the giggles: "We Hail the Taxi of Eternal Torment", Demon Pigeons Attack", "We Hitch a Ride with Dead Confederates" and "We Meet the Sheep of Doom", and once again this is a page-turning, rollicking adventure that carries the reader along on a wave of excitement !

(OK, I'm done with the puns now !)

Don't hang about - find a copy of this book and have a good giggle at a funny and intelligent re-working of the Odyssey. And don't hesitate to check out Percy Jackson's very own website and Rick Riordan's own website. I can hardly bear to wait for the third book in this series, which will be out in March 2007.