PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS

With graduation on the horizon, Percy faces new challenges in this second series entry.

It’s October, a month for relishing the crisp air, changing leaves, and “pumpkin-spice burritos,” when high school senior Percy is summoned to the principal’s office to meet his aunt—a mysterious request for someone who doesn’t have an aunt (at least, “not on the human side” of his family). The visitor turns out to be Hecate, the triple goddess of magic, crossroads, and necromancy. She insists that Percy petsit her hellhound and polecat while she’s off enjoying Halloween festivities. Still needing two letters of recommendation if he’s to join girlfriend Annabeth at New Rome University, Percy can’t refuse. As always, Annabeth and Grover are happy to assist, and thus begins an autumnal adventure for the ages. Monstrous mayhem abounds, and characters from past adventures resurface. The localized focus of the action within New York City offers readers an insider’s tour of locales such as Gramercy Park and the historically Greek enclave of Astoria. Reducing the geographical scale of the quests also allows Riordan to focus on Percy’s maturation and introspection. This is arguably the most feminist novel of this universe: Percy reckons with several prominent women from ancient myth whose lives were ruined by men. One of the novel’s most poignant vignettes involves Percy vicariously experiencing the anguish of the destruction of Troy through the psyche of one of its few female survivors.

A superlative volume that combines strong characterization with thrilling action.