The Sea of Monsters
Rick Riordan, 2006
Fantasy Young adultContemporary fictionMystery, thriller & crime
Percy Jackson returns to camp just as its magical borders fail, and the only fix lies across a sea full of monsters, old myths and awkward friendships. A fast, wisecracking camp adventure with mythic monsters, teenage banter and a steady hum of danger underneath the jokes.
Feels like dread and awe. About friendship, adventure and death.
Who it’s for
You may like this if you enjoy middle-grade fantasy that mixes old myths with teenage banter and loyal, awkward friends. The narration keeps cracking jokes even when the stakes are high, so the tone may feel too flippant if you want myths treated with solemn weight.
Why read it
A quick, funny quest through old myths, with Percy's ADHD and dyslexia part of his character rather than a lesson.
A page from the book
The original story is a lot less inspiring than the version you were told.
The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that’s not important.“”It was probably important to her. Rick Riordan.Riordan was a middle-school English teacher when he invented Percy for his son Haley, who has ADHD and dyslexia; Percy shares both traits.
Books that feel like this
More by Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan, 2005
A twelve-year-old with ADHD and a talent for trouble discovers the Greek gods are real, and one of their lightning bolts has gone missing.
The Blood of Olympus
Rick Riordan, 2014
Greek and Roman demigods race to stop a rising earth goddess, armed with prophecies, old grudges and very bad jokes.
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Rick Riordan, 2008
Percy Jackson's summer starts with an exploding school and leads into a living maze beneath Camp Half-Blood, where every turn has a myth waiting.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Sea of Monsters for me?
- You may like this if you enjoy middle-grade fantasy that mixes old myths with teenage banter and loyal, awkward friends. The narration keeps cracking jokes even when the stakes are high, so the tone may feel too flippant if you want myths treated with solemn weight.
- What is The Sea of Monsters like?
- A fast, wisecracking camp adventure with mythic monsters, teenage banter and a steady hum of danger underneath the jokes. Feels like dread and awe. About friendship, adventure and death.
- What should I read after The Sea of Monsters?
- If you liked The Sea of Monsters, try Fourth Wing (Rebecca Yarros), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling) and The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien).
A taste of the feed
The bargain at the heart of every dragon bond, in two sentences.
A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.
Fourth Wing · Rebecca Yarros
What a friend paints on her ceiling when she misses you.
Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same; Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends...friends...friends...friends... Harry felt a great rush of affection for Luna.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows · J. K. Rowling
What a single star can do to someone at the end of their strength.
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
The Return of the King · J.R.R. Tolkien
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