Midnight Cravings for Spoonfuls of Honey

We're done with all things Percy for now, because, truthfully, there are no things Percy left at the moment. But recently I read a really good book that I kind of can't get over. It is called Chalice, is by Robin McKinley, and inspired a bit of a honey-and-bee obsession in me that pops back up every once in a while. I know many of the terms in the following summary are going to be unfamiliar and/or confusing, and I'm sorry about that; it's because this book is about a society that, as far as I know, is quite unlike any current societies. Please bear with me.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

Mirasol is just a simple beekeeper who can feel the earthlines of her demesne a little bit more than most - until the out-of-control Master of Willowlands and his inexperienced Chalice die tragically. Willowlands and its earthlines are thrown into turmoil, taking Mirasol with them, and the last thing she expects is to be told that she has been chosen to be the next Chalice. Fueled by a desperate need to save her demesne, Mirasol tries to fulfill her role with no one to train her in her duties as Chalice or teach her the ways of the Circle. Then the old Master's younger brother, who should have been Master instead, returns to succeed him. But the new Master has been with the priests of Fire for seven years and is now too far into Fire to live among ordinary people; he may not even be human anymore. The only way Mirasol can save her demesne, and the only way she can save herself, is to bind Willowlands, its people, and its disintegrating Circle to a new Master, one who is so much a part of Fire that his touch burns human skin.

Unlike most of what I read these days, this book is mainly exposition and long, beautifully crafted descriptions, and has less action and dialogue than I'm used to. That's far from bad, though. It was relaxing to read and flowed easily, and the imagery was deliciously vibrant. The numerous descriptions of a hundred types of honey were so vivid and appealing, during the entire four days I spent reading Chalice, I constantly craved it. I still get hankerings every once in a while; for example, last week I spent half an hour stirring some into a glass of cold milk (because I wanted it cold, that's why). And right now, I could really go for some coconut pancakes with lavender honey. Do they even make lavender honey? They should. It sounds heavenly. Also, the expository sections epitomized great grammar and were chock-full of splendid vocabulary. I had to look up a good number of words (mainly adjectives, I seem to recall, not that it matters), but I'm pretty sure Robin McKinley increased my IQ by about a million points. The writing was very formal, too, as was the dialogue (there may not have been a whole lot, but it was there), which also made me feel smart and sophisticated. And feeling smart and sophisticated is always fun.
This is one of those stories that, at random points throughout the novel, led me to sit back and try to comprehend how the author thought of it. I really don't know. It is such a unique storyline, and so complicated, with all these breathtaking little nuances, and I just have no idea how Robin McKinley came to create it. And then, of course, she put it together gorgeously, and populated it with incredibly real characters.
Mirasol, first of all, is a wonderful character. Her task seems almost hopeless, and she struggles with it, but she does not give up. And despite the pressure from the rest of the Circle for her to conform to traditional Chalice convention, she stays true to herself and her beliefs, and paves her own way as her own Chalice. She is incredibly strong. The Master is also spectacularly designed; the reader cheers for him as he fights to regain his humanity and keep his demesne together, and feels for him as he grapples with the fear that he will and should fail. Even the Grand Seneschal is a compelling character, and it is never obvious whose side he's on.
There are elements of fantasy and historical fiction in Chalice, though they are both subtle. Even more subtle is the element of romance (which you all know I love). It's so subtle, it can be rounded down to being not even there. Only I could pull something like that out of the book. From the beginning, I wanted Mirasol and the Master to be together, just because I wanted somebody to be together and they were the first possible couple I came across. But that idea was so barely touched on, and so taboo in their society, that I couldn't decide whether or not it would actually be part of the story. I know now, of course. And guess what? I'm not telling!
Despite the formal, relaxed, expository composition of this novel, it does have a very riveting climax. I couldn't put the book down near the end, there. Obviously, I hoped for a happy ending, but as I approached the climax, it was impossible for me to tell if there would be one. (And once again, I'm not telling!)

Chalice is not part of a series, and the end does not leave room for a second, but Robin McKinley has written quite a few other books, some of which are award-winning. I loved Chalice, and I , for one, cannot wait to read more of her books. Her writing is positively scrumptious.

Thanks go to the marvelous Lily, who read this because I wanted her to, even though it's not really her style. Like all the books I read, she thought it was "weird," though I do believe she enjoyed it at least a little. As far as I can tell, she views all books that aren't strictly fiction of nonfiction as weird. Which I find hilarious. In general, Lily is hilarious. Love you, my dear!

Recommendation: Anyone who has an appreciation for well-crafted writing, or beautiful and unique societies. Anyone who wants to improve his or her vocabulary, and have a delightful time doing so. Anyone who likes to be surprised, and doesn't like to be able to predict everything. Not people who don't like long descriptions, or need excessive action and dialogue. Though the content is suitable for all ages (in my opinion), I don't recommend this book to preteens or younger, unless we're talking about a spelling bee champion or something. I think fifteen, or ambitious fourteen, is a good cut-off age. In my experience, anyone younger could get easily frustrated with the advanced vocabulary and complex writing structure. Of course, they would probably get bored from the lack of action first. But Chalice is really good, so if you feel you fit these criteria, you should definitely check it out.

Another Little Dose of Percy

So I know I made a gargantuan deal about The Last Olympian being the end of Percy, but the oh-so-generous Rick Riordan has given us something amazing: a sequel series. Now, The Heroes of Olympus has a new cast of characters, though the old are still very present as well (thank the gods), and it's about a lot more than the children of the Greek gods. Percy isn't even in the first book, really. Which makes me sad. But this book is seriously just what any Percy fan needs after finishing the original Percy series. And so we begin with book one, The Lost Hero. There are, however, SPOILERS AHEAD for the original series. This is a new series, so you don't need to read the first series before reading this one, but I really think you should. You'll just appreciate it way more. And Percy is the best, so I really don't know why you would want to skip five books of him him him!

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Jason, Piper, and Leo, three new demigods, are the protagonists of this book, and it switches between their points of view every two chapters. The story starts when Jason wakes up on a bus full of "bad kids," with no idea who he is or where he came from. Piper and Leo, his supposed girlfriend and best friend, are upset that he doesn't remember them, but he is absolutely positive he has never seen them before in his life. He has no idea what's going on, but everything just feels wrong. And then he has to fight some storm spirits and learns he can fly. All in a day's work, right? Here we get our first character reunion: Annabeth and a guy named Butch show up to take our three new friends to Camp Half-Blood, where they discover that they are demigods. Leo, with his always-moving hands and talent with tools, is an obvious fit for the Hephaestus cabin. He would feel right at home, too, if it weren't for the cabin's curse and the metal dragon terrorizing the camp. Piper, on the other hand, doesn't think she belongs anywhere, especially since her dad went missing and she's been getting horribly realistic dreams telling her that the only way to get him back is to betray her friends. And Jason is discovered to be a new son of Zeus - no, wait, Jupiter. As some of his memories come back, he begins to piece together a past in which he belonged to a whole different demigod society, one that has been kept forcibly separate from Camp Half-Blood so long that only Chiron knows of it. Meanwhile, some camper that seems to be famous at camp, a teen named Percy Jackson, (who is also Annabeth's boyfriend, yay!!!) is missing, and the other campers are distraught. And Hera, the queen of the gods, has been imprisoned by a mysterious and powerful force. Something very, very bad is brewing in the world of the gods, who have gone silent at the worst possible time. It is up to none other than Jason, Piper, and Leo to rescue Hera and uncover the truth of what's going on.

I am ashamed to say I didn't finish this book until almost six months after it came out. This is because part way into reading it, I began my five-month long bookfast. OH, THE SHAME! Yes, people, for five months the only reading I did (aside from school-assigned reading, which doesn't count) was on the computer. That's five months of staring at a bright screen, and five months without turning pages. I eventually forced my way back into real reading, which was difficult, but felt incredibly good. I'm never leaving books again!

So I finally finished it, and boy, was I pleased! Well, mostly, but I'll explain that later. First of all, reading about the demigods of Camp Half-Blood and all the characters from the original series was like coming home, and coming back to all my best friends. It was wonderful. Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel, Chiron, some Clarisse, the Stoll brothers; they're practically all there. And there are so many new characters, both good and bad; besides the main three, we meet Butch, Clovis, Drew, Coach Hedge, and many more. As always, Rick Riordan sneakily educates us, this time on Boreas and Aeolus, Medea, Midas, and many more. Also as always, he does it with the perfect combination of action, humor, and teenage angst. This is a wonderful start to the perfect follow-up series that so many of us desperately need.

I do have some problems, though. I mean, I love the story, and I love the writing; nothing's changed there. But this series isn't told in first person, which I think doesn't allow the reader to make as personal of a connection with the narrating character(s). And I also think it doesn't allow Rick Riordan to write in as humorous a voice as he used before, which makes me sad. And then there is that whole thing about how darn much I miss Percy's narrating.
{I guess you could say that I'm about to get into some very slight SPOILERS for this book - and by "very slight" I mean I'm just going to talk about which characters I missed because they weren't in this book. If you don't want to read this part, just skip this next paragraph.}
The other problem I had, and the main problem I had, is just the fact that I missed people. Clarisse isn't mentioned enough (though she is there, thank goodness). Tyson and Grover aren't there (at least not very much at all, because I sure can't remember them being there). Nico isn't in it at all, which really disappointed me because he's such an interesting and complex character, and one of my favorites. And then, of course, there's Percy, who is the "lost hero" in the title. He is MIA during the entire book, though Rick Riordan throws us lots of bones in the form of extremely pleasing references to him (and to his relationship with Annabeth, heehee). This made me so distraught that when I finally finished the book at one in the morning, I had a small but violent Percy-deprivation seizure in my bed and had to fetch my copy of The Last Olympian and read all my favorite parts (which kept me up till three, thus ruining my brain functionality for the following day). However, I am pleased to say that - SMALL SPOILER - the sneak peek of the second book (titled The Son of Neptune, hiphiphooray) on Rick Riordan's website is, while still in third person, entirely in Percy's point of view. So that is DEFINITELY something to look forward to!

Anyway, my final assessment is that The Lost Hero is totally wicked and the perfect fix for all fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians who cried themselves to sleep the night they finished the fifth book and thought it was All. Over.

The next book, The Son of Neptune, is set to come out October 4th. Who's camping out at Barnes & Noble with me?

And, if they do end up making the entire Percy series into movies, well... I mean I guess the movies could get better, in which case I might want them to make this series into movies as well, but for now I'm going to judge them solely on their performance with the Lightning Thief and say PLEASE GOD don't let them continue. At this point, I don't think I could bear it. 

Big huge thanks to Rick Riordan for continuing his Camp Half-Blood stories, ergo saving my life. 'Cause I probably would have died if Percy really had been gone for good. Also, thank you for continuing with the age group instead of starting with new twelve-year-old characters. This way, I continue to grow up with the characters, who tend to be almost exactly my age. It's really fun for me.

Recommendation: EVERYONE, at least everyone who likes to read and/or laugh, who is interested in mythology, who wants to get back into reading, etc. Mainly teens and preteens. Also, EVERYONE WHO READ AND LOVED PERCY. And preferably not people who haven't read Percy; i.e., if you haven't, do so now.

Fifth Post!

The time has finally come for me to review the final installment of my favorite series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. So here it is.
Drumroll, please.
I give you.......... The Last Olympian!
Oh, snap! What a title! You know you love it.
Now, here is where I would usually CAUTION YOU to stop reading if you haven't read all the other books in the series, because this is about to get spoilerific to the max. But I'm not going to, because you should really KNOW BETTER by now.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The fifth book begins with a bang, quite literally: In the first chapter, Percy and Beckendorf blow up a ship. Then, of course, it's straight to camp, where the demigods are preparing for a war that will decide the fate of both the Olympian world and the mortal one. All the gods (minus Poseidon, who is fighting his own war under the ocean) are locked in battle with the giant Typhon, and Kronos, now in Luke's body, is leading his army of monsters and half-bloods to an unprotected Mount Olympus. Percy's sixteenth birthday is in a week, and we all know what that means. The Great Prophecy is finally revealed to our favorite hero and all the rest of the campers, and boy, is it grim. Prophecies are never as they seem, but there's really no way to make what will happen on Percy's birthday sound anything but positively dreadful. Despite the fact that he's practically been handed a death sentence, Percy must lead the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to New York City, to protect the sources of the gods' powers on Olympus. They have little chance of success, and, to make matters worse, there is a spy among them. As the final battle approaches, Percy must make some important choices, unravel the past, and decide what really matters. With twists, turns, loves, deaths, and unexpected heroes galore, this best-selling series comes to an end no less spectacular than what we have come to expect from the talented Rick Riordan and his much-loved Percy Jackson.

Yeah. What I said right there at the end. Basically, it's perfect.
I can't express how much I love this finale. Everything, and I mean everything, comes together. The prophecy is revealed. Luke's past is revealed. Nico's life is pieced together. People live. People die. People trade sides and prove themselves and make their final stands. There is love, and happiness, and there are tearful goodbyes. You do not see it coming. It hits you like a speeding freight train and then proceeds to run you over (and it is a very long speeding freight train). You cannot get enough. You laugh, and you cry; you jump up and down in your overstuffed chair and squeal loudly at the mushy bits, and you curl up in a blanket with your cat and a mug of hot tea and wallow in your misery at the retributory bits. You read it over and over and over and over and over again. You love it like there's no tomorrow. I'm serious, here. I'm for cereal.
You want me to say it, don't you? Fine, I'll say it. The end is reminiscent of the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (There's another one of my favorite series; maybe I'll review it someday. For now: Read it!) It is, if you think about it, fairly similar, though like the series itself, everything in this book is to a slightly smaller scale. But that doesn't mean it's any less powerful. It is hugely powerful. And The Last Olympian is its own book, with its own story, its own characters, its own revelations, and its own resolution.
I'm not going to try to convince you to read this book. If you are at this point, if you have read all the previous books, I can't imagine being able to stop you from reading it, even if for some incomprehensible reason I wanted to. I am just telling you. It is worth it. This end is worth everything. The end of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is worth everything in the world.

I mean it.

Heck, if they get this far in the movies, I'd kill them for not making this into one.

Thank you to everyone, all of my friends and family members, for bearing with me through my time following this series, particularly there at the end. I know I can get a little over-enthusiastic at times, but you are nothing but supportive. I love you all!
And endless thanks go to Rick Riordan for writing the best series of all times, in my opinion. You have added such a wonderful thing to my life.
Finally, and most importantly, thank you to Percy Jackson. You, my dear friend, have been with me for years. I have followed you on your adventures, laughing and crying, and I have loved every minute of it. (I still do.) You have enriched my life. You are the best, and, in my eyes, you always will be. Keep in touch.
It has been an amazing era.

Recommendation: You. Yes, you. You know who you are.

Fourth Post!

Fourth post means fourth Percy Jackson and the Olympians book! So here it is, The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan, in all its glory. And it has a lot of glory. Oodles and oodles of glory. It's quite spectacular. But please STOP READING NOW if you haven't read the first three. Because to match this book's oodles and oodles of glory, this review contains oodles and oodles of spoilers for the previous books.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

This penultimate novel begins not at the end of the school year, but at the beginning of the summer (shush, that is not the same difference), and we find Percy at the freshman orientation for his new high school - yes, the one that his mom's recently acquired boyfriend, Paul Blofis, teaches at. But of course Percy can't get through even this without some type of hitch, and the problem of the day begins with him seeing the last person he wants to see: none other than Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the mortal girl who can see through the Mist that he met at Hoover Dam the prior summer. She saves his butt, though, by warning him that the cheerleaders are both inhuman and evil. So then he has to deal with that. Typical day for a typical demigod. Immediately after orientation, Percy and Annabeth head to camp, where they meet Quintus, the new sword instructor, and find out that Luke is leading an army of demigods and monsters in an attempt to infiltrate Camp Half-Blood. And the route he's taking is right through the Labyrinth, a living, underground maze that probably spans the entire continent and is known to drive people insane. It is up to Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson to enter the Labyrinth, find the workshop of Daedalus (the man who built the Labyrinth thousands of years before), and prevent Luke from using the maze against them. The prophecy is ominous, the Labyrinth is deceptive, and the stakes are higher than ever.

As I explained in my post for Titan's Curse, this is my very close third-favorite in the series. Almost fourth. This book is positively scrumptious. I love love love watching the adorable tension grow between Percy and Annabeth, especially with the reintroduction of the spectacular Rachel Elizabeth Dare. (Yes, she is me, in case you had not made the connection. Two superb Rachels with frizzy red hair and green eyes and freckles? Duh. It seems that Rick Riordan heard about me and my awesomeness and thought, "Obviously I must base a character off of her, and then there will be no end to the character's awesomeness." Or something like that.) Now, this girl. She is great. And I am being objective when I say this; I am not thinking of her in terms of myself. She is just a great character, totally strong and stubborn and unique. And she is the perfect compliment to Percy and Annabeth - like, the three of them just mesh together perfectly. I'm not saying they get along well, just that the three characters work well together. Rachel's easy-going nature is like a reverse reflection of Annabeth's tendency to worry and overthink things, and the way she deals with Percy - a combination of I-trust-and-respect-you-as-a-person and your-typical-boy-obliviousness-and-recklessness-utterly-exasperate-me - is hilarious. Girl power! Plus it's fun to watch Annabeth get jealous. And then there is Nico, who was just an innocent little boy in the last book. He was a side character, but a year later we find him hardened and matured since his sister's death, and with an agenda. He's an incredibly intriguing character with his own flaws, fears, burdens, ghosts, and haunting side story. He's one of my favorite characters, and, personally, I would love to read a series about him. Also, as usual, we have new Greek myths woven into the novel in the usual Rick Riordan way; the most central and interesting story told is that of Daedalus and the Labyrinth, and Ariadne's string, but there is much more than just that. And it continues to be fast-paced and exciting, and Percy's voice continues with his lovable sarcasm and oblivious-boy routine. This book comes to an intense climax that hits like an affectionate bro-punch to the gut and leaves you reeling pleasantly. Not to mention the end. Talk about insane cliffhanger.

Fingers crossed for no movie? Blow on your dandelions, people!

Thanks to my mom for driving to B&N at nine in the morning again to get me this book the day it came out and drop it off at school for me. You're the best!
And then one day, a couple weeks later, I found out that Rick Riordan was going to be doing a book signing about an hour away from our town later that day. Thank you so so so much, Mommy, for driving me out there! It is because of you that I got to meet the author of my favorite series, got to get all my books signed, got to ask him when Percy's birthday is (August 18th), and got to win the absolute last Battle of the Labyrinth T-shirt he was giving away that day (because I correctly answered the trivia question asking what Athena's sacred animal is) (it's a stag, by the way). I love that T-shirt. Mother Dearest, you are positively divine!
Also, thank you to my dear friend Liana, though we haven't hung out in a while (which is a disgrace and needs to be remedied), for finding my copy of this book on her shelf more than a year after she borrowed it and a long, long time after I had given up hope of ever finding it again. Which would have been a fierce dreadful shame, seeing as how I got it signed. I don't blame you, love; I thought you had returned it as well. I'm just glad you found it!

Recommendation: Really, guys? EVERYONE. Just read them in order, okay? I mean, what pleasure can you possibly get from reading them out of order? Is it, like, a satisfaction in going against the grain? Cause that's just immature. It's just juvenile. Really. I expect more from you.

Third Post!

Took me a long time to get this one out. Sorry... Truth is, I typed up about half of this post two-ish weeks ago, but then my mom wanted her computer back, and I was avoiding the internet on mine (long story), and then, well, I kinda forgot. And then we went college shopping up in Oregon and Washington, so I there went five days, and then I forgot again. But anyway:

As promised, I continue my Percy Jackson and the Olympians review string with the third book, The Titan's Curse. Good stuff! But once again, I WARN YOU that there are spoilers ahead and you should stay far away from this post unless you have read the first two books in this lovely series.

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Unlike the previous two, this book does not begin with Percy on the brink of getting kicked out of another school. No, it begins with Sally Jackson driving Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia to the boarding school that Grover is stationed at, to retrieve two possibly very powerful demigods that he has discovered. But the retrieval does not go at all as planned, and the teens have to deal with a manticore. Just when it looks like all hope is lost, the Hunters of Artemis arrive to save the day, but the manticore escapes - with Annabeth as a hostage. Percy and the others are, of course, distraught. They join with two of the Hunters and embark on a quest to rescue Annabeth and Artemis (who, somehow, has been kidnapped as well), find and stop a mysterious monster that could destroy the gods, and unravel the ominous-sounding Titan's curse. Oh, and, according to the newest prophecy, two of them will die in the process.

Rick Riordan is awesome! As always, his writing is engaging and extremely entertaining, as well as educational. (Wow, four big "e" words in one sentence. Alliteration! In all modesty, I have impressed myself.) Some of the great new characters include Bianca and Nico de Angelo, Zoë Nightshade, Blackjack the pegasus, and, most interestingly of all, Thalia, the daughter of Zeus. She's a great character, and it's wonderful to get to know her after the constant references in the past two books, not to mention that cliffhanger at the end of the last one. And her relationship with Percy is quite something. There is also an introductory cameo on a new and very intriguing character: ME! Just kidding. Well, no, I'm not, not really. Not at all, actually, but that's okay. Read the book, and maybe you'll see what I mean. ;) . Sorry, the winky face was necessary. Anywho, if you don't get it after reading, I'll explain in my review for the next book, because I am thoroughly convinced that I am in this series. Well, enough about me. Continuing: We also get to learn some very exciting things, such as how to drive Apollo's sun chariot and why Dionysus is secretly the king of super-beast-awesomeness and the god any sane (key word, here) person would pick if they could only have one on their side. And there is, of course, an abundance of all those other ridiculous situations that Percy always seems to find himself in. It's why we love him. That, and the snarky thoughts he has when he's in such situations. It's all very endearing, in my opinion. Not to mention hilarious.

Okay, so while Sea of Monsters is my least - sorry, fifth - favorite in the series, Titan's Curse is one of my favorites. If we remember that the Lightning Thief is my all-time favorite because it's the first and it has to be, and then demote it to fourth because it is actually not my favorite at all, we can set up a pretty simple hierarchy. My favorite would have to be the fifth, because, well, because. Read the fifth, or my review of it (coming soon), and you will understand. THIS book, The Titan's Curse, the third in the series, is second. It's just incredibly intense and fresh, and the new characters are beautiful, and it's darker than the previous books - just the right amount of darkness. Very refreshing, this darkness. And exhilarating, actually. I do love it. The book, I mean. I love the darkness, too, but just now I was talking about the book. I love it. At any rate, the fourth (review coming soon) is my third favorite. I think. The top three are very close; though the fifth is my favorite for sure, it's a close race, and my ordering of the third and fourth is a bit iffy. Though I think that this is my official statement. And then, the first is my fourth favorite and the second is my fifth favorite. Yep. Let's go with that. Ha. Well, the point of THAT whole unnecessarily long paragraph is that this third book is my second favorite book in the series. And that it's awesome. Yay!

Hey guys! Let's pray to the gods that they don't try to make this one into a movie, too!
Oh my gods, they probably will. Ugh.

Thanks go to my lovely mother, Lark, who drove to Barnes & Noble at nine in the morning (when it opened) the Tuesday this book came out, because I couldn't, and then dropped it off at my school so I could start it immediately and finish it later that day. Thanks, Mama!
Thanks also to my friend Pamela, who I haven't talked to in a while, for being a bit more than reasonably gullible and for making eighth grade Spanish class (which started the fall after this book came out and continued through the release of the fourth) WAY better than it deserved to be. See, I like connecting myself to actors and characters that I like, and my connection to Percy Jackson is that he is officially my big brother (though he's not that much older than me). It was great, though, because I was always telling Pamela about my big brother who I absolutely adored but rarely got to see, and I kept talking about how I couldn't wait for May 6th (the day the fourth came out) because he was visiting. And she believed it all. She thought it was weird, but she believed it. She figured it out much later when I wore a PJ shirt, but still. It was pretty great. Love you, Pamela!

Recommendation: EVERYONE should read this book. Except everyone should read the second and first books first. But not in that order.