I don't know if there's just "too much of the same" as the series progresses, but I just didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two. The first book did a good job of not making Percy Jackson too Harry Potter-esque, especially by having Percy understand the importance of keeping Chiron apprised of all relevant dreams and information. The second book started to falter in this regard, and now the third book has Percy Jackson inexplicably and annoyingly withholding information from Chiron.
This book also seems to conveniently forget that Percy is not supposed to fly. In the first book, the heroes need to go out of their way to complete the quest without allowing Percy to enter the realm of Zeus, i.e., the sky, but in this book, Percy is somehow able to fly without issue. Almost even more frustrating is the single line by the author admitting that Percy's flying was dangerous, and then casually dismissing the concern.
The adventure meanders quite a bit, and the many different aspects of the quest make it difficult to see a central, unifying purpose. Some details are so convoluted they are ridiculous even for a fantasy novel. The evil mastermind who chooses to converse with his captured foes rather than killing them forthwith is, of course, reminiscent of James Bond.
The writing itself also seems lacking. It's even more informal than previous books - at times even conversational - and the author tries too hard to be funny. The book comes across as more immature, more targeted to a young audience than perhaps the first two books.
I did like the way the author began to explore Percy's emotions in this book, and the way he incorporated the Mythomagic game. But overall, the few positives didn't outweigh the many negatives enough for a higher rating. I still plan to finish the series, though, and I hope I'll find at least a couple of the books down the line more enjoyable.
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