By Rick Riordan

Yeah, here is a surprise for everyone. This collection of interviews is set between Percy Jackson The Battle of the Labyrinth and Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, so here is where they go. Funny thing, the way that I found out this book existed is because multiple fanfictions referenced Nico Di Angelo being turned into a dandelion by Persephone. So, I Googled it and discovered this marvel. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Also, before I get further in, I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

“If you’re reading this book your life is about to get a lot more dangerous.

In these top-secret files, Rick Riordan, Camp Half-Blood’s senior scribe, gives you an inside look at the world of demigods that NO regular human child is allowed to see.

These highly classified archives include three of Percy Jackson’s most perilous adventures, a Spotters Guide to Monsters, and much more.

With this book, you’ll have everything you need to keep you alive in your training. Your own adventures have just begun…”

For this, I’m not going to repeat myself. If you are like me and are hungry for more Percy Jackson content, then go for it. Also, if you haven’t read the sequel series Heroes of Olympus, I would pay extra attention to these stories. Two out of three of them may be more interesting than expected. Also, this book reintroduces us to a character we haven’t seen in a while.

Now, we are going to work through the three short stories and my thoughts on them. Before I get to any of that I just want to say that I love that Rick Riordan has put himself into the Percy Jackson world. I can only hope we see him in the TV show. I don’t have much to say about the interviews, but there is one thing that I would like to point out. In the interview with Connor and Travis Stoll, when they are asked about their favourite pranks they have pulled, they bring up the golden mango. They spray painted a mango gold, wrote the words “for the hottest” and threw it in the Aphrodite cabin.

This is a reference to how the Trojan War started when Eris, the goddess of chaos, was angry at not being invited to a wedding and she got back at them by throwing a golden apple with “for the most beautiful” written on it. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite each claimed that it must be for them. Zeus, not wanting to judge who was right, starts the Trojan War. Just something to hold on to when going in to the next book.

The Stolen Chariot. I liked this story. This one builds the friendship between Percy and Clarisse. These are two people who we haven’t really seen interact since the second book, and this is a lot of fun. We need to talk about Phobos and Deimos, fear and terror or more specifically, how both deal with their fears; Clarisse fighting back against the fear of her father and Percy fighting against his fear of the future.

The Bronze Dragon. Once again, it is cool to focus on Selena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf. We first meet them both in the second book, and while we still see them throughout the series, they are not focused on. This story is about saving one camper, Beckendorf. Another thing that I find interesting is the idea of the bronze dragon, specifically the fact that Thalia’s sacrificed her life, and her life force protected the camp. But before this, there was no magical protection for the camp. The Hephaestus camp made the bronze dragon. Which why? Couldn’t the gods give some protection for their children? It makes no sense.

The Sword of Hades. Yeah, we have a story with all three big tree children. It is nice to see Thalia again, we haven’t seen her since the third book. Also, before we go further, I have a few questions. Firstly, has Nico been living in the Underworld? The fact that he has been around Persephone to be turned into a dandelion, and he knows his way around the Underworld makes me think so. We don’t get an answer, so it’s up to us to speculate.

Secondly, why do both Percy and Thalia assume that Hades wants to be more powerful than his brothers when he has no interest in overthrowing them?

Thirdly, how overpowered is Percy? He controls the river Lethe multiple times. This feels like it shouldn’t be possible, especially when injured.

I hope you enjoyed the diversion from the main series. Even if you didn’t, I hope you come back. Until next time.

Happy reading to all and to all a goodnight.