Percy Jackson is having nightmares. First he dreams his best friend Grover, a satyr, is being chased by a cyclopes and needs his help. But when he wakes and goes to school, Percy is in danger himself: giants are attacking and he is saved by his half-brother Tyson, a cyclopes in human disguise. Annabeth, the daughter of Athena and Percy's other best friend, brings Percy and Tyson to Camp Half-Blood, just in time to rescue the camp from two rampaging bronze bulls.
Not only is the camp under attack, but Thalia's tree has been poisoned and the wards protecting the camp weaken as it does. Chiron, the centaur camp director, is blamed for the poisoning, fired, and the demigod Tantalus is released from Tartarus to replace him.
When Percy dreams Grover has the Golden Fleece, Tantalus sends Clarisse (a daughter of Ares) to retrieve it to repair Thalia's tree. Hermes comes to Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth to send them after the Golden Fleece as well, he even provides them with travel gear and the trade winds. Poseidon sends three hippocampi (aquatic horse-like creatures) to take them across the sea.
The hippocampi take the trio to the Princess Andromeda, a cruise ship owned by Luke Castellan and the Titan army. They escape only to run into the Hydra. It nearly kills them when Clarisse appears sailing the confederate ship CSS Birmingham and saves them. The group then sails for the Sea of Monsters in the Bermuda Triangle when the CSS Birmingham is broken up by Scylla and Charybdis. Tyson and Clarisse are presumed dead and Percy and Annabeth are shipwrecked on Circe's island spa and resort--where Circe turns Percy into a guinea pig. Annabeth rescues him and they sail away. They continue to the Sea of Monsters, but must pass the island of Sirens. Annabeth begs Percy to tie her up and let her listen to discover her true desires. He concedes, but forgets to take her knife and it is Percy's turn to save Annabeth.
They reach Polyphemus's (the cyclopes who has captured Grover) island, are reunited with Tyson and Clarisse, find the Golden Fleece, and rescue Grover. But before they finally escape Polyphemus confronts them. He sinks their ship and the hippocampi return to ferry the group to the mainland. They rush back to Camp Half-Blood, but are kidnapped by Luke who admits to poisoning Thalia's tree clearing Chiron. Percy is injured when he and Luke grapple for the Fleece, and Percy is rescued by the Party Ponies, centaur friends of Chiron's.
When they arrive at Camp Half-Blood the Golden Fleece removes the poison from Thalia's Tree, but also ejects Thalia (Zeus's daughter) who was turned into a tree when she died protecting the camp to prevent her soul from entering the Underworld. The adventurers realize it was Luke's plan all along and Thalia's return could affect the Great Prophecy.
Despite their difficulties in working together and their parents' hatred, Clarisse, Percy, and Annabeth work together to save their home. Their journey resembles the Odyssey and Odysseus' journey through the ancient world, though there is more at stake in terms of the fate of the world. The petty disagreements such as who uses which weapon during training fade into the background when the demigods' world is threatened--they work together to achieve something greater than themselves.
Like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters is directed at a younger audience. Middle elementary readers will enjoy the quick pace and the introduction to classical mythology.
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