The From the World of Percy Jackson: Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

If you’re reading this, I suspect you fall into one of these categories; (1) you’ve been w/ PJO since the start - or for a while, anyway. You’ve read ‘em all, and you’re back for round two (or maybe three, or four, or maybe more) with this latest installment.

(2) You know what this is, you know what this is about - you know about Will, and Nico, and Hazel, and Piper, and Reyna, and Lavinia, and Paolo, and all the others like them. Why? Because they’re like you, and they’re like me. This is a story for you and I, a tale written with us in mind, and by goodness, that means something.

(3) You’re new to this, or maybe you’re walking in with no prior context; in which case, welcome! The water’s calm, the skies are blue, the weather’s fine, and I hope you’ll enjoy it with us! This is a story a good number of us have been waiting for w/ baited breath, hoping beyond hopes and dreaming beyond dreams that we would finally see a bit more of ourselves in the pages of our favorite author, and if you’re along for the ride, it makes it all the better!

But hey, regardless of where you fall between or beyond those three general categories, I think there’s something to be had each way. You see, this is a book of warmth and love, of compassion and emotion, of empathy and care, and, above all, of understanding and acknowledgement.

In many ways, it’s a reflection of what we read in Chalice from a more queer point of view. The parallels that exist between Percy and Annabeth’s relationship and Will and Nico’s are pretty evident in the writing - but the distinctions are clear; there is a voicing and character that is tangibly queer, that speaks to the kinds of experiences that gay men/masc individuals have had, and the nature of their love, their actions, their feelings, and more.

In many ways, I feel a younger version of myself would’ve been thrilled to read this back then. To see myself in the pages of the books I cared about, with the characters I felt a connection to - that kind of representation is invaluable as a kid or teen or young adult. To be seen, and to be seen in a positive light, and treated with respect can sometimes mean more than the world, and for all its flaws, Star does this really well.

But for all the benefits I can extol for Star being an important point of reflection and a strong piece of queer young adult lit, there are still glaring points that need to be acknowledged too; there are points at which you feel a definite divide in the writing styles between Rick and Mike. You will find some jagged lines here and there where things don’t always align. You will get a sense that the voicing of the characters, while rich and vibrant and believable, aren’t always what you’d expect, given our past encounters with them.

There are parts of Star that read like fan fiction, there are parts of Star that open up minor plot holes, and there are parts of Star that seem to gloss over other bits of established canon or characterization or some other points - I don’t think it’s Rick’s strongest work, and I don’t think Mike’s contributions had quite the impact we were hoping for, but I think if you can walk into Star knowing this, and you have a point of reference for your expectations, you’ll find this is a pleasant read and charmingly soft entry into a very complex universe of writing. It’s approachable and believable all the same, and it shows at least some baseline care for a pretty diverse subset of PJO’s longtime reader base.

Give it a shot - whether it’s in your wheelhouse or not, I think you’ll find a lot of valuable writing here for a nice, casual afternoon read. I know I’ve enjoyed it, and many of my friends in fandom have as well.

And at the end of the day, even if it isn’t the most refined or polished work, it can just been nice to be seen, and that’s worth something too.

As a quick aside to my long review, and as I’d mentioned before; if you’re coming from Chalice, this reads in a very similar way - obviously this is a beefier adventure with more goings-on and depth, but it’s been interesting to watch Chalice’s reception versus Star’s as two books that focus greatly on their protagonists and love interests and relationships.

Needless to say, there’s been incredible push-back on Star just because Rick chose to highlight two gay characters and a couple other queer mentions from past books, and I think if that’s troubling to you - the queerness, that is, I think you’ve misunderstood millennia of Greco-Roman history, the years of Rick’s writing, and the fandom that’s existed alongside both.

With the kind of loathing hatred and divisiveness that’s come in response to this book (yet alone our basic existence in everyday life), I fear for the teens and young adults, and countless others that pick this book up and actually see themselves in these pages, or hear themselves in these lines. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what you have to endure and experience outside of its pages. You shouldn’t have to; we shouldn’t have to. But we do.

And so, no matter what their literary value, I’m glad books like this exist, because the brief reprieve they give is so truly wonderful. It’s never perfect - nothing ever can be - and Star is certainly not perfect, but it is something, and something pleasant and fun at that. I’ll take that and run with it. Maybe you can too.

Take care, thanks for reading!

I’m not sure if the point of this was to show how absolutely overpowered Percy and Annabeth are but it really just came across as Nico and Will are huge weaklings and very stupid, they struggle every step of the way and maybe it’s to show how hard Nico’s life is but honestly it was hard to make it through this whole book, this is the only bad book Rick has ever written

This book was so good and I agree DO NOT HATE ON THIS BOOK OR THE CHARACTERS AND PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR CLOSED MINDED OPINIONS ABOUT READING THE BIBLE BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE LOVED THIS BOOK AND IT HELPED ME SO MUCH BUT IF U DIDNT LIKE IT THEN NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU LIKE IT
Nico is such a perfect character he makes me scream 🥹🥹
Also Bob ❤️❤️
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