Ema: #1

Title: Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Number of Pages: 295

Genre: Fantasy

Copyright: 2007

‘’The Titan’s Curse’’ is the third book in the ‘’Percy Jackson and the Olympians’’ series, which is thoroughly about the adventures of Percy Jackson – a teenage demigod.

The main characters are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Grover Underwood, Zoë Nightshade, Nico di Angelo, and Bianca di Angelo. Percy is the main protagonist and narrator of the story. He is 14 years old and the half-blood son of Poseidon, therefore a child of the ‘Big Three’ (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), and destined to fulfill the prophecy. It states that a child of the ‘Big Three’ will either save or destroy the world. Annabeth is a daughter of Athena - the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She is Percy’s friend and potential love interest. Her wisdom and clever wit have been more than helpful to the group. She also has a particular interest in architecture. Thalia is 15 and the daughter of Zeus. She has pitch-black hair and piercing blue eyes, and she likes to wear punk clothes. She is also a friend of Percy’s. Grover is a satyr – half-man, half-goat – and also Percy’s best friend. Zoë Nightshade is the leader of the Hunters of Artemis, goddess of the Hunt. Zoë is distinguished from the other Hunters with ‘’a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair’’. She is also a former Hesperid (nymph of the sunset), but, after being betrayed by Hercules and abandoned by her sisters, she decided to devote her life to Artemis. Nico and Bianca di Angelo are both children of Hades, and they are 10 and 12 years old, respectively. They were trapped in the Lotus hotel, where time slows down, but they were released and were attending school when Percy and the others rescued them.

The story takes place in present time in the area of the USA. The heroes mostly travel from one place to another. One particular place, however, is Camp Half-Blood – where half-bloods go at summer (they can choose to live there, too) to train and hone their skills.

The story starts off when Percy, in his mom’s car, picks up Thalia and Annabeth along their way to Harbor, Maine to answer a distress call from Grover. When they arrive at the military school Westover Hall they encounter Mrs. Gottschalk (a very ironic name for a teacher) and Dr. Thorn, who Thalia manages to fool into thinking they study at this school. When they later meet Grover, he tells them that he has found two new half-bloods – Nico and Bianca di Angelo, who would be safer in camp. When searching for the half-bloods, the group becomes aware that Dr. Thorn is really a manticore – a creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the tail and wings of a dragon. While battling him, the Hunters of Artemis and Artemis herself arrive to help the heroes out. They wound the beast, and he retreats, taking Annabeth with him. Percy tries to save her, but his efforts are futile. The Hunters and heroes set up camp briefly after the incident. There it is explained to Bianca and Nico that they are half-bloods – children of the Greek gods. Bianca, however, decides to become a Hunter – in exchange for immortality (they can die in battle, however) and an eternal family in the image of Artemis and the Hunters, the girl has to eternally remain a maiden and to forswear romantic love forever. Of course, both Percy and Nico are shocked by her decision, but she is inflexible. Artemis announces that she will depart to hunt a creature so powerful, that it is capable of destroying the gods. She tells Zoë that she is in charge of the Hunters, and that she will summon her brother Apollo to deliver the Hunters and the heroes to Camp Half-Blood. He arrives at the break of dawn and has a brief conversation with Artemis before she leaves. They take off in his sun chariot and, briefly after, they arrive at camp. When Percy goes to bed, he dreams of Annabeth. She gets into trouble by being tricked by her old friend Luke – now a servant of Kronos – the king of the Titans and the main antagonist. In the morning Percy learns that Zoë had dreamed about Artemis in the same place; he supposes that the dreams may be linked. Percy, Thalia, Grover, Zoë, and Bianca embark on a quest to save Artemis and Annabeth, while at the same time searching for the dangerous creature that Artemis was hunting. Percy rescues the Ophiotaurus - one half cow, one half serpent – with the help of hippocampi – fish-tailed horses, and he names it Bessie. After journeying to Cloudcroft, New Mexico with help from Apollo, the heroes fight the Erymanthian boar then use it as a ride to their next destination – Gila Claw, Arizona. During the evening, a white limousine with Ares –god of war and Aphrodite – goddess of love greets the group. Aphrodite asks for a personal audience with Percy and declares that his ‘tragic love story’ with Annabeth is very interesting for her; that is why she would make things very difficult for him in his love life. She also warns him not to take anything from her husband Hephaestus‘s junkyard (the very obstacle the heroes have to overcome to reach their destination of San Francisco). Percy and the others enter the junkyard and start walking towards the exit. When they are finally there, a prototype of Talos – a giant of bronze – attacks them, because Bianca steals an action figure for her brother. Eventually, Bianca, by sacrificing herself, destroys it. The party is carried by naiads to Hoover Dam next. There Percy separates with the others and realizes that he has been followed by a group of skeleton warriors (sent by Luke and the General of the Titans – Atlas). Fortunately, a mortal girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare saves him by confusing the skeletons. Percy and his friends are reunited, and they escape from danger again by being flied by statues of angels to San Francisco. There, the heroes learn that the Ophiotaurus is actually the creature they are looking for – when its entrails are burned, they will have the power to destroy the gods. They also learn that their next destination is the garden of the Hesperides – Zoë’s sisters. They are given a car by Annabeth’s father who lives in San Francisco. They arrive at the garden, where Zoë meets her sisters and is wounded by the dragon guarding the golden apple tree Ladon. They continue to Mt. Tampalis, where the current Titan capital, Mt. Othrys resides. They encounter Atlas - free from his burden of the sky, Artemis – now carrying the burden, and Annabeth – being held captive by Luke. Percy takes the burden – the Titan’s curse – from Artemis, realizing that the heroes are no match for Atlas. Then Thalia begins to duel with Luke and Atlas – with Artemis and his own daughter Zoë. In his duel with Thalia, Luke falls from a cliff with everyone assuming he has died. Artemis tricks Atlas into taking the burden from Percy. However, Zoë is further wounded in the fight, and she dies in Artemis’s arms. The goddess sheds a tear and makes a star constellation in her name - The Huntress. Later, Thalia decides to become a Hunter herself. Also, both Annabeth and Poseidon tell Percy that Luke has survived the fall.