The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book is written in a different style - as a recording made by the Kane sibling - Carter and Sadie Kane. The story starts with Carter and his father Julius Kane visiting Sadie in London. Sadie lives with her Grandparents after the death of her Mother. And Julius according to the court ruling can visit her only twice a year. Carter notices weird things happening around his dad and his extremely cautionary movements. Julius feels that he is being followed, then goes to British Museum to study the Rosetta Stone. But he actually he tries to summon Osiris, the Egyptian God of the Underworld by using the stone. But everything goes wrong and when all the four major gods are released and Set, the Egyptian god of storms and chaos, imprisons Julius (he is now a host of Osiris) in a coffin.

Carter and Sadie are taken to Brooklyn by their uncle, Amos. He goes to find Set, leaving the two siblings alone with a baboon called Khufu. In the library of the Brooklyn mansion, they discover signs that they are descended from famous pharaohs. Julius' side of the family was descended from Narmer while their dead mother, Ruby, had a family originated from Ramesses the Great.
Just then, the mansion is attacked. Sadie's cat, Muffin, turns out be the cat goddess Bast. She tries to protect them from Serquet, Goddess of Scorpion. In the museum, Carter and Sadie find Zia Rashid. She is the scribe of the First Nome, the main nome of the House of Life, that had magicians trying to protect people and fight gods. Carter develops a crush on Zia in the book.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the Most evil of the Gods —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. And learns that he plans to unleash chaos during the demon days, and also that he is building a pyramid at Phoenix, Arizona, which will help him destroy North America, plunging world in Chaos. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs, while being hunted by the House of Life for siding with the Gods.

As usual, Riordan does a wonderful job using the Egyptian myth and concocting it into a delightful story similar to the Percy Jackson series.


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The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Epic Conclusion to “Percy Jackson and The Olympian Series”.

The Book starts differently than other Percy Books, with Percy and Beckendorf attacking Princess Andromeda (‘Luke’s Ship’), which is now Kronos’s ship, since Kronos is being hosted in Luke’s Body (that is Kronos controls Luke’s Body). Unfortunately Kronos was aware of the attack and is not caught off guard, and captures them both.
Beckendorf sacrifices his life to destroy the ship. Percy is sent deep underwater to Poseidon’s Palace (by the force), which is under siege by the forces of Titan Oceanus.
Percy later returns to camp Half-Blood and mentions that there is a spy in the camp who is giving information to Kronos (since the Titan Lord mentioned it himself and also because he knew of the attack before it happened). And he comes to hear the words of the Prophecy.

"A half-blood of the eldest gods
Shall reach sixteen against all odds
And see the world in endless sleep
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze."

Later Percy leaves with Nico with a Plan which Nico concocted in the previous book. They first goes to Luke’s mother’s house and learns about a lot about Luke, also meet Hestia (the last Olympian). Percy procures a blessing from his mother, descends into the Underworld for the second time. Here, Nico betrays Percy for information on his past, but he helps Percy with the original plan and Percy bathes in the River Styx like Achilles and Luke before him. Percy becomes incredible powerful with only a single weak point (like Achilles Heel in case of Achilles). He Single-handedly defeats the personal guard of Hades and Hades himself.

Percy and Annabeth organize the campers and prepare for urban warfare, at New York City to protect the entrance to Olympus. Meanwhile the Gods fight Typhon who moves towards the east coast (toward New York).
What will happen on Percy’s Birthday? Do the campers stand a chance against the forces of the Titan Lord? What does the forces of underworld plan to do? Can Annabeth save Luke? What about Percy and Annabeth? Who is the Spy? What does Percy decide – whom does he side with?

Percy must rise to the occasion to save the modern civilization from the wrath of Kronos. And the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds.


With awesome battles and fast paced storytelling, this book brings all the characters together and ends the series in style which makes it the best book of the series.

If I could amass up more than 5 stars for this delightful book, I would.

P.S: Percy Jackson series is my third favourite series after Harry Potter, Song of Ice & Fire series…Its is a very addictive series of books and definitely will quench your thirst for a thriller book…



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The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Book starts like the usual Percy Jackson Novels by Percy getting attacked by mythical creatures. In this book, it happens to be sexy cheerleaders who turn out to be empousa (almost similar to a vampire, but with lot more features). And he also has a chance encounter with the clear-sighted Mortal girl Rachel again at his school.
Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood and learns about the Labyrinth; part of the palace of King Minos in Crete that was designed by Daedalus. You can travel from any part of the world to any other part within a small amount of time than would be possible, using the Labyrinth (Provided there is portals at both the places). Also the Labyrinth is so confusing and people can get lost inside it unless they have Adriane’s String which years ago helped Theseus (I think) to traverse the Labyrinth and kill the Minotaur. Percy becomes quite friendly with the Hellhound of the new sword master Quintus, but he still doubts Quintus of being a double agent. Later Percy and Annabeth learns that there is a portal inside the compound of camp half-blood, that Luke know of, which in turns means that if Luke’s army attacks they will be caught off guard and with no magical boundaries to protect them this time…

So Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson embark on a quest to find Daedalus so that Luke cannot get Ariadne's string, which would guide him through the labyrinth. Meanwhile Percy starts dreaming as usual that helps him in his Journey. And Percy also learns that Nico is in the underworld on a quest of his own, which is to resurrect his sister Bianca Di Angelo with the help of Minos. And that Kronos and Typhon is near resurrection.

All of these and more happens in a tense environment with the war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos drawing near, which also brings Percy closer to the prophecy.

The book is filled with Mythical characters like Kampe, Daedalus, Minos, Briares, Calypso, Kronos and the other gods, which makes it a fascinating read. As usual the book is filled with awesome twists, a fast paced storytelling and a large number of new interesting characters. And As usual Riordan delivers…..


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Graceling by Kristin Cashore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Book " Graceling" tells the story of Katsa who is born into the Middluns one of the seven kingdoms. In the seven kingdoms, some people are born with an exceptional skill known as Grace (Almost like Mutation in X-men series). The protagonist Katsa carries the Grace of Killing, making her most feared among her fellow beings. Since her Uncle Randa is the king of Middluns,Instead of killing her off, he uses her as a soldier for special purposes such as assassinations etc. Katsa can easily fight 10 to 20 armoured soldiers simulataneously without receiving a scratch. Feared by most and shunned by all, Katsa remains defiant, forming a council to do humane activities.

The story starts with Katsa and her fellow council Members Oll, Giddon, rescuing the father of King of Lienid. After drugging almost all of the soldiers at the prison in Sunder, she comes across the Seventh Prince of Lienid (Po) who came in search of his Grandfather and who is graced with fighting. Knocking him down, she reurns to middluns with the Father of the King of Lienid. Po comes to Lienid and becomes friends with Katsa. They together tries to work out the mystery -"Who would want to kidnap the old man, and why? ". Later Katsa comes to a realisation that she no longer wants to kills or do the dirty work of Randa. She defies Randa and then leaves Middluns with Po to pursue the mystery of the kidnapping, to finally learn that something insidious lurks behind the mystery.

The story offers steady flow of suspense, romance and a variety of characters and a very likable protagonist. But the overall plot seems to be meagre in content even though its highly entertaining and a very excellent read.

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The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The sequel of "The Sea of Monsters" starts with Percy, Annabeth and Thalia (Daugter of Zeus, Resurrected from the Pine Tree in the "The Sea of Monsters"), acting as a backup for Grover who has scouted 2 Demi-gods, two siblings named Nico and Bianca di Angelo. But things turns out to be nasty when the monster who has been pretending to be the instructor, Dr. Thorne turns out to be a manticore. With the help of Artemis, the goddess of Hunt, and her hunters (incl.Zoe Nightshade), they are able to fend of the manticore but Annabeth is kidnapped in the process. From Dr.Thorne, they come to know about the search for a dangerous creature which if sacrificed gives the person power even obliterate the Olympus. Artemis goes on the search for this mysterious creature but is captured, according to Percy's and Zoe's dream. and Percy comes to know from the dream that Annabeth and Artemis are at the same place & that Luke is responsible for their Present Fate.

Percy and his friends must look for Artemis before the winter solstice meeting of the Olympian council (which is within a week or so), when the goddess's influence could change their view on the awakening of the Titans which they continue to ignore. Percy joins Thalia, Zoe, Bianca di Angelo, and Grover on their dangerous quest. They also are searching for a rare monster that Artemis was trying to hunt down when she went missing which is so strong that it can obliterate Olympus.

They embark on an adventure during which they come to know about the shocking real identities of some of characters and engages on much more enthralling battle with mighty villians & monsters with the help of cool gods, than the previous books.

The book takes the Percy Jackson series to a higher level. The Titan's Curse is the far better than the 1st and 2nd book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series - delivering fast- paced, action packed adventures with mythological touch and the promise of more thrilling adventures & a mightier all-powerful war to ensue.

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The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars




The Second book of the “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” Series is almost as interesting as the first one. Riordan has successfully introduced many new characters and braided a sensational story with humour, little bit of romance, adventure, peril and mythology into his “Percy Jackson and The Sea Monsters”. Same as the previous one, PJ&SM is an insomnia-inflicting page turner.



After a huge adventurous journey saving the world from war among Gods, Percy Jackson returns to school having a trivial silent school life. In his new school, he makes acquaints and later becomes best friends with homeless Tyson who is little slow brained and really muscular and big. After wrecking the whole school gym to fight cannibalistic monsters with the help of Annabeth and Tyson, Percy goes on the run, returning to camp-half blood to find it in peril. The Zeus’s Daughter-who-became-a-pine-tree, Thailia, has been poisoned thereby making the magical boundary that protects Camp Half-Blood enervated, and mortal danger befalls the demigods at the hand of deadly monsters. Percy dreams about his satyr friend Grover being in trouble and comes to know that Grover had created an empathy-link with Percy to let Percy know about his fate (So if Grover dies, Percy also dies). He also comes to know that Grover is detained by a Cyclops and it also has the Golden Fleece which if brought to the camp can save Thalia’s Tree.



In order to save the camp and his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner on an island somewhere in the dangerous Sea of Monsters, presently known as The Bermuda Triangle, Along with his friends Tyson & Annabeth, Percy embarks on a adventurous journey to the Sea of Monsters encountering many Mythological characters. Before that Percy learns that he has a half-brother.





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Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Divergent has an ingenious plot even though there seems to be many similarities to Hunger Games (according to many other people, not me). There are some minor faults in the plot (such as Tris getting transformed into a badass fighter within weeks of training) which can be attributed to the fact that this book is Veronica Roth’s debut work. The first half of the story is kinda devoted to character building and may seem little slow but it is fun to read how Beatrice Adapts to her new faction. And the second part is what you call “tense, surging and insomnia- inflicting”. Overall Divergent is a terrific book even if you are or are not a fan of Dystopian Thriller Genre and I hope the second part of this trilogy “Insurgent” (release date May 1, 2012) really pulls it off.



Divergent is written in Singular First-Person Narrative (in present tense) in the perspective of Beatrice Prior, a girl in her early teens. Divergent is set in a future dystopian Chicago, which is divided into five factions, each dedicated to celebrating and cultivating a single character trait: Abnegation (Selflessness), Amity (Peace), Candor (Honesty), Dauntless (Bravery), and Erudite (Knowledge). The book starts with Beatrice despite being in Abnegation, is perplexed about choosing one of the five factions on the choosing ceremony. Everyone is supposed to participate in the aptitude test before the choosing ceremony, where you will be provided simulation serum and you will undergo mental simulations to figure out which faction you may belong (but choosing the factions only depends on your interest and If you choose a faction & fail in the initiation of that faction, then you will be faction less.). Beatrice then undergoes this simulation but receives a unexpected result which further confuses her in the choosing. Further the story is about Beatrice undergoing the Initiation and subsequently learning a plot to Coup d'état. From this point on the story become tense and thrilling.





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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Idea of using Greek Mythology, the-all-powerful-gods-of-Olympus-ruling-over-mortals, still existing in the modern world seemed pretty cool to me. I finished the series in a single stretch since I’m so into the whole super natural-superhero-fantasy kind of thing. Seriously i captivated by the tinge of comedy and romance in the atmosphere of the whole story. Overall the series is a fantastic read for all fun loving-thriller-fantasy fans.

Percy Jackson is a typical American Kid with a bad boy streak (Not the ordinary kind) which leads to him getting expelled from multiple schools. He also faces problems like dyslexia, ADHD and also he has to put up with his stepdad who is a screw-up. Finally his whole world transmogrifies when he learns that he is a Half-blood which means one of his parent is a God (The Gods transforms into ordinary mortal like and fall in love with mortals, hence the off springs being Half God - Half Human making them Mortal half-blood who are powerful than the normal people in their own way depending on the powers of their parents). Reaching 12 years of age, the half-bloods give out a scent which makes them target to monsters which apparently the normal people can’t see and they interpret the destruction caused according to own normal thinking . And Percy goes to this Camp-Half Blood where Half-blood are trained where he lives, and finally learns that he is the son of one of the Three Major Gods who had vowed not to have kids since world war II putting him in harm’s way and he learns that he is being suspected for the Stealing of the Lightning rod of Zeus which is going to lead to war between the Olympians, if the rod is not found in a week. Percy then goes on a journey to find the rod with his half-blood friends in order to retrieve the rod which he suspects is in the underworld.

The entire book is about His journey which was really great.

One final thing, Please don't watch the movie 'Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)'. After reading the book, i watched the movie -Let me say this -" The Movie is a Piece of Crap" which ruined the entire story of the book. Pathetic portrayal of Hades, Grover, even Annabeth. They even showed Persepone who is Hades's Wife stabbing him with the lighting rod and they didn’t even show Ares, thereby colossally ruining the story.

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A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Quite Honestly I am spellbound by this book. I am on cloud nine after just finishing the book a minutes ago. Without question Storm of Swords is the best of the series so far. And i dont even want to spend time writing this review, while i could have started the next one 'A Feast of Crows' which is laying on my desk.

The book astounds me with its dumbfounding storyline and the humongous number of characters while spawning myriad more eventhough countless characters are warring and annihilating each other with no shortage to assassination, betrayals and murder to the plot. Truly making 'A Storm of Swords' an apt title.

Eventhough the book starts a little slow, its picks up speed with thrill and suspense on every single page and with histories of older times. We get a transparent view of the world beyong the wall in john's and Sam's perspective, and the ensuing war between the free folks or wildings againsts the crows. and The peaceful times of Kings landing after the War of Black Water & before the tragic events. The struggle of Daenerys trying to amass a army while facing breathtaking revelations and woes of the Stark children of Winterfell trying to find safer havens is beautifully written.

On a final Note, i wasn't planning on reading the epilogue when i saw it was about a Frey called Merett getting back someone for ransom, but i went ahead and it really took my head off.....

Best book ive read in some time.......



For People who havent started 'A Song of Ice And Fire' and are reading my review, All i got to say to you is - its High time.



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A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


EPIC!



I usually don't read a lot of series of books other than Harry Potter Series, Hunger Games Trilogy and The Millennium trilogy (all three i loved..)....But even though i only read 2 parts of "A Song of Ice and Fire", i think this is the best series and books - i've ever read and i'm ever going to read....I fell in love with the series and I obsess about it in the way that i had obsessed about Harry Potter when i was younger.

Even though i took almost more than 5 days to finish the book, i was completely satisfied with the book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series soon.


The Story starts of with 4 Kings in the land of Seven Kingdoms and the threat of Mance Ryder beyond the wall. It progresses slow first, but makes a bedazzling impression further, making it difficult to put the book down. The only two negatives about the book is it takes a while to finish it and the huge number of different characters, places makes it difficult to remember the names...



Planning to start the 3rd part soon...


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A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Stupendous....

The first book alone made me the fan of this "Song of Ice and Fire Series"....Extremely Vast Story line..Enormous number of characters....
Each page with stories of past, thriving and diminishing life of present, and our prediction for future... It doesn't even have a page that is a bore.....The book has an extremely thrilling and unusual kind of story telling concentrating on the perceptual view of few individuals all over the Seven Kingdoms/Westeros, the wall/the Nights Watch and beyond the Narrow sea...

All in all, A Must Read for 'anyone who can read'....



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The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Fast Paced and Gripping, but portrays FBI as a really weak organization(In movies, we do see FBI tracking people and mobiles using cool Gadgets)and over-dependency on the Savant-Nuts is a bit unnerving.

But overall its a Nice book to pass your time.....



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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow......Great End for The Trilogy.
Incredible- No other words come to my mind.



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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Fast Paced and extremely Thrilling.. It was fascinating to see plot progressing, even though the Hunger Games 75 was not as good as Hunger Games 74...The entry of District 13 has been strategically placed well through Twill and Bonnie and the Pregnancy News added to the thrill..


Overall Well Executed.....Hats Off....Much better than the First of the Trilogy.
Hope the 3rd (MockingJay by Suzanne Collins) is much more Awesome....



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