The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titans' Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian, the original first five books of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Since The Chalice of The Gods was announced, I wanted to rank this series SO badly and now, since Wrath of the Triple Goddess is announced a long with a second season to the live action series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians, I think it's time I share my opinion with you all for the High Quality Competition. Here is my ranking of the PJO books from least to most favorite and why, let's hoist the sails high and start off with my least favorite.
(Before I continue, no, I will not be adding CotG to the ranking because in my opinion, it is it's own series and not part of PJO because it takes place right before ToA, sorry in advance to all of you chalice lovers.)
First off, no, I don't think this book is disgusting or anything, it's just my least favorite out of the bunch and obviously, it's in my heart as a good book. With that out of the way, my personal least favorite book out of the first series is The Sea of Monsters. My reasoning is it's missed potential and lack of a need for it to be there. Yes, I know Thalia and Tyson were introduced and they play a good part in the series but I'm talking about the random occurrences such as Clarisse having to make an appearance. She didn't need to show up, it's not like she was ordered by the camp to do so, she just appeared and said, "You're coming with us now." as I recall (I haven't read this in a while). And the very fast paced plot sort of confuses me in an example, it feels like one second, Percy fights Lystragonians, then he's on The Princess Andromeda, and then he's fighting Polyphemus? All in the span of a few chapters? This was more of a personal preference than a criticism, but, it also has missed the potential of the Odysseus-like plot it set! You can't tell me that Circe's Island didn't have any potential. If you can, I recommend reading the Odyssey, as it has more of a focus on Circe. Or I guess, listen to Epic..? But I dunno about that... Besides that, The Sea of Monsters had the potential to have a smooth plot and a great and needed spot in the series but, the fast pacing and the occurrences that were unneeded for the book ruin the potential the book had. It's only redemption for me is learning Percy and his friends' more minor, yet more needed, abilities and the humor of the book that lightens the tone of an up and-coming war without fully sugarcoating the subject. Now, let's move on to the next book, one I think you will consider to be great, a real graveyard smasher (Bu dun ching)...
My second least favorite book in this series is The Titans' Curse. Don't get me worth the introduction to the Di-Angelos, the introduction of the Hunters of Artemis, the quest and prophecy, absolutely amazing! The fast paced energy plays perfectly with the plot of the book unlike SoM and subtle bit of backstory and anger between Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth is great for the book with the gritty and sad aesthetic of the book's plot. But, enough of the praise, here's my judgement. Can you really remember any scene in this book besides Percy holding the sky, Bianca dying, Nico's godly parent reveal, or the Hunters of Artemis? It's not really a memorable book when it comes to minor scenes like when Percy actually finds Nico and Bianca or the fight with Dr. What's his face- I can't even remember. Sure, it's really sad but, that can have its downsides when war's on the horizon. It isn't like negativity and realism's bad for it but, it's not like it's a fix-all-problem for people who are fending for their lives. Like I said, it isn't memorable and it isn't AmAzInG for its' MASSIVE angst and sadness. Also, even though Thalia recently got resurrected from the dead, most of the crew just seems to push it off. Yes, I'm aware that this takes place a few months after the resurrection with the fleece, but from what I'm aware of, Annabeth has known Thalia for MOST of her life, seeing her as an older sister and one of her first friends. And now, she's finally back after, what, 10 years?! And Annabeth just sets it off to the side after only a few months. Besides the ramble about Thalia, the other characters seem more, depressed, than they should..? Yes, they should be a little on edge and depressed after most of the events but, we don't need everyone crying or something. To summarize, sure it's sweet, simple, easy to understand, with great pacing of events and emotional moments that set the record straight, it can also be forgettable and more angst than it needs, and the forgetting of most events that needed to be talked about, at least a little bit more. So genuinely, a good book, but, some faults were made so I didn't want to make it the best or the worst, but some faults are stronger than others and the praise that makes it a little overrated in the fandom sets it lower than a middle ground, so with that, The Titian's Curse takes second to last place. You know the drill, Seaweed Brain, let's get on to the third place ranking, this'll be a steal if you like short rants, lightning rounds of info if you will.
The third place of my favorite books in this series is the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief! This is a GREAT start to the series with a medium yet quick pace and twists and turns that leave you shocked! Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had a great start to their friendship and you get great detail from Percy even though he's still 12! CHB is beautifully written and I can picture myself right into the universe! It's well written and has a wondrous way with words that have a perfectly rated and nostalgic feel. Now, with that out of the hand, you think with the praise I've given it, do you think I can remember Mrs. Dodds looks? The Empire State building and its' looks? WHAT PERCY'S OLD SCHOOL WAS CALLED? (It's Yancy by the way-) WRONG! You get fed all this new information that while you're reading, you're trying to process what's going on with the new information and lore about the god and other myths in the real world, while having to find out the prophecy and the quest, it's confusing for me for the most part and I sometimes forget the most simplest parts of the book for example, how does Luke attempt to kill Percy in the betrayal scene, because I'm figuring out what a caduceus is or something among the lines of this. Also, you don't really get many explanations to things until later in the book/s. I'm not talking about prophecies, Gods, characters, etc. I'm talking about stuff like, how did Luke get his scar. But, yeah. It's memorable and nostalgic, yet it has some incidents that give it a minor taste of flaws that are (supposedly) changed in the show (Yes, I've watched it.). So yeah, that's why it's in the middle for me, and now it is time for a twisting turning opinion for second place.
The book I thought would take second place for me is a book I've cherished since the beginning of my obsession with these books. The fourth book, The Battle of The Labyrinth. The quick pacing of Daedalus' Labyrinth, Kronos' return, Perachel, Nico returning to the Olympains and abandoning the Titans, Janice, masterpiece. It has a WAY with words and a great feeling with the situations, Not too edgy, not too hilarious and joke making, right in the middle, and it serves it's purpose well. The dilemmas and the sudden turns and twists really get you into the feel of walking in the labyrinth. One of the only times where being confused is a good thing because of the feeling of being in a labyrinth, and the traps and random appearances also have a play into it! It's a sort of jack of all trades and master of all where the book can play with your emotions and make you anticipated at every turn. It's very memorable and I can remember most if not all of the scenes in this book! It would've been my favorite if it didn't have the few flaws mentioned, first, the random emotional twists. I do like the random twists and turns but sometimes they just go from a cool adventurous mood to Nico mentioning death or something and the whole gang being depressed. Some unneeded characters. I know that without Gyrion(idk if that's the right spelling) they wouldn't be able to contact Bianca but, I feel like we could've contacted her, before or maybe after escaping the death trap? Just saying. And finally, the girl drama, IN THE LABYRINTH?! Like, cool, you both like Percy but KRONOS IS GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T RUN (or kill each other first-)!! Sorry for that. But, yeah, it's good and an absolute great read if you want some thrills and turns! And now... My favorite book...
The Last Olympian takes the cake for me for my favorite book in the series! It answers all the questions from the past books and fills it with the anticipation of the questions it leaves behind. Such as the Prophecy of 7, and what Rachel's doing now that she's an Oracle! All the battles are written absolutely well and the war was VERY detailed and the fact that this was a 20-something chapter book was shocking to me. There's a depressing and turning mood in the air that Titan's Curse had way too much of and the Last Olympian delivered perfectly on a silver platter. And the deaths everyone mourns over are PERFECTLY executed, even with minor characters like Ethan Nakamura and Lee Fletcher, their deaths add a more chilling and depressing atmosphere to the war and the fight with Kronos, their dying words had an impact on the decisions on the main characters. One of these I can make an example for is Luke. His dying words state that he wanted Percy to not let anyone fall under the tricks of anyone and start a war as bad as the Second Titan War and that changes his decisions with his wish from the gods to have the gods claim their children so he could lift the burden of Hermes cabin and many other things that lighten the misunderstood characters actual goals. Many other deaths like his create this sort of mellow and melancholy premise with Percy having a goal in mind and somewhat of a good soul fulfilling their wish. And all the drama and humor add a depth to the book where it can have these other things like humor while still having the book be about the Second Titan War and the feeling be more melancholy and obscure with hints of twist and turns like BotL. One of the only flaws that I saw in this book is that it leaves more questions than it answers. I like the fact that it adds mystery but, come on, at least answer a few more things? I dunno. So, It has an emotional roller coaster and will have you thrilled and for some, in tears, and that's why I love The Last Olympian. I could go on but, I don't want to seem disorganized in my rambling. So, in summary, it has a thrilling pace and is a great ending to a great series, on of my favorites of all time and I think it should be a little bit dug into more!
And that's my tier list of favorites from the PJO series, if you want to tell me things I could work on or your favorites, please! Go on! I'd love to see what you think! And, if you want more organized rants like this, tell me in the comments! Same with what I should cover. And I hope you liked reading this! Have a great dam day guys/gals/and all demigods in between!
