The Titan's Curse

Lore & Background

In the novel both Artemis and Annabeth are forced to hold up the sky. It strips away the glamour of power, revealing the sheer physical and mental toll of holding back the celestial sphere.

Reader's Guide

The story opens as Percy, Annabeth and Thalia infiltrate the West Hall boarding school to escort the siblings Bianca and Nico di Angelo to Camp Half-Blood. Though the extraction succeeds, the manticore Dr. Thorn captures Annabeth, and Artemis sets off alone to track down a monster that could destroy Mount Olympus. The Oracle gives Zoë Nightshade a prophecy to travel to Mount Tamalpais, the modern site of Mount Othrys, to rescue Artemis and Annabeth; Zoë takes Thalia, Bianca and Grover, and Percy sneaks off on his own.

The group treks across America, battling mythic horrors while tracking Luke Castellan's growing alliance with the Titans. At the Junkyard of the Gods, Bianca takes a figurine for her brother, awakening a prototype of Talos, and gives her life to destroy it. On the peak of Mount Othrys the group finds Artemis holding up the sky. Percy and Artemis trap Atlas beneath the sky, but Atlas casts Zoë off a cliff and she dies of her wounds; Artemis transforms her into a constellation.

At the gods' winter solstice meeting on Mount Olympus, Thalia joins the Hunters of Artemis to escape the Great Prophecy; back at camp a grieving Nico blames Percy for Bianca's death and flees, revealing that he is a son of Hades.