“But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.”
— The House of Hades —

“The right choice is hardly ever the easy choice.”
— Julius Kane —

“Every form of art is another way of seeing the world. Another perspective, another window. And science – that’s the most spectacular window of all. You can see the entire universe from there.”
― A Thousand Pieces of You―

"Fair means everyone gets what they need. And the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself"
— Julius Kane —

Annabeth and I had been fighting together for years. We knew each other’s abilities. We could anticipate each other’s moves. I might have felt awkward and nervous about being her boyfriend, but fighting with her? That came naturally. Hmm…that sounded wrong. Oh, well 
—Percy Jackson —

 This is my first book in 2021 (although yes it's not my first review in this 2021, but at least it's my first book review - which not included in any series- in 2021). I decided to start my 2021 with another Rick Riordan's books. Yes, it has been yearly tradition to start my year with his book. It has been two years (three if we count this year) since i did that, i start 2019 with Percy Jackson and the sea of monster, last year i start the year with reading Heroes of Olympus series which still in related to Percy Jackson, this year, still related to Percy Jackson too but the companion books of it. 

This one suppose to be included in Is it Worth Reading series, but i decided to include it as book review instead after i finish the whole book, i think it's not just a companion, but can be count as a whole book. So, let's dive in!

Synopsis

This book is solely for explaining Greek Gods, how it began for the whole Greek mythology, starting from Uranus and Gaea the "father" and "mother" of earth, then the Titan lines, which lead to the main character there Kronos, then continue to the Gods line, Zeus, Poseidon and others.

The story start from the beginning of the creation, got some comparison with bible, (noah indeed being mentioned in the book here) also got some similarity with the bible if we learn more about it, i think it mentioned about the Sodom and Gomorrah's salt pillar (but in different story and the city is not mentioned here) also a bit of Egyptian animal god.  

The book itself based on Percy Jackson's POV. Actually the WHOLE book is written by him, not even a bit words from Rick Riordan (Yes, even from the First page to the last page, the Acknowledgement page too).

My Review

Of course it has the story about this god married with this god and have this kid god, or this god is "making out" with this god even they are not married and have this kid god after that. But Percy didn't say "making out" actually, the words that included in the story is child friendly, and again, fun to read that made the "gross" part become funny. 

“Yeah, we’re back to the whole brother-marrying-sister thing. Let’s get it out of our systems—all together, One, two, three: “GROSS!”

This book definitely gave a different perspective for some characters of the gods here. For example Hades, who's i know from my childhood is a scary Hell God, become somehow a pathetic god, a sad character. His love to Persephone is just too sweet yet touching to me. 

Zeus in other hand, the one that so wooow to me among other gods (okay, i might want to blame Hercules cartoon series by Disney for these two gods impression) become the god with lots of cheating here and there (even sleep with his daughter? ewww) and also super sly in order to gain that. All he got with in the story is him chasing a pretty goddess or pretty human princess and soon. 

Of course i got to learn lots of other gods and goddess. And with witty comment from Percy, somehow the reading is so fun and doesn't feels like i'm reading a Greek gods encyclopedia. I would really recommend you to read this one BEFORE you read the Heroes of Olympus series. Because knowing a back story of each god comes handy in recognizing them in the story since they mentioned a lot in that series.

My Rating

I would rate it as Woot Woot! (go to my rating system for further information if you new for my rating system) for this one, since i did enjoy reading it, and i finished it in super fast pace in my opinion. Again it's good for a new reader to enjoy a bit of mythology related book.

Read also :

The first volume of Mein Kampf was written while the author was imprisoned in a Bavarian fortress. [..] In all he spent about thirteen months in prison. It was during this period that he wrote the first volume of Mein Kampf. If we bear all this in mind we can account for the emotional stress under which Mein Kampf was written.
— James Murphi - Translator —

"Jane, i say to you what i always say when things cannot be altered : count your blessings."

"I have to create, or it was all for nothing. I have to create, or I will crumple up with despair and never leave my bed. I have to create because I have no other way of voicing this.” Her hand rested on her heart,[...] “It is hard, and it hurts, but if I were to stop, if I were to let this loom or the spindle go silent …Then there would be no Hope shining in the Void.”
— The Weaver —