I spent a good portion of the University winter break reading The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. It is the second book in the Heroes of Olympus. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians told the story of the Greek demigods of Camp Half-Blood. This current series has a mix of Greek and Roman demigods. In the first book, The Lost Hero, Annabeth and Camp Half-Blood was looking for Percy Jackson who had gone missing. Jason Grace showed up, with a case of amnesia, and after Jason and Annabeth, Piper, and Leo from Camp Half-Blood freed Juno, Jason realized he was a Roman. In The Son of Neptune, Percy came back into the story. He had been missing for eight months. Juno had blocked his memory of who he was. Percy found himself making his way to Camp Jupiter. Percy had to prove himself to the Romans of Camp Jupiter, and of course, he does. Mars, aka Ares, appeared at camp, claimed Frank Zhang as his offspring, and told Frank that three of them would have to journey to Alaska to free Thanatos, the god of Death, who was imprisoned in Alaska. In order to free Thanatos, Because Thanatos was captured, people can’t die. In particular, monsters can’t die. Frank, Hazel Hazel Levesque, and Percy Jackson will have to kill the giant, Alcyoneus. We learned the back story of Frank, who was a mix of Roman and Chinese god, and would die when a particular piece of kindling he has burns out. Hazel died in the 1940s trying to prevent the rebirth of Alcyoneus. She was a daughter of Pluto, and was brought back by her half brother Nico di Angelo to right her wrongs.As with the other books that Riordan wrote, this book had lots of good action and lots of mystery about what the future would bring. Would Frank die? What is his mystery? Will Hazel stay alive and right her wrongs? Would Percy get his memory back and rejoin Annabeth? Some of the questions were answered; others weren’t. Ever more questions were brought up before the book ends. Will Percy, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Annabeth, Leo, and Piper succeed in the Prophecy of the Seven? We’ll just have to read the other books to find that out. This book was a great example of Riordan’s action adventure for kids that even adults could enjoy. If you haven’t read Riordan, start with The Lightning Thief, and enjoy the journey!
I recently got a Kindle Touch, and of course, the thing adults do when they have a Kindle is read some kids’ books. I had been wanting to read the new Olympians series by Rick Riordan, and my library (Overdrive) finally had The Lost Hero available. This book starts the new Olympian series. Percy Jackson, the hero from the other five books, is missing in this book. Instead, the hero is a young teen named Jason. He has lost his memory and has no clue who he is. Jason tries to cover up his memory loss as he talks to Piper McLean, who says she’s his girlfriend, and Leo Valdez, who says he’s Jason’s best friend. When Leo and Piper are attacked on the field trip to the Grand Canyon, Jason realizes that he has extraordinary skills. He can fly. Coach Hedge turns out to be a satyr, who is supposed to be protecting Piper and Leo. Jason succeeds where Coach Hedge fails in battling the storm spirits. When Annabeth shows up looking for Percy Jackson, who has gone missing, she takes the trio to Camp Half Blood. Zeus claims Jason, Aphrodite claims Piper, and Hephaestus claims Leo. Now, there isn’t supposed to be another child of Zeus, and Chiron is taken aback when Jason speaks Latin, but doesn’t know Greek. Obviously, Jason is a son of Zeus’ Roman aspect, Jupiter. Imagine the shock, when Jason realizes he is Jason Grace, brother of Thalia. Piper has visions of her father being held hostage by an evil being who wants Piper to betray the demigods. Meanwhile, the gods have gone silent, and monsters are quickly reforming when they are killed. Percy Jackson has gone missing, and no one knows what happened to him. Obviously something bad is happening, and when Rachel, the oracle, gives the quest that Jason must go to rescue Hera, Zeus’ wife. Piper and Leo join him, and so the frantic action begins. Will Jason regain his memory? Will Piper rescue her father and betray her friends? Will Percy Jackson be found? Will Hera be rescued? Will anyone figure out that there are TWO demigod camps? One for the children of Greek gods and the other for Roman gods.This book is just as good as the Percy Jackson books. I found myself wondering if the kids would succeed, and I enjoyed every bit of the ride. Gaea, Mother Nature, is the big villain in this series. She is trying to wake up and take over the world again, killing everyone. That means that the earth is not a safe place for the demigods, only the sky and the water. There is no help from the Gods, at least not officially, and it really does look dire for our heroes through most of the book. The next book in the series, The Son of Neptune is already out. Just from the title, I can tell that Percy Jackson must show up. Book three,The Mark of Athena will be out this fall. I’m really curious to see how the series plays out.
I read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan around two years ago. Today, I read the graphic novel adaptation of the book. The graphic novel stuck to the highlights of the book. There were missing sections, like Medusa and Auntie Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium. Of course, a graphic novel is limited in the amount of pages it has. The basic plot remains: Percy Jackson finds out he is a half-blood and, in fact, a son of Poseidon. When Zeus’ lightning bolt is stolen, Poseidon is blamed, and Percy goes on a quest to recover the lightning bolt with buddies Grover and Annabeth. The graphics in the novel are great. They add to the story, and I’m sure that they help a person who cannot visualize the story in their mind. It’s a good introduction to the story, and I hope that a child who reads the graphic novel goes in search of the novel to get enjoy even more of the story.Graphic novels have their place. They give the reader a quick, visual of the highlights of a story. The Lightning Thief graphic novel does a great job in introducing people to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
