Title: For Three
Author: Ithilwen K-Bane
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure/Angst
Status: Complete
Pairings: Percy/Annabeth, (Jason/Piper)
Summary: When Kronos puts a curse on someone, he doesn't hold back. Now trapped in Tartarus with Annabeth, Percy is about to find out how Poseidon was punished for helping Zeus overthrow the Titans. Meanwhile, Jason and the others have to find their way to the Doors of Death with no plan and no way to tell what's happening below. Sequel to Next of Kin. Set after MoA, written before HoH.
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9727270/1/For-Three

Wanted to recommend this mostly for the fun spin on what I found to be a often abused cliche in the PJO fandom where Percy has hidden powers etc...

It was written before House of Hades, but as someone who never even touched the second PJO series everything basically makes sense and characters don't stand out as being too out of character.

I feel it ends in a pretty good place, ripe for imagination for where it could lead.

4/5 from me.

 

4.5/5 from me rounded to a five.

This is a four part story with two plotlines. I'm not sure how novel it is, in the sense that the B line could be the canon plot of some post-Last Olympian storyline and I wouldn't know. Either way, I think that what it sets out to do it does very well.

Firstly the flaws. SPAG to a minor or moderate degree. There are noticeable, even when you're sucked into the story, typos and once a line repetition that wasn't intentional. If you're closer to the Niex end of the spectrum then there's probably a lot more than I realised that you may notice. None of the issues are due to inability with the language, it's more that I suspect that he just didn't very thoroughly proof read.

The B line is slower, the House of Hades freeing Percy and Annabeth and getting them to Olympus, I think, and then Annabeth and Percy's time in Tartarus. Thankfully, it's given quite minimal attention.

The true meat of this story is 'How did Kronos curse his children', what did he threaten Poseidon with.

This really hit my sweet spot. The epic greek godly scenes, woven through dreams and memories, as we see the relationships between the gods, their history and gradually figure out what Poseidon fears and what Percy comes to realise about the gods is really, really well done. The landing stuck very well. It's not UNSONG, but it's a strong ending where you figure out the answer just as the story builds up so that it's got pace, and inevitability and you 'get it' just before Percy does. I strive to emulate what this fic has achieved.

That's always a strong four to five for me.

There's some good turns of phrase in here, and most of the time the prose is enjoyable and smooth. In the few action bits, you can tell they rely on the 'Action happens in short sentences' Clancy sort of maxim, and in a few bits of punches going back and forth it can dip because of it, lending to that frustration with the B-line that I mentioned because you just want to get back to the dreams. But yeah. Recommend, if you like PJO. It's not Salt-breaker, it's not Three, but it's not far from it.

 

5/5 from me. A little bit because it's complete and ties itself up just right.

I love this sort of worldbuilding, the type that leans on magic and otherness and things beyond us.

 

5/5.
The worldbuilding drew me into the story, I wanted to know what was happening.
The author manage to make me feel the emotion of the main character and it was believable.
The first thing I did when I finished the story is look for a sequel... and be disappointed there was none.