The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Summary from Goodreads:
The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way.
The original hero. A brand-new adventure.
Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times – battling monsters, Titans, even giants – but these days the modern-day son of Poseidon is hoping for a regular final year at school.
Too bad the Greek gods have other plans, and three new quests for Percy to complete.
First up: the cupbearer of the gods, Ganymede, is missing his golden chalice. Not only is this embarrassing (why do the gods keep losing their magical items?), it’s also potentially disastrous. One sip from the cup will turn any mortal into a powerful god. And the old gods do not take kindly to newbies.
Can Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover find the chalice before it falls into the wrong hands? And even if they do, will they be able to resist its awesome power. . .?
Confession:
What a treat to spend time with the original heroes from this series again. Percy, Annabeth and Grover are all young adults now, who have survived saving the world multiple times and are just trying to survive senior year and make it to college. This is a short sweet ode to friendship, nostalgia and family and I simply loved it.
“I am a guy of limited talents. If I can’t kill it with water, a sword, or sarcasm, I am basically defenseless.”
Percy is all grown up and just wants to be done with his senior year so that he can go to college with Annabeth. He takes the news that he must get three letters of recommendation from three different gods, yes they are messing with him even now, in stride but with the usual side of snark. Annabeth and Grover are of course there by his side to help him out of tough spots like murderous chickens (aren’t they all) and venomous snakes. The friendship between these three is just beautiful and the sweet scenes between them is just so heartwarming that you want to give them all a big hug.
“Find someone who loves you the way my girlfriend pushes me off a cliff. Without hesitation. With full confidence in your abilities, with the rock-steady belief that your relationship can handle it, and with complete faith that when you come out of the water, assuming you survive, you will totally forgive them for the push. Almost certainly forgive them. Probably.
Bonus points if you find someone with enough chutzpah to say Bon Voyage while they do it.”
We also spend quite a bit of time with Percy’s family. There are some lovely moments between him and his mom as well as his stepdad. They are both just so supportive of him even while they are worried about his survival. It was so nice to see a functional family in a middle grade book. Percy also gets a nice moment with Poseidon, which was very sweet.
The plot is similar to all of the other books. Percy is sent on a quest and encounters many life and death adventures along the way. This time around he is dealing with many of the minor gods that populate the greek myths. I really felt sorry for Ganymede, his life sounded really rough. We meet another river god as well, Elisson, who I also had great sympathy for as he just tries to keep his river from being polluted. Percy also visits Mount Olympus and we get a glimpse of the bigger gods and he has a moment with Annabeth’s mom Athena.
If you are a fan of the series, no matter your age, you are going to love this new addition. Itis full of adventure, family, friendship, a bit of nostalgia and a whole lot of love. I can’t wait to see what quest Percy is sent on next.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 