Book Review: The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #6)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Percy and other characters, action, humor

Cons: I wasn’t questing for any cons

The Bottom Line:

Percy in action

Hunting for magic chalice

A delight for fans

Percy Has an Extra College Entrance Requirement

It’s been years since I read any of Rick Riordan’s books.  The last one I read was the climax of the Heroes of Olympus series.  When I saw he had a new Percy Jackson and the Olympians book coming out, I knew I had to read The Chalice of the Gods, but I was worried that I would forget some of the character history that would make me fully appreciate this book.

If you’ve missed these books completely, they are a middle grade series that updates Greek mythology to present day.  It turns out all those gods are real, and they are now based in the US.  Percy is a modern day demigod, son of Poseidon.  He’s found that this leads to him being the target of all kinds of monsters, and he’s had to save the world a few times now.

While this book is technically book six in the Percy Jackson series, it does take place after the events of the Heroes of Olympus series.  So does that make this book eleven?  There might even be some others I’ve missed with characters we’ve met along the way.  However, you don’t need all that background to follow what happens here.  Yes, there are references to some of the characters and events from those books, but the main focus is on what is happening to Percy in this book.  And what a great ride it is.

Percy is now a high school senior.  He’s starting at a new school, this time in Queens, and he’s hoping to get into New Rome University with his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase.  There’s just one catch, in order to get in, Percy will need three letters of recommendation from three different gods.  And, in order to get those, he will have to complete quests for each of them.

His first request comes from Ganymede, Zeus’s cupbearer, who seems to have lost the chalice he uses to serve the gods.  He needs Percy to find it before anyone else learns what has happened to it.  With the help of Annabeth and his best friend, Grover, he follows the few leads he has.  But will he be able to find it in time?

I had forgotten just how funny these books could be until I picked this one up.  I was laughing on the first page and I kept laughing pretty much until I reached the end.  Percy’s sarcasm is evident in the narration as well as his dialogue, and I loved his commentary on the action as a result.  Plus the trio get into some great situations.

The stakes in this book weren’t quite as big as in some of the others in the series.  Yes, Percy and the others face danger, sometimes mortal danger, but not everything was life or death.  I was still compelled to keep reading to find out what was going to happen, and I rather enjoyed the change.

That’s not to say that the action ever let up.  Things moved quickly from one even to another.  Like in the earlier novels, we have some episodic elements, which I enjoyed, but the overall quest kept me engaged the entire way.

And it was great to spend time with the characters again.  We really only spend time with the core trio and Percy’s mom and step-dad, but I enjoyed seeing their relationships were just as strong as ever.  Fans will enjoy that.

Even with the humor and action, the book slows down for some moments of characters growth, some of which are very touching.  I loved them, and found them satisfying.

I do think we had something funny going on with the timeline when what I thought was a Saturday was suddenly mid-week.  I guess the gods were just messing with me.  Or maybe the mist threw me off.

Obviously, I was glad to be spending more time with Percy Jackson in The Chalice of the Gods.  If you’ve missed him, you’ll be thrilled to pick up this book.

Enjoy more of Percy Jackson’s adventures.

I'm including this review in this week's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.  Stop by to find the other great entries for the week.