From the shelf: The Mark of Athena

Title: The Mark of Athena
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Greek/Roman Mythology
Date read: February 11-14, 2013
Dawn Rates: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare....

My Review: (also in goodreads)

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, 

To storm or fire the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Just when I thought the second book in the series was downright oozing with awesomeness, Rick Riordan outshone himself once again. And yes, I imagined a dramatic reunion between Annabeth and Percy. That scene definitely didn't fail me. The Lost Hero introduced us to new characters in the form of Piper and Leo plus got me curious on the mystery that is Jason. The Son of Neptune reunites us with long lost Percy and introduced us to a world beyond the Greek Camp Half-Blood, the Roman counterpart named Camp Jupiter with new found friends Frank and Hazel. Add Annabeth into the mix plus more action and adventures and you get The Mark of Athena. The prophecy of seven, the wheel of fate started to turn once everyone's paths crossed. Together...Jason and Percy, leaders and decision-makers; Annabeth, brain and strategy-maker; Leo, captain of Argo II and navigator; Hazel and Piper, defense and conscience; and naive, brave Frank plus Coach Hedge the chaperon...they face Gaea's forces and it couldn't be any better. The mix of everyone's personalities amused me to no end, the awesome adventures plus the switching of thoughts and it made reading this installment to the Heroes of Olympus worthwhile. The ending is a sure-fire cliffhanger. The 4th installment (The House of Hades) will be out on October and I'll be counting the days...I don't know how could I survive the 8 month wait.

The Mark of Athena prophecy:

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone;

The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.

Twins snuff out the angel's breath,

Who holds the key to endless death.

Giant's bane stands cold and pale,

Won through pain from a woven jail."

Till the next read...

From the shelf: The Son of Neptune

Title: The Son of Neptune
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Greek/Roman Mythology
Date read: February 10-11, 2013
Dawn Rates: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth 

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams. 

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery — although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely — enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart. 

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophecy of Seven.

My Review: (also in goodreads)

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, 

To storm or fire the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Finally after wondering where the hell Percy is after the events of "The Lost Hero" and after knowing that Hera/Juno took the greatest risk to plan "the exchange of leaders", I could finally see Percy's side of the story. Apparently, his events weren't parallel to Jason's quest. He was hibernating and was awoken only on the timeline of Camp Half-blood building Argo II. Like Jason, he lost his memories and had to build on Camp Jupiter's trust. There was just one person who wasn't in favor in all of this and it's Octavian, though he is the least of their worries. Like Jason he had two new friends in Frank and Hazel, 2 demigods with a dark past (don't worry I won't spoil). So with no memories of his former life and just one name -- Annabeth, Percy needs to rebuild his life and find out about the Roman camp all by himself. Much more than the first book, call me biased or whatnot, but this book was better. Maybe because of the familiar face amidst the new characters being introduced or maybe I was more biased and leaning towards Percy (given me reading the first five books prior to this) but this book did build up the hype. As usual, Rick Riordan didn't fail. The story was full of adventure and wit that I couldn't even put the book down. Now, I'm really anticipating the third book where Percy, Hazel and Frank finally meets Annabeth, Jason, Leo and Piper...that would be fun! Oh, and I love the part where Percy wanted to wring Nico's neck for pretending not to know him earlier..not to mention the Death god Thanatos having an iPad to check for recent deaths and skyping with Hades....that made me laugh.

The Son of Neptune prophecy:

"To the north, beyond the gods;

lies the legion's crown.

Falling from the ice,

the son of Neptune shall drown."

Till the next read...

From the shelf: The Lost Hero

Title: The Lost Hero
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Greek/Roman Mythology
Date read: February 09-10, 2013
Dawn Rates: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

Jason has a problem. He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids", as Leo puts it. What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he's in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn't recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on? 

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What's troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

My Review: (also in goodreads)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

After enjoying the first season so much, I decided to move on to the new season in the Percy Jackson saga. This series not only focuses on one hero but to others as well. The first prophecy of Rachel Elizabeth Dare as an Oracle at The Last Olympian will be manifested in this series:

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, 

To storm or fire the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

It's not that I haven't read this book yet but I had to re-read it so that I could go forward to Son of Neptune and Mark of Athena. Introducing new characters for the second season of the series: Jason, Piper and Leo. For some reason it reminded me of a time where Percy, Annabeth and Grover had their adventures. I loved Leo's sarcasm as he was the humour-maker of the group. Secrets unfold as Jason's past is revealed; finally they are aware that there are important things that they don't know. Of course, Percy was also mentioned in this book about how he mysteriously disappeared. To be honest, I loved the first series because of the amazing adventures and the incredible valor of the characters; and obviously the second saga did the same; if not, much much more. With new characters, complex personalities and much more evils to destroy, this book is fast-paced, full of wit and truly a page turner. I would've given it 5 stars but I always had this habit of coping up on the first book of any series because for me the first book is the most important to get me hooked into a series and fortunately it did well.

The Lost Hero prophecy:

"Child of Lightning, beware the earth;

The giant's revenge, the seven shall birth.

The forge and the dove shall break the cage,

And death unleash through Hera's rage."

Till the next read...