October 16, 2010

Book Review: Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero

Two Word Review of Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero half way through the book: Pretty good.

Two Word Review of Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero after I finished the book: Oh. My.

Ok, so this book really had three main characters; Jason, Piper, and Leo. First, we have two chapters from Jason, then two chapters from Piper, then two chapters from Leo, and so forth for the entire book.

Bad Stuff
  • First thing I noticed was that Annabeth seemed majorly out of character, but then I conceded that it may just seem that way because we see her through a different characters eyes. Then I decided that she's out of character in chapter 2.
  • Rick Riordan stayed with the pattern the whole way through, which was bad because to fill his two-chapter quota, he might unnecessarily start a new chapter, or make a three-page chapter.
  • Another bad thing about two chapters with Jason, two chapters with Piper thing was that sometimes, certain parts of the story would be better if they were told from someone else's point of view.
  • There seemed to be a lot of new info in this book, some that even contradicted old information the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. It just looks like he didn't plan it out so well.
  • So much of the book felt like it was fan fiction of something, but then again, it may be because it's a new character's POV, so Riordan is using another writing style.
  • I often felt like I was dragging myself through out character's chapters just so that I could get to the next character's chapters. Like when you're listening to the radio, enduring a pretty bad song because you know a better one is coming on next.
  • It seems our characters take forever to realize something we realized 138 pages ago.
Good Stuff
  • The new characters are likable.
  • An advantage of what I will now start to call the Two Chapter Rule is that each character telling the story has something to add, they each have their own story.
  • The plot is rather good.
  • The book is fast paced.
  • It's addictive at times.
  • We find out more about the camp and other cabins and such.
  • The ending will make your heart stop.
All in all, it's a great book that promises an amazing series.

So, I'm just going crazy sitting here, trying to think of what is going to happen. Because NO ONE HAS READ THE BOOK YET!

So do me a favor and read it already.

Now, there might be some questions about the book, so here are some answers.

(Tiny Spoilers Ahead)

The book starts four months after The Last Olympian ended. The old characters are still in the books, but few of them are shown. The others are not omitted, they just don't appear for one reason or another. The book is 553 pages long.

(Spoilers Ahead)

Jason has no memory.

Percy is missing.

Aphrodite's kids can sometimes "charmspeak."

Hephaestus's kids can sometimes make fire just appear, like that guy in the Fantastic Four.

The Olympians can apparently appear in their Roman or Greek forms.


(MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)

Thalia has a brother.

Jason is Thalia's brother, but his dad is the Roman form of Zeus, Jupiter, while Thalia's dad was the Greek form, Zeus. Don't know how that works...

Remember how Percy is missing? Well, he's in the Roman form of Camp Half-Blood, over in San Fran. Oh, and he can't remember who he is.

Jason is from the Roman camp, but was sent by Hera to Camp Half-Blood, memory erased, to form bonds with the people there.

Percy was sent to what I will call Camp Romulus by Hera to make bonds there.

The Roman and Greek sides of the family apparently always war against each other every time they make contact with each other.

They must join forces to defeat the new villain.

The new villain is Gaea.



Your Olympic Blogger,
Nadia

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read the book so don't worry your not alone.
The book seem very different. And in the beginning I was really sad.
And the whole sibling the just blew me away.
But I do admit it was good. I can't wait for the new book.
The reason i think I felt so disapointed with the book is because I had such high expectations for it. And I was expecting more of Percy. Despite the fact Rick Riordan warned us Percy would not be the main character.
The whole Greek/Roman thing confuses me. But the fact that there are two Half Blood Camps interests me.
And according to the next books title. I think we are going to see and hear more of Percy. Maybe even see his part of the story.
We can only hope. FOr now I'm just looking foward to the next Kane Chronicles.

~Ninja Monkey~ said...

Yeah, I agree with your post (don't worry, I read the book too). But what I hate is that Jason (and probably Percy) lost his memory so he can't remember all the cool things that he did! UGH! And I was confused when Jason said "I am the son of Jupiter, Son of Rome." Who the heck is ROME?!?! Is he like the Roman form of Kronos or something?!
And I think for the second book, it's gonna be about Percy's view; hom being in San Fran and all. Cuz in the back of the first book it says that the next book is gonna be called Son of Neptune. I just hope Percy doesn't fall in love with another girl! I'd like to see how Annabeth reacts to that! =]

Diwali said...

This book is FAB. It is so much thrilling that I have already read it 6 times.However what appears as a great improvement is the emotional flow of the characters. The way they feel for each other. Their connection to their parents(esp Piper's father, though is ignorant most times, but still she dares to risk everything for him), Annabeth's concern for Percy(though the book is certainly not 'bout them).
And the mysterious style always there with Riordan, You won't find the answers until you get to the last page.