~Grendel's Mother.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Grendel's Mother Perspective
Man, I really hate Beowulf. Of course, I don't really like most people but I really just want to rip his arm off. He had to be the big hero and get himself involved into my son's life and end it. I have to say, it was quite a shock to me when Grendel came home from one of his outings and was missing an arm. Obviously, I had to find out who did this to my little baby Grendel. I remember when he was first born. He was the sweetest thing I had ever seen. For some reason, the men at Heorot did not think this way, though. They saw my son as an ugly flesh eating monster. Can you believe it? Okay, this was maybe partially true. But he became like that after one of Hogarth's men attacked him. Those mortals always see things in black and white. My son attacked them only in self defense. They were never very nice to Grendel, so he would go on hunts every night to give them a taste of their own medicine. I didn't really care about the killings. I though it was nice he was getting out of the house. And if the men had a problem with my son's visits, why didn't they come and talk to me once during the past 12 years? But let me get back to that fiend that goes by the name Beowulf. He thought it was a good idea to shut my son in a door. I can't even imagine the pain poor Grendel felt at that moment, and it draws tears to my eyes just to think about it. It's for that reason that I will kill him when he seeks my demise. I will avenge my son and end Beowulf's reign of terror.
~Grendel's Mother.
~Grendel's Mother.
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Son of Neptune
I recently read the second book in The Heroes of Olympus series, The Son of Neptune. It is about a boy named Percy who's dad is Poseidon, god of the sea. He is not the only one in this situation. He is part of a group of kids called demigods, who have one mortal parent, and one godly parent. They live at one of two camps depending on whether they are Roman or Greek: Camp Jupiter (Roman) and Camp Half-Blood (Greek).
The story starts with Percy waking up and having no memory. He is in California and is being chased by the Gorgon sisters.
Percy stumbles upon a tunnel in a mountain guarded by a boy and a girl, Frank and Hazel. They shoot arrows at the Gorgons and save Percy. They take Percy to Reyna, the leader of Camp Jupiter. She tells them to take him to the "augur" (or prophet) of Camp, Octavian, who says Percy can join the camp. At dinner he is accepted into the 5th cohort with Frank and Hazel.
That night at the camp's war games, Percy helps his cohort win for the first time. Ares, the god of war, comes to the camp and claims Frank as his son. He says Frank, Hazel, and Percy must go on a quest to free Thanatos, the god of the dead, so they can stop Gaea and the Giant's army. They must go north to Alaska where Thanatos is being held and where the gods have no influence. To being their journey, the group takes a boat to Portland. There, they stop to see a blind seer named Phineas who knows where Thanatos is being held prisoner. But, the only way Phineas would tell them the location is with a gamble.
Percy had with him two vials of Gorgon blood. One vial contained blood from the right side of a Gorgon's body, that can cure all injuries. The other vial contained blood from the left, that will kill you instantly. Percy, Frank and Hazel have Phineas write the location of where Thanatos was being held on a piece of paper, and then he and Percy drink at the same time. Luckily, Percy got the vial from the right side and lived. This also meant he would slowly regain his memory. On the paper were written the words "HUBBARD GLACIER."
After finding out the location, they were off again. They take their boat to Seattle to get the help of the Amazons. These are a group of warrior women, who also run Amazon.com (no, seriously). Their leader is the sister of Reyna. The group gets a horse named Arion, who can run faster than sound, and a chariot, because the horse could only hold one person. They speed north across Puget Sound and eventually into Vancouver. Luckily, by the time the chariot's wheels break off, Frank knows where they were. He leads them to his grandmother's mansion. They stay the night and get fresh clothes and food. The next day they take a luxury Gulfstream, chartered by Frank's grandmother, to Anchorage, Alaska.
In Anchorage, Percy, Frank and Hazel found a nice diner, where they order eggs, pancakes, and reindeer sausage. They take a train to the closest town to the glacier, Seward. Hazel is very familiar with the town. She brings them to her old house where they rest. Arion has run to Alaska on his own, and when he and the group find one another, he takes them to Hubbard Glacier. While Frank is melting the icy chains that hold Thanatos, Percy and Hazel fight off an army of ghosts and a cyclops. They ride Arion back to camp just in time to join the battle against Gaea's army of monsters. Percy defeats the giant Polybotes and they win the war. Percy gets news that his old friends from camp Half-Blood are arriving in a flying warship. He is eager to be reunited with his old friends.
Once again, Rick Riordan has written a very exciting and entertaining book. It does a great job picking up where the first book, The Lost Hero, left off. And it ends leaving the reader eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. In this volume, the characters were very life-like and easy to relate to. The story was thrilling, yet in places was quite funny. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys actions stories, especially if they are a fan of Classical mythology.
The Son of Neptune parallels the stories in The Odyssey in many ways. The heroic journey is a central part of The Odyssey, and in The Son of Neptune, Percy is on a journey that requires him to be heroic. Both Percy and the hero in The Odyssey, Odysseus, are trying to get back to people they love. In both stories, Greek and Roman gods are present. And in both books, the heroes must fight various terrible monsters. There are differences, though. For example, in The Odyssey there was just one main character, Odysseus, and he was the only character to have supernatural powers. In The Son of Neptune, while Percy is the main character, there are other very important characters, as well, and nearly all demigods have supernatural powers. In general, though, The Son of Neptune, is a very good example of a modern book that uses themes and stories that have been used for many centuries, including in The Odyssey.
The story starts with Percy waking up and having no memory. He is in California and is being chased by the Gorgon sisters.
Percy stumbles upon a tunnel in a mountain guarded by a boy and a girl, Frank and Hazel. They shoot arrows at the Gorgons and save Percy. They take Percy to Reyna, the leader of Camp Jupiter. She tells them to take him to the "augur" (or prophet) of Camp, Octavian, who says Percy can join the camp. At dinner he is accepted into the 5th cohort with Frank and Hazel.That night at the camp's war games, Percy helps his cohort win for the first time. Ares, the god of war, comes to the camp and claims Frank as his son. He says Frank, Hazel, and Percy must go on a quest to free Thanatos, the god of the dead, so they can stop Gaea and the Giant's army. They must go north to Alaska where Thanatos is being held and where the gods have no influence. To being their journey, the group takes a boat to Portland. There, they stop to see a blind seer named Phineas who knows where Thanatos is being held prisoner. But, the only way Phineas would tell them the location is with a gamble.
Percy had with him two vials of Gorgon blood. One vial contained blood from the right side of a Gorgon's body, that can cure all injuries. The other vial contained blood from the left, that will kill you instantly. Percy, Frank and Hazel have Phineas write the location of where Thanatos was being held on a piece of paper, and then he and Percy drink at the same time. Luckily, Percy got the vial from the right side and lived. This also meant he would slowly regain his memory. On the paper were written the words "HUBBARD GLACIER."
After finding out the location, they were off again. They take their boat to Seattle to get the help of the Amazons. These are a group of warrior women, who also run Amazon.com (no, seriously). Their leader is the sister of Reyna. The group gets a horse named Arion, who can run faster than sound, and a chariot, because the horse could only hold one person. They speed north across Puget Sound and eventually into Vancouver. Luckily, by the time the chariot's wheels break off, Frank knows where they were. He leads them to his grandmother's mansion. They stay the night and get fresh clothes and food. The next day they take a luxury Gulfstream, chartered by Frank's grandmother, to Anchorage, Alaska.
In Anchorage, Percy, Frank and Hazel found a nice diner, where they order eggs, pancakes, and reindeer sausage. They take a train to the closest town to the glacier, Seward. Hazel is very familiar with the town. She brings them to her old house where they rest. Arion has run to Alaska on his own, and when he and the group find one another, he takes them to Hubbard Glacier. While Frank is melting the icy chains that hold Thanatos, Percy and Hazel fight off an army of ghosts and a cyclops. They ride Arion back to camp just in time to join the battle against Gaea's army of monsters. Percy defeats the giant Polybotes and they win the war. Percy gets news that his old friends from camp Half-Blood are arriving in a flying warship. He is eager to be reunited with his old friends.
Once again, Rick Riordan has written a very exciting and entertaining book. It does a great job picking up where the first book, The Lost Hero, left off. And it ends leaving the reader eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. In this volume, the characters were very life-like and easy to relate to. The story was thrilling, yet in places was quite funny. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys actions stories, especially if they are a fan of Classical mythology.
The Son of Neptune parallels the stories in The Odyssey in many ways. The heroic journey is a central part of The Odyssey, and in The Son of Neptune, Percy is on a journey that requires him to be heroic. Both Percy and the hero in The Odyssey, Odysseus, are trying to get back to people they love. In both stories, Greek and Roman gods are present. And in both books, the heroes must fight various terrible monsters. There are differences, though. For example, in The Odyssey there was just one main character, Odysseus, and he was the only character to have supernatural powers. In The Son of Neptune, while Percy is the main character, there are other very important characters, as well, and nearly all demigods have supernatural powers. In general, though, The Son of Neptune, is a very good example of a modern book that uses themes and stories that have been used for many centuries, including in The Odyssey.
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