Billed as the sixth in the Percy Jackson series, this is sort of the first in a new series. How does that work? Good question.
The original Percy Jackson books were five books narrated by Percy as he and his friends fulfilled a number of quests. Behind it all was one big prophecy about a child of the three most powerful Greek Gods at the age of sixteen. The series was called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's been a while since I read the books, so I'm rather hazy on some of the details. The prophecy completed, but the whole thing led almost directly into another prophecy and another series of five books known as Heroes of Olympus. These books were not narrated in the first person by Percy, instead the books were in third person narrative and the focus moved across nine demigods, one of which was Percy, who were directly involved. After those five books, we were then introduced to another set of five narrated by the God Apollo who was stuck in human form. There's also been a standalone novel about Nico and his boyfriend Will. It looked as though Percy and Annabeth were being left alone for a little while to lead a relatively normal demigod life at New Rome University.
Chalice of the Gods takes us back in time to somewhere between Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo. It's the first book narrated entirely by Percy since Last Olympian, as well as being the first time we've seen the original trio of Percy, Annabeth and Grover working together in quite some time, which is probably why it's billed as the sixth in his series, however it follows a very different line.
Percy has been told that the fact he wasn't technically meant to exist, he isn't eligible for New Rome University. This puts a serious spanner in the works for the plans he made with Annabeth to lead a somewhat quiet life for a while. Fortunately, Percy's dad, Poseidon, has negotiated for Percy to earn his place by getting three letters of recommendation from the Gods. And he can't just walk up to any of the Gods and ask for the letters. They have to come to him and he has to complete quests in exchange for the letters.
It's said by Percy himself how and why this is unfair. He's already saved the world and the Gods a few times and it's Zeus who is insisting on Percy earning his place. Zeus, who also broke the pact not to have any more children. Twice. With the same woman, in his two different personas. But, Percy is a mere demigod. He isn't allowed to protest, he just has to pander to the Gods.
The book is another classic Riordan and I think it sort of went back to basics here. It was funny and easy. Percy is a fantastic narrator. Hilarious at times.
The plot involves a lot of side quests around the main one. You get Percy and Grover finding time to simply be friends as well as Percy and Annabeth being a couple and all part of a family. They find time for things they never really had time for in the other books.
A lot of what happens says a lot about Percy as a person. His morals, his human side. He's a good friend, he's a good boyfriend too. He can be slow at times, but he's endlessly loyal as well as lucky. Percy has an ability to simply...pull things off. Nico did once describe Percy as the most powerful demigod he'd ever met and certainly, his raw power has only been matched by the other children of the big three. But that isn't the reason Percy keeps succeeding. As well as having some rather excellent friends, Percy has qualities essential for true heroes.
In this book, we learn even more about the wider world of the Greek Gods. And have a lot of fun along the way.
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