The Titan's Curse

The Titan's Curse is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

Chapter list

 * 1) My Rescue Operation Goes Very Wrong
 * 2) The Vice Principal Gets a Missile Launcher
 * 3) Bianca di Angelo Makes a Choice
 * 4) Thalia Torches New England
 * 5) I Place an Underwater Phone Call
 * 6) An Old Dead Friend Comes to Visit
 * 7) Everybody Hates Me but the Horse
 * 8) I Make a Dangerous Promise
 * 9) I Learn How to Grow Zombies
 * 10) I Break a Few Rocket Ships
 * 11) Grover Gets a Lamborghini
 * 12) I Go Snowboarding with a Pig
 * 13) We Visit the Junkyard of the Gods
 * 14) I Have a Dam Problem
 * 15) I Wrestle Santa's Evil Twin
 * 16) We Meet the Dragon of Eternal Bad Breath
 * 17) I Put on a Few Million Extra Pounds
 * 18) A Friend Says Good-bye
 * 19) The Gods Vote How to Kill Us
 * 20) I Get a New Enemy for Christmas

Plot
Percy, Thalia and Annabeth go to Westover Hall to meet Grover, who had found two half-bloods there, Bianca and Nico di Angelo, who are siblings. Thalia displays the ability to manipulate The Mist to convince a resident teacher there that the three belonged to the school and not get kicked out before they could find the satyr. Grover soon informs them that Dr. Thorn, the vice-principal of the school, is a monster and is suspicious of the two half-bloods' true identity. Thalia formulates a plan to distract Dr. Thorn, however the plan backfires.

Percy, who was forced to dance with Annabeth to blend in with the crowd, saw Dr. Thorn attempting to sneak away the two half-bloods. He chose to follow the manticore without backup, leading to him being poisoned and captured. Thalia, Grover, and Annabeth manage to catch up and a battle ensued. However, they were pushed to a dead end, until the Hunters stepped in. Lead by Zoë Nightshade, they pushed the manticore back, forcing him to escape, taking Annabeth with him.

The Hunters set up camp and Percy is invited to have a talk with Artemis, leader of the Hunters. She asks Percy to recount what Dr. Thorn mentioned and concludes that dangerous times were near. She decides to hunt a powerful monster, one that has the power to bring down the gods and Olympus. While she goes alone to do so, Zoë is placed in charge of the Hunters and has to stay at Camp Half-Blood until Artemis returns. Bianca chooses to join the Hunters and attain immortality and a new family, along with forswearing romantic love forever, while leaving her brother to the trust of those at Camp Half-Blood.

The group receives a ride from Apollo, with Thalia at the wheel. The combination results in a gut-retching experience for the group. But at last, they arrive at Camp Half-Blood. Percy and Thalia lead Nico for a conversation with Mr. D and Chiron. The two are quickly forbidden to carry out any rescue plans they have for Annabeth, with Dionysus stating that the chances that she was alive was slim to none.

Chiron announces that a "friendly" game of Capture the Flag was going to be held against the Hunters, as it is a tradition in Camp Half-Blood. Percy returns to his cabin to learn that his father has installed a fountain for him, filled with golden drachma within to remind him to keep in touch with his family. Percy sends an Iris message to Tyson, and learns that the Princess Andromeda is being protected by old spirits and that it was headed to Panama Canal.

Percy soon has a dream in which Luke tricks Annabeth into holding up the sky, the former burden of Atlas. Percy tells Grover of his dream, only to learn of the possibility that Annabeth was considering to join the Hunters. Percy attempts to seek help from the Oracle, but the Oracle doesn't respond. Later, after a humiliating defeat in Capture the Flag by the Hunters, Percy and Thalia were about to come to arms when Percy sees the Oracle walking toward Zoë. It was astounding as, according to Chiron, the Oracle never left the antic of the Big House.

A discussion is held about who is to go for the quest. It was decided that Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, Grover and Phoebe would go, leaving Percy protesting. When asked whether his determination was due to Annabeth, Percy hesitates. In the end, the decision was final and there was nothing he could do to change it. Chiron tries to comfort him. Percy then sends an Iris message to his mother, and finds her chatting with Paul Blofis, her new beau. In the end, Sally encourages Percy to do what he thinks is right.

Later, Percy has another dream, in which Artemis takes Annabeth's place holding the sky to save her from likely death. In the dream, the General tells Luke to kill Annabeth, but Luke convinces the General to let him keep her alive until winter solstice, as further bait. Percy awakes to be called by Blackjack, a pegasus to rescue a marine cow-like creature called the Ophiotaurus, whom Percy names Bessie, not knowing what it is and its true power.

Upon his return, Percy finds Nico eavesdropping on the Hunters. Using Annabeth's Yankees cap, he turned himself invisible and learns that Phoebe is bedridden due to a prank the Stoll brothers pulled. He quickly stops Nico, who was attempting to follow his sister on the quest. Percy promises Nico that he would do his best to protect Bianca, before taking off on Blackjack and following the group.

They stop at a museum after many hours and from a distance Percy sees Dr. Thorn confirming that Annabeth is alive and that his dream had been true. Dr. Thorn does not go into the museum with the rest of them and instead goes somewhere else. Percy follows, and soon he sees the General and Luke. There the General creates kittens, and fires the foolish mortal who brought him kitty teeth. He finally gets the right teeth, which are used to create skeletal warriors, which are almost impossible to destroy, by putting dinosaur teeth, which is really dragon teeth, into soil and casting a spell. Their original purpose was to kill Zoe and Bianca. The General was about to give them the cloth to get the Hunters' scent when Percy grabs it. However, the skeletons tear a chunk out of Percy's sleeve and inhale his scent, making him their target.

Percy quickly escapes using Annabeth's cap and notifies the others. Though the group (Zoë in particular) was rather surprised and angry to realize he had followed them, they are interrupted when the Nemean lion attacks. Nothing is able to pierce its armor, much to the displeasure of the group. However, Percy discovers a weakness and has an idea to expose it. He finds astronaut food in a gift shop and throws them into the Nemean lion's mouth. It causes the creature to expose his mouth long enough for Zoë to finish him off with an arrow.

Zoë then gives Percy the price of the lion pelt, saying that he was the one who defeated the lion fair and square, even though she was the one who shot the killing arrow. The skeleton warriors, disguised by The Mist as gray security men, are now following Percy, but Zoë refuses to leave him behind as she realizes that he is the fifth quest member. They soon reach an area called Sun West line after taking many trains to lose their follower. There, they meet a homeless person and share his fire, even though they don't know that he is in fact Apollo.

Percy soon encounters Apollo again when they get on a train headed west. Apollo advises him to seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Percy soon has another dream, in which he is given the sword Anaklusmos by a girl. Unknownst to him, he is in fact seeing through the eyes of Hercules and the girl he later realizes was in fact Zoë Nightshade. With help from Apollo, they reach a small town in New Mexico. There they are surrounded by the skeletal warriors and Grover faints as Pan's presence hits him. Following that, the skeletons surround them, using handguns. Though Percy deflects a bullet and cuts down a skeleton warrior, he immediately forms back together, reassembling himself. However, that did not stop another from shooting at Percy. Miraculously, Percy survives and discovers that the pelt he wears is in fact bulletproof. Grover then senses Pan's presence and a wild gift from him, the Erymanthian boar, a giant boar, comes and temporarily defeats the skeletal warriors and carries them further on to San Francisco. It takes them to the junkyard of the gods, and Percy meets Ares and talks to Aphrodite, at which point it is hinted that Annabeth and Percy will most likely have a romantic future. Eventually, the group enters the junkyard, where Bianca tries to steal something, an action figure for her younger brother, but she awakens a defective Talos and enters via a maintenance hole in his left foot to destroy him. She succeeds in destroying the prototype Talos, but goes missing afterward. At this time it is undetermined if she is alive or dead.

They reach a river, where the group canoes to the Hoover Dam.They are attacked by the skeletal warriors (but not before making some hysterical 'dam' jokes) and Percy meets a mortal girl who can see through the Mist, named Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She saves Percy by confusing the skeletons, allowing Percy and his friends to escape. The group gets trapped on the dam but they fly off on giant angel statues built for Zeus by Athena.

Reaching San Francisco, Percy wrestles Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and learns Bessie the Ophiotaurus is the monster they seek, for burning its entrails will give them power to destroy Olympus. Grover takes Bessie back to camp after Thalia is enticed to wield the power by Dr. Thorn, who attacks them on the pier. They manage to get an Iris message to Camp Half Blood and see Dionysus, the Camp director. He saves them after Percy reluctantly asks for help.

They go to see Annabeth's father to ask for help and he lends them his car, which cannot be returned to him as it explodes due to a lightning bolt that Kronos threw to make Thailia angry at her father. They climb to the Garden of the Hesperides, where Zoe meets her sisters and is poisoned by the dragon, Ladon. They continue to the place where Atlas used to hold up the sky, and they see Artemis taking on his burden. Annabeth is bound and gagged by Luke and Atlas. Realizing that the prophecy made by the Oracle involved him, Percy takes the burden--the Titan's curse--from Artemis. In the ensuing fight, Atlas kills his daughter by throwing her against rocks; she is later turned into the constellation "The Huntress" by Artemis. Artemis gets Atlas to take his burden from Percy, as only a Titan can be forced to bear the sky. In a battle between Thalia and Luke, Luke falls into a chasm; Percy assumes that Luke is dead, but it is confirmed by Poseidon that the traitorous demigod had survived. They go to Mount Olympus via pegasi, including Blackjack.

The gods keep Bessie on Olympus, and Percy learns from Athena that his fatal flaw is (excessive) personal loyalty. Thalia joins Artemis' Hunters so that she'll never turn 16, and the prophecy will never be about her. After partying with the gods, they go back to camp. Percy figures out that Nico's father was Hades after the skeletal warriors appear and Nico unintentionally splits the earth to swallow them up. Nico tells Percy that he hates him for not saving his sister and runs away. While Percy discusses this with Annabeth, Grover arrives, claiming he heard Pan in his mind saying I await you while drinking coffee.

Prophecy
This book's prophecy is given to Zoë Nightshade.


 * Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, (Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, and Grover Underwood)
 * One shall be lost in the land without rain,( Bianca di Angelo)
 * The bane of Olympus shows the trail, ( the Ophiotaurus)
 * Campers and Hunters combined prevail
 * The Titan's Curse must one withstand,
 * And one shall perish by a parent's hand (Zoe by her father Atlas.)

Characters
Perseus "Percy" Jackson: 14 years old, son of Poseidon and the main character in whole series.

Thalia Grace: 15 years old, daughter of Zeus. Though she appears in Percy's dream in the first book, she makes a full appearance at the end of The Sea of Monsters and is given a greater role in the third book. Thalia is described as looking very punk-rock, with black clothes and eyeliner. Her personality is often described as "independent and sarcastic." Thalia is a lot like Percy and they often butt heads. She has feelings for Luke and was heart broken by his betrayal. She is also afraid of heights, which Percy finds ironic as her father Zeus is Lord of the Sky.

Annabeth Chase: 14 years old, daughter of Athena.

Grover Underwood: A large-hearted satyr, whose favorite foods are aluminum cans and cheese enchiladas. He is 28 years old, yet has the appearance of a 14 year old due to the satyrs' slower growth rate. However, his scrubby beard makes him look older. He wants to look for Pan, the satyr god of nature and the wild, who fell into a "deep sleep" due to the humans' pollution of the world.

Zoë Nightshade: Daughter of Atlas, Zoë is the oldest member of the Hunters of Artemis and a lieutenant to boot. She is over hundreds of years old, but still looks approximately 14 due to her immortality. She gets turned into a constellation by Artemis when she dies, so that she would forever live in the stars and be honored by the world.

Luke: Son of Hermes, betrayed his father and turned to Kronos.

Chiron: A centaur that will live for as long as he is needed to teach, trainer of demigods, assistant director of Camp Half Blood. Chiron is a son of Kronos.

Dionysus: God of wine, disgruntled director of Camp Half Blood, skilled at pinochle, resembles a "cherub gone middle-aged in a trailer park". Banished to Camp Half Blood and banned from wine by his father, Zeus, as a punishment for taking a liking to a wood nymph that had been declared "off limits". Drinks Diet Coke, since he can no longer drink wine, which he summons out of thin air. He intentionally never gets anyone's name correct, and has twin sons who currently reside at Camp Half-Blood.

Kronos: A corrupted Titan, condemned to Tartarus. He is being resurrected through a gold sarcophagus. Kronos is the main villain of the series. He is not only the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, but Chiron as well, which is why the Centaur would not go on the quest himself in the third book.

Zeus: King of the gods, Lord of the sky, Thalia's father. Slightly resentful of Poseidon.

Poseidon: God of the Sea, Father of Horses, since he created them, has black hair and green-sea eyes, Percy's father. Described as taking the form of a man in khaki shorts, Hawaiian shirt and nautical hat.

Hades: God of the Underworld and wealth. Nemesis of Percy and most of the gods

Ares: God of War. Ares has been an enemy of Percy since The Lightning Thief. When defeated by Percy, though only a simple wound in the heel, Ares puts a curse on Percy. "When you need it most, your sword will fail you." This curse takes effect at the end of The Titan's Curse.

Aphrodite: Goddess of love, who encourages Percy's interest in Annabeth and warns against taking anything from the Junkyard.

Athena: Goddess of Wisdom, Annabeth's mother. She tells Percy his fatal flaw and mentions that she disapproves of his relationship with Annabeth

Artemis: Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and wilderness.

Apollo: Apollo is the god of the Sun and Archery. He drives a sun vehicle that, though is most often a Maserati Spyder, can change with the push of a button. Apollo had recently travelled to Japan, and creates terrible (yet funny) haiku at the most random moments. He often refers to himself as "awesome".

Atlas: The Titan that once held up the sky now appears as a major antagonist in the book. During the book it is revealed that he is Zoe's father, later revealing that she was the one of the prophecy to be killed by a parent's hand. Near the end of the book he has to lift up the sky again.

Bessie: A male, mistakenly named Bessie by Percy, who originally thought he was female. Bessie makes multiple appearances throughout the book. He is a legendary creature with the front half of a brown baby cow and the back end of a serpent. He becomes attached to Percy after being saved from a fishing net. It is said that whoever sacrifices the Ophiotaurus and burns the entrails as an offering will have the power to destroy Olympus.

Nico di Angelo: Half-blood son of Hades; 10 years old. He and his sister Bianca were trapped in the time-loop effect of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. He has black hair, dark eyes, and olive-toned skin. He also is slightly obsessed with a battle-based card game called "Mythomagic".

Bianca di Angelo: Half-blood daughter of Hades; 12 years old. She joined the Hunters of Artemis, but was killed in the quest. Her death greatly upset Nico, who was quick to blame Percy.

Conflicted Part
In the winter solstice council, Hades isn't present, yet in The Lightning Thief, it was stated that he appears at the winter solstice in Olympus. Also, it was said that all twelve thrones were filled, but Hades is not mentioned. Yet this may be justified as he is not one of the twelve Olympians who have thrones and cabins and such. It may be that he was just not mentioned, or that he was not speaking on anything.

Errors

 * On page 179, The sentence reads as follows:
 * "I was about to protest that Grover and I had had bad experiences in that town, but Bianca beat us to it."
 * A printing mistake had been made as there are two hads on the page.
 * That's not actually wrong: the first had is an auxiliary verb to the second had. It comes out to, "I previously was affected by bad experiences". I would like to know if it says "Bianaca" in the book or if that typo exists only in the example.
 * [It was a typo in the example, I checked in my book]
 * By the end of the story, only 5 out of the 12 skeleton-warriors are destroyed. This leaves 7 who are left with their fates unknown, still hunting Percy's scent (Bianca kills 1, Giant Pig kills 0 because 11 arrive at Hoover Dam, Statues kill 0 because it said that they were reforming as they flew away, Nico has the Earth swallow 4 = 5 Banished/Destroyed).