Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson: Book 3)

In the third installment of the Percy Jackson series the pace slows down as backstories are revealed and a dark evil rises.

It's the last Friday before the winter holidays but Percy Jackson isn't at school: he's battling the fearsome Manticore (half human, half lion), which in itself isn't ideal… But with Annabeth missing and the goddess of the hunt held captive, things get a whole lot more serious…

At times the story can feel like it is dragging a little and some younger readers' attention may waiver but the payback is worth it as Rick Riordan takes the story and the characters to a whole new depth and level that is fresh to the Olympian series.

There is a similar start to the second book as Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from Grover and brings his demigod friends Annabeth, Thalia and his mother along for the ride. After confronting several monsters they discover two new demi-gods with a mysterious past but with no clue as to who they are descended from. After a narrow escape they discover the Hunters Of Artemis and that the goddess herself is missing, stolen by a monster so evil it threatens the very existence of Olympus. And if that wasn’t enough they've also taken Annabeth, just to make the hunt more personal. Along the way they must face their fears and shady pasts come back to haunt some of Olympus’s favourite characters.

Titan’s Curse is the “Prisoner of Azkaban” type novel in the Olympian series, the game changer, the story where everything starts to weave together and you can see deeper into the characters. This is particularly true with Percy, who previously made rash and unjustified decisions without considering the consequences. In Titan's Curse we see a more mature Percy who considers how his actions will affect others in his group and Kronos’s attempt to bring down Olympus. The back story of Mr D (Dionysus) provides incredible insight into why he is so negative and indifferent to the camp and breeding new heroes and although this addition does add to some pacing issues story wise it certainly does add to the overall character development. Annabeth and Percy both confront and acknowledge their feelings for each other and this is a great lead in for the rest of their relationship in the future books of the series.

Apart from telling a great story we also get to meet some new gods (and goddesses) up close and personal. This time with Aphrodite, Apollo and of course Artemis. The combination of Greek mythology and Riordan’s superb storytelling once again come together to create a compelling and welcome addition to the Percy Jackson series. And adding layers of character development and incorporating back stories has helped to make the Olympus saga a perfect middle of the series story.

9/10 The pace slows down as backstories are revealed and a dark evil rises.