journal #3

I have just finished reading the third quarter of the book and now it’s really starting to get interesting. They had left the camp already and are now beginning their journey. One thing that I found really interesting is the way that Riordan comes up with the obstacles and monsters that the tree kids have to face. Sure you could say that he just took all the ideas for the different monsters from Greek mythology, be doesn’t just take the myths as is and throw them in. He molds the myths in his own ways in order to make them work with modern day society. With the introduction of different monsters he drops hints to challenge your knowledge of mythology. The hints are sometimes subtle, but sometimes they are blatantly obvious. With the obvious clues, manages not to ruin the suspense but instead he creates more suspense. The clues give the answer but not perfectly so that you want to read on just to prove yourself right. For example; when they go to “Auntie Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium” the hints are fairly easy to figure out. Like the realism of the stone statues, her covered eyes, the hissing sounds, and the name Em … M… MEDUSA. You know in your head that its medusa, yet there’s still a grain of doubt until the book proves you right, and once it proves you right it’s like your favorite hockey team scored a goal. You just want to jump up, high five the guy next to you and scream “I WAS RIGHT!”. Then there are the times when the clues are a little more hidden, kind of like the time with Echidna and her evil Chihuahua. Oh sorry, chimera. You dive into all your knowledge of Greek mythology and the only thing you come up with is that it defiantly is a monster. It makes you want to read on and figure it out.