Sea of Monsters Trailer Analysis

Warning! May contain Sea of Monsters spoilers!

 I am super excited! The Sea of Monsters trailer was released yesterday in the previews before The Host film. If you missed my post on that, I suggest you go back and look for it! But, if you're too lazy for that, you can just click here to watch it. (Yes, the person recording it was a total fangirl. That only makes it better ;))

 Trailer Summary: Percy voice over about being a half-blood and having a safe-haven until the borders were poisoned. Shots of ocean, Percy, blonde Annabeth, Tyson, Grover, Camp Half-Blood, Dionysus, etc. People wondering what happened to the camp borders. Talk about how Kronos is fated to rise again, and it shows the coffin-thingy where Kronos is rising from glowing. More about the borders, and someone says that they need the Golden Fleece to save the camp. They talk about how the Sea of Monsters is where the Fleece is, and how it's known as the Bermuda Triangle to mortals. Dionysus gives the quest to Clarisse. Percy and Annabeth knocking on Grover's cabin door and saying that they're going after the fleece. Dramatic music. Annabeth hailing the Chariot of Damnation and the Gray Sisters with their craziness. Tyson being cute. LUKE talking about resurrecting Kronos. Percy & co. asking Hermes for help. Hermes gives them the thermos, and Annabeth tries to twist the cap off. Hermes screams, "WHOA WHOA WHOA, not in here. Not in here." Percy summons hippocampi. Shot of Tyson and Rainbow (or at least that's who I'm presuming it is). Battle scenes. Bronze bulls. Lifeboat with Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson in the middle of the ocean being surrounded by sharks. "Tell me those aren't sharks," Annabeth says. Percy replies, "Those aren't sharks." Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters logo flashes on screen. Trailer ends.

 Now, it's time for my analysis!

 Oh my goodness, I am so excited about this movie. From the trailer, it looks so much better and closer to the book than the first was. To me, the second movie honestly didn't feel like it was ever going to happen until I saw this trailer.  But now that I've seen it, EPICNESS!! I'm trying not to set my expectations too high, considering the first movie, but this looks way better and way more accurate.

 My first thought when I saw it was, "WHOA! The plot actually sounds... like the book!" Then I noticed Grover's presence. He obviously isn't kidnapped. In my opinion, that makes Percy and Annabeth look like attention seekers for wanting to find the fleece instead of Clarisse! Well, maybe there will be some alternate motive, but I don't know about that. And the part where the boat is surrounded by sharks... Grover isn't there! Maybe something happens to him WHILE they're on the quest. :o

 Let's talk positive things, shall we? bo;waejksfthioabyvhubia DIONYSUS AND CLARISSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND TYSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, I loved Percy's sarcastic line to Clarisse. I feel like Percy's humor was one thing that was cut out of the first movie, and of course that was a HUGE thing in the books. But I loved how they included Rainbow. And now they're bring Kronos into the picture! This is so amazing! I'm really glad that the movie makers took a hint and did a little bit of fanservice (AKA actually following the book). :) There actually isn't much to analyze... But I'm super excited now!

 So yeah... that's it! Oh, and one more thing...

 Pray for an appearance of Guinea Pig Percy.

Why I think Leo and Reyna should be together

Warning! May contain Lost Hero, Son of Neptune, Mark of Athena, and Mulan II spoilers!

 There has been a popular pairing circulating the internet lately: Leyna.

 "Leyna?" you say. "How does that even make sense? Leo and Reyna as a couple would NEVER work out!"

 Well, I thought the same thing at first. When I first heard of "Leyna" I thought, "Wait... is that Leo + Reyna? That's ridiculous!" But after reading a little bit of fan fiction (something that I rarely do) and thinking about it rationally (not that love is rational...), it actually made some sense to me.

 Here we have Leo, the jokester. He's serious when he needs to be (usually), but he tends to use a little to much levity at certain times, which is sometimes unappreciated. He hits on every girl, as long as she's way out of his league, and he usually gets turned down. (My question is: HOW?! How could a girl turn down Leo Valdez?)

 Then there's Reyna. Reyna is a strong and respected leader, but she is very much into discipline and strictness, which can make her seem hostile at times. She's one of my favorite characters, but she can come off as a little scary or intimidating at times.

 They couldn't be any more opposite. However, opposites do attract! If you've ever seen Mulan II, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Mulan and Shang are set to get married, and then Mushu interferes because he doesn't want to lose his position as Mulan's guardian. Mushu uses Mulan and Shang's differences to drive them apart, but in the end, when Mushu admits to be the force driving them apart, Mulan realizes that it's their differences that make them a great couple. As long as no one is out to  force Leo and Reyna apart, their relationship would be a great one!

 I feel like Leo would bring out the softer side of Reyna that we never see, while Reyna would still be an amazing praetor. Reyna would maybe teach Leo a few lessons in discipline.

 I also think that any kind of girlfriend for Leo would be good. He never really had a stable home after his mom died, and having a girlfriend would make him feel like less of an outcast. (I mean, just look at how everyone else on the Argo II is pairing up! Poor Leo is a seventh wheel!) And Reyna might be a bit happier with a guy, especially a guy that can make her laugh. She seems so lonely! It doesn't sound like she has many friends in Camp Jupiter, even if she is well-liked by the campers. Even a best friend for her would be great.

 So, if Leo and Reyna end up in a relationship, great! If they don't, I really hope that they're at least really good friends. In my opinion, they'd be a dream pairing. We'll just have to see what Uncle Rick does! :)

Sea of Monsters Official Trailer!

Warning! May contain Sea of Monsters spoilers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hCRadmRp-U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

AHHHHHHHH!!! Thank you to @SwiftAgency13 on Twitter for sharing this with me. I'll do another post analyzing it soon, but for now I have to go! See ya later, half-bloods!

Upcoming Special Dates Update

'Sup, half-bloods?

I have some very special dates to share with you!

May 7th, 2013 - Paperback edition of the Serpent's Shadow comes out, INCLUDING a special Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson crossover short story, The Son of Sobek!

May 31st, 2013 - House of Hades cover reveal!

June 18th, 2013 - Son of Sobek e-single release

August 16th, 2013 - Sea of Monsters movie release (in theaters)

October 8th, 2013 - HOUSE OF HADES RELEASE!!!!!!!!!

Now, a bit about the e-single. It includes both text and audio, with the story read by Rick Riordan himself! I don't know of a price yet, but I'm sure that will be released soon enough, along with the cover artwork for the e-single.

Something even more exciting about the e-single: IT COMES WITH A SPECIAL PREVIEW OF THE HOUSE OF HADES! (Which is probably why they're choosing to release it so much later.)

Don't worry, a free preview will be available closer to the release date. You just have to wait a little bit longer if you aren't buying the e-version of Son of Sobek (it does NOT come in the paper version).

I hope you're all excited! I am!!

And I will close this post with a heartfelt quote from Uncle Rick himself.

"Glad you're excited! Sorry about the trolling, but ahhhhh! I does not EXIST right NOW! I have to finish WRITING it first!!!"

Haha! Have a great day, demigods!

OFFICIAL Sea of Monsters Set Pictures + Commentary from Director!

Warning! May contain Sea of Monsters spoilers!

 Hi there! Look what I found!! http://www.movieweb.com/news/percy-jackson-sea-of-monsters-photos-with-director-commentary

It's 5 official pictures from the Sea of Monsters, with commentary from the director, Thor Freudenthal, and Logan Lerman (Percy).

 I myself don't really have much to say about it, except for that I'm a little disappointed that Grover probably won't be kidnapped. :/ I was really looking forward to the whole wedding dress thing!

OTHER THAN THAT, I love how Dionysus is portrayed. Leopard patterned shirt and all. :')

I'll let you form your own opinion about these pictures and quotes, and leave your RELATED comments below!

P.S. I still need to write chapter 4 of the TKC fic. Sorry I haven't gotten to it yet. :/

Rick Riordan and Los Angeles

Warning! May contain Lightning Thief spoilers!

 I was having a conversation with my older brother today. He has read the Percy Jackson series as well as the Heroes of Olympus series, and he found it a little bit offending how Rick Riordan portrays Los Angeles. (My brother has lived there.) First, he made it the entrance to the Underworld, and then he insulted its street system. For some reason, he took offense to this.

 Actually, while my brother was in Los Angeles, he saw a library dedicated to "Richard J. Riordan" and told me about this. I knew that it couldn't be our Rick, because his middle initial is R (for Russell), not J. I did some research and concluded that it was dedicated to Richard Joseph Riordan, the 39th mayor of Los Angeles, who was in office from 1993 to 2001. Could this be somehow connected? Like, while Rick was writing he thought, "Huh, the mayor of LA has the same name as me, maybe I should make that the entrance to the Underworld."

 Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing this. Maybe he just picked Los Angeles because it made sense, with the layout of the US. I really don't know! Perhaps that's a good question for the next Twitter Q&A. ;)

House of Hades Amazon Pre-Order and Summary

Warning! May contain Mark of Athena spoilers!

OH MY GOSH, guess what?!?!?! (You can probably guess from the title.)
THE HOUSE OF HADES IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON.COM!

You can pre-order a hardcover copy here. (There's no e-book pre-order open yet, but there probably will be closer the release date, considering the series' popularity.) It also has a summary included in the product description!

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea's forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

 

They have no choice. If the demigods don't succeed, Gaea's armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives  into the depths of Tartarus.

This is awesome! We get to see what Tartarus looks like and everything. :D

I also found this. It's a special limited edition of the House of Hades. It will be available on October 22nd, two weeks after the release of the regular edition. The book is hand-signed by Rick Riordan (HE ACTUALLY TOUCHED IT!!!!!!!!) and it has special artwork by John Rocco, who illustrates all of Rick Riordan's middle grade books (Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles). The price is $60 per copy. I most likely won't get it; it's a little out of my price range. But, if you have some money to spare, and you want some exclusive artwork and an autographed copy, it's probably awesome!

I'm going to pre-order the book, just not right now. I probably will over the summer, so that it's a little closer to the date. I'm weird like that. But who knows? Rick Riordan might schedule an event near where I live and I could get my copy there! When are you ordering it, or are you going to get it at a book store? Such tough decisions! :o 

Remember, if you pre-order, you get it when it comes out* and you don't even have to go anywhere! But if you don't, you get that magical feeling and excitement from buying a book yourself or picking it up from the library. You decide!

*If you are ordering from Amazon and you want to get it on its release date, you must choose Release Date Shipping (when I ordered MoA it was Two-Day Shipping, so it might be that too) at checkout, which costs a few dollars more.

Graphic Novels

   I've been wanting to talk about the graphic novels for a while. In case you don't know, there are currently two Percy Jackson and the Olympians graphic novels, and one Kane Chronicles graphic novel. They're based heavily upon the actual books and there are very few changes to any events or characters throughout the novels. There's about a year's work for each graphic novel. 

   Personally, I don't bother reading the graphic novels. They're not really my style. The illustrations are remarkable, but they're definitely not how I envisioned the characters and setting. Plus, any kind of graphic novel or comic book typeset really bothers me for some odd, unknown reason.

 Despite my dislike of actually reading graphic novels, I really love the idea of them. It expands the wonderful worlds that Rick Riordan and the ancient Greeks have created to audiences that would have probably never, ever picked up a Percy Jackson chapter book in a million years, and I think that's fabulous. There will always be people who prefer pictures to words, or action unfolding before their eyes instead of inside their imaginations. Everyone is different in that way. Perhaps reading the graphic novel draws people toward the books, as well.

 The graphic novels could also be read by fans of the Percy Jackson chapter books, but I think that would be kind of boring because we already know what happens, and half of the awesomeness is Percy's narrating, right? I have a lot of friends who love the books, but they really don't care about the graphic novels. They'll say, "Why would I read that if I've already read the book?" or "What's the point of that?" and that is totally understandable. I guess it's not their cup of tea either!

 In conclusion, the graphic novels are a great concept, but not nearly as popular as the books or the movie, as far as I've noticed. And by the way, the Titan's Curse graphic novel is due out on October 8th, the same day as the House of Hades! :) 

Happy reading, demigods!

Kane Chronicles/Heroes of Olympus Fanfiction by Me (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3

At that moment it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Phew. He didn’t mean magicians.

But what were demigods? I had never heard the word before! Before I could say anything, Carter stepped in.

“What are demigods? I mean, who?”

“I probably shouldn’t be telling this to mortals,” said Grover, “but demigods are half-bloods. They’re only half mortal.”

“And half…?”

“Half… god.”

Both Carter’s and my jaw dropped to the floor.

“Like… Egyptian god?” I asked cautiously. “Ra, Horus, Isis…?”

Grover looked confused for a moment. “Oh, sorry. I know what you mean now.” He laughed nervously. “Wrong culture. I’m talking about Greek gods. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena… Does that ring a bell?”

I shook my head, but Carter nodded. “I know a few things about them. You know, I read about them a little bit. But I don’t know that much.”

Before Grover could respond, I cut in. “Hey, I get that you’re looking for this Percy Jackson fellow and demigod people and all, but you still aren’t telling us how exactly you ended up in my bedroom!”

Grover looked intimidated for a moment. I felt kind of bad telling him off, but what else was I supposed to do? Let some random goat man into my house?

“But anyway, the reason I’m here: I sensed some powerful forces here. I thought maybe it was the aura of a very strong demigod. But looking at you now, you don’t really seem like 

the type…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“Nothing, nothing!” Grover replied quickly and frantically. I smirked with satisfaction.

“Look dude,” Carter said, “I think you found the wrong people here. We are most certainly not demigods.”

“You never know,” Grover said. “Demigods usually don’t. Do you have two parents?”

“No, goat boy,” I said. “We don’t have any. Goodbye!” I proceeded to give him a small push.

“Hey!” He sounded offended. “I didn’t mean to be nosy at all! I just wanted to know!”

“Listen, bubba. We had two parents. They died. Neither of them was a Greek god.  Kay? Good. Buh-bye!” I began to shove him back to the window.

“Sadie!” Carter exclaimed. “What are you thinking? Give Grover a chance!”

“No!” I said. “He’s crossed the line!”

Carter scoffed and pulled Grover out of my grip. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Sadie can get a bit… touchy. It’s nothing personal.”

Grover brushed off his clothing. “Nah, man. She’s right. I should be going.” He began to mount the pegasus.

“Wait!” Carter yelled.

Grover froze. “What?”

“If we were… demigods, what would you do with us?”

He walked up to Carter. “Now, if I tell you two this, you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Carter nodded, then looked expectantly at me. I rolled my eyes and nodded also.

Grover took a shaky breath. “I would take you to… a camp,” he said. “This…camp is meant training demigods to use their powers properly, and protecting them.”

Carter hesitated. “Protect them…” he scratched his head. “Protect them from what?”

Grover pretended he didn’t hear that. “Well! I’d better be going then!” he exclaimed quickly. As he mounted Blackjack and prepared to take off, I did what was probably the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done. (And trust me, I’ve done some pretty stupid things.)

I mounted the horse.

“Sadie!” Carter yelled.

“Quick! Jump on!” I screamed back.

I looked back. Carter was standing there, simply dumbfounded. I could tell that he wasn't going to move; I’d have to leave him behind. Honestly, sometimes that boy can be a bloody chicken. “I’ll be back for dinner!” I yelled.

The pegasus took flight, hopefully moving toward this mysterious camp. I watched Brooklyn House get smaller and smaller as we rode off in the distance. Grover looked back, gasped, and then clutched his chest, like he’d just realized what happened. “What are you doing here?!”

I grinned and gave him a slight nudge. "You're stuck with me now, goat boy."

Tartarus and Houdini

Warning! May contain Lightning Thief and Mark of Athena spoilers!

 Hey! Again, I apologize for abandoning you. You know, this is getting to be a normal apology... Not good. I need to work on that.

 Anyway, I've just finished re-reading the Lightning Thief for the bazillionth time. (Actually, it was more like the fifth or sixth time, but who's counting?) My mind is filled to the brim with amazing things to post, and those posts should be coming soon. (Notice I said should. I don't want to make any promises. Oh, and the next Percy/Carter fanfic chapter should be posted soon as well.)

 So, where was I? Oh, yeah. Tartarus. I found an interesting passage in TLT when I was reading, and it made me think of Percy and Annabeth's current situation.

 Do you remember the Nereid that looked like Percy's mom whom he met at the bottom of the Mississippi? She talked about how he (Percy) was going to the Underworld, and she mentioned a few demigods who had survived a trip. She first mentioned Hercules and Orpheus, who were both traditional Greek heroes. But, she also mentioned another demigod: Harry Houdini... *pause for dramatic effect* who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. 

 When I read that, my initial reaction was, "THERE IS HOPE!!!!!!!!!"

 This makes me beyond excited. If you don't know who Houdini was, he was an illusionist (magician) and escape artist, his claim to fame being the latter. Even if Percy and Annabeth Houdini, there should still be a way for them to get out, right? Houdini was an escape artist, but that doesn't mean it's unachievable for non-escape artists! 

 We all should remember this passage while we anticipate the release of House of Hades, even if it sounds somewhat doubtful. There must be a way. There is hope!