The Son of Neptune

Today I’m going to talk about another book; however, this specific book does not fall under the Wizard of Oz category. The book is called The Son of Neptune and is written by one of the New York Times’ bestselling authors, Rick Riordan. Although the book is slightly off topic, it still reflects a lot of fantasy and mythology. Riordan likes to write books about ancient civilizations and their gods, they are based mostly on mythology and mythological events and people; Riordan has written books about Egyptian gods such as the Kane Chronicles, about Greek gods which is the famous Percy Jackson Series, as well as the Roman series known as The Heroes of Olympus. The book Son of Neptune is part of the Heroes of Olympus Series. I enjoy his manner of writing because without realizing it, you learn incredible facts about the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and their gods.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD! The specific story, Son of Neptune, is one where the world is in a great crisis. The earth, Gaea, otherwise depicted as our loving Mother Earth in modern time, is planning on overpowering the gods and restarting the world from scratch using her children, the giants. To help stop this from happening, the main characters, Percy (Who has lost his Memory), Frank, and Hazel must go to the land beyond the gods (Alaska) and try to put a halt in Mother Earth’s plans. Throughout their quests they meet Northern Giants, Giant Birds, and Sisters of Medusa, all the events adding to the overall excitement on the novel. The Son of Neptune is full of thrills and adrenaline; it is a book which I would recommend to all those who enjoy fantasy and mythology.

Wicked, The Musical

So this past summer I was able to watch the play Wicked, based on the book written by Gregory Maquire. Although I thought the play was amazing, I have never read the book; neither do I intend to do so. I feel there is no point to reading it if the story line is already known to me, it would just be boring because I would be reading something I already know the ending to. (Warning Spoilers Ahead) The play is based on the “true” story of the notorious Wicked Witch of the West in which she is not wicked at all! The Wicked Witch or Alphaba, which is her real name, was an outcast; she was often made fun of and discriminated against because of her green skin which no one could understand, or accept, yet she was always kind and remained pure to her heart.

One day, when she must take care of her paralyzed sister (Wicked Witch of the East) at a school for magicians, Alphaba meets a friend she can rely on. This friend was none other than Galinda (Good Witch of the North), although they considered each other friends they were also rivals which competed for a spot as a magician trainee under the watchful eye of the head master Madam Morrible. Madam Morrible later discovers Alphaba’s hidden magical powers, which enables Alphaba to join the great and powerful Oz in the emerald city.

However, Oz is an evil man, he uses Alphaba’s powers to restrain and commit heinous crimes against all animals. Upon discovering Oz’s ideals Alphaba runs away and becomes known as the wicked witch of the west. Then, Madam Morrible has an idea, an idea that will bring Alphaba out of hiding, so Madam Morrible suggests a change in the weather (Weather is her Specialty). It is here where an old Kansan house is lifted off the ground and dropped on a certain Wicked Witch of the East, Alphaba’s sister…