Book Eleven: The Last Olympian

Book Eleven: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian
Pages: 381
Finished: January 29

Here is the best way to describe this series: think Harry Potter, but instead of wizards and witches, you have the Greek gods and goddesses to contend with, and all the monsters and scary stuff that you have in The Odyssey, and The Iliad, and all those other stories that I never read, though I do love the old movies, like Jason and the Argonauts, and The Clash of the Titans.
Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, is born out of wedlock like all the other demigods and spends his summers at Camp Half-Blood learning how to be a hero like the legends. In this concluding novel, Percy must defend Mount Olympus (now situated above the Empire State Building) from the recently released Titans. Prophecies have been given, adventures have all led to Percy’s eventual battle with Kronos, Lord of Time.
Here is what I can say, whole-heartedly, about this series as a whole: it’s no Harry Potter. It tries, I mean, it really tries to fill that gaping hole, and it certainly is accessible to a younger audience, but the complexity and increasing maturity of the characters and plot are not evident.
That is probably what bothers me the most about the books, Percy doesn’t really seem to have grown up any during his five years knowing “the truth” about his past. Even when he saves the day, even with all the twists and turns, he’s still a kid, a kid that can do no wrong, a kid that always saves the day.
I recommended this book to some of my students, and I still will recommend it to them, especially if they like The Odyssey or any of the other Greek myth stories. The voice of the narrator is pretty true to a teenage boy: the slang, the cadence, and tone are pretty spot on. Just don’t expect too much from the series and you’ll be perfectly happy.