Young Adult Annotation - The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan

Author: Rick Riordan

Title: The Chalice of the Gods

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publication Date: 2023

Number of Pages: 268

Geographical Setting: New York City

Time Period: Modern Day

Plot Summary: Percy Jackson has saved the world twice, done countless quests for the gods, fought his way out of Tartarus, and has too many achievements under his belt to count. He now faces his toughest challenge yet, getting into college. Since his is a child of the big three, in other words he should not have been born, he has to get three godly recommendation letters in order to get into New Rome University with his girlfriend Annabeth. Thankfully his father, Poseidon, has already gone through the trouble of putting a flyer up on Mt. Olympus advertising that Percy will do the gods quests in exchange for recommendation letters. To his luck he already has his first quest, retrieving the chalice of the gods that has been stolen from the godly cupbearer, Ganymede. Will Percy and friends succeed in getting the cup back?

Subject Headings: 

Mythology, Greek - Fiction

Mythology, Roman - Fiction

Friendship - Fiction

Young Adult Appeals:

Story Line: The story line of YA books in incredibly important. We want to see our character succeed while still facing struggles that the average teen would deal with. In this book we see Percy struggling with a relatable topic to most people, trying to get into college, but it is taken to the logical extreme of the setting. 

Characterization: The characters of a YA book are, in my opinion, the most important part. The thing that defines this readership/genre for me is the characters. For a successful YA book the main character has to feel relatable. The audience has to be able to see themselves in the character. For this series that idea holds true. Percy is a likeable, relatable character. Even though the reader has not slayed monsters or has a Greek god as a parent; Percy is still written in a way that makes him relatable to the audience. 

Language: The language is crucial in YA. The author has to toe the line between writing a book for children and a book for adults. It has to be adult enough to not seem as if it is talking down to the audience while being still child enough to be both relatable and appropriate for the genre. This book, and the series as a whole, achieves this by grounding the books firmly in Percy's perspective. The book is written in the first person and feels as if you are reading the main character's internal thoughts. This allows for the book to use teen language without it feeling forced. 

Three Terms to Describe This Book:

• Adventure
• Fun
• Relatable

Young Adult Fantasy Read-Alikes:

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

This book focus on Simon Snow and him ending his magical journey at school. He has worked for all of his schooling to defeat the Humdrum, but what comes after he defeats the big bad?

Common Appeal: This book, and series, focus on what happens to the protagonist after they fulfill the prophecy. This is similar to The Chalice of the Gods and the other two books that come after it. They are meant to show us the main character living his life outside of world-ending events. 

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao 

This book is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reimagining of China's only female empress. The story follows the rise of Wu Zetian as she avenges her sister. She does this by becoming a piolet of a giant mech in order to fight aliens that threaten their society.

Common Appeal: They are both YA books that are adaptations of different mythologies. The Chalice of the Gods focuses on Greek and Roman mythology while Iron Widow focuses on Chinese Mythology. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This book focuses on Sophie, she is the eldest of three. This causes her to think that she is stuck with a life of misery. She expects that she will inherit the family's hat shop and never seek out her own fortune. When she makes an enemy with the witch of the waste that all changes. She is transformed into an old lady and must seek out her own path to fix this. She seeks out the only place she knows of the wizard Howl and his moving castle. 

Common Appeal: They both focus on a main character who had, prior to the events of the story, never felt quite right in their own world. It is their forays into the magical world that allow them to full actualize themselves. 

Other Genre Read-Alikes:

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui (Graphic Novel)

This series focuses on Laios Touden and his, and his friends search, to get his sister back. Falin was swallowed by a red dragon deep in the dungeon. The party of Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck are spit back out of the dungeon after this encounter. The need to immediately go back into the dungeon in order to save Falin, Laios's sister. They do not have time to pick up supplies, so they plan to eat the monsters they slay as they make their way through the dungeon. They struggle with the creation of their first meal and catch the attention of Senshi. He joins the party and shows them how to create a meal from the monsters. The party then begins their trek to save Falin from the dungeon's depths. 

Common Appeal: This series and The Chalice of the Gods are both satires of fantasy. The Percy Jackson series is a satire of Greek Myth as a whole while Delicious in Dungeon is a satire of more traditionally fantasy. 

Circe by Madeline Miller (Adult Fantasy)

This book is an adaptation of Greek myth with a specific focus on The Odyssey. It tells the story from the perspective of the witch Circe. Circe is a child of the Titan Helios who is banished by Zeus to a deserted island. There she works on her magic and crosses paths with many figures from Greek mythology. 

Common Appeal: This story and The Chalice of the Gods both focus on Greek mythology. The Percy Jackson series is written for young adults and thus is lighter in tone. It tends to remove the more mature parts of Greek mythology from its story. Circe on the other hand is an adaptation of Greek mythology meant for an adult audience. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Young Adult Science Fiction)

This book tells the beginning of the story of Katniss Everdeen. A young woman from the poorest district in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem. She volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games a fight to death battle that takes place yearly as punishment for the districts rebelling 74 years ago. 

Common Appeal: This story and The Chalice of the Gods both feature a main character who at the beginning of their series are thrust from normalcy into being a chosen one. Percy is a chosen one by literal prophecy and Katniss is a chosen one by pure luck. Both series sees our main characters fighting to make the world a better place for people like them.