The Lost Hero

I have been a fan of Rick Riordan's work since I was in High school when I first discovered the Percy Jackson series. Naturally, I then proceeded to The Heroes of Olympus series. When I first read this, I thought it was amazing and a good addition to the world of Percy Jackson. Upon reading it again to get myself more antiquated with the series, I find that I still have positive feelings for this book, and the series as a whole.

One of the biggest positive points about this novel is also one of the things that makes it the most ambitious for Riordan yet: the idea of switching the series from 1st person of Percy, to 3rd person of many different characters. For many authors, this would be difficult to do, since each character has to sound different, or else the whole premise falls apart. Thankfully, Riordan is talented enough that the quality of the book does not suffer. Each chapter, when told by a different character sounds like a different person, and that can make all the difference for me. Jason is a little reserved and much of his chapters focus on his past that he doesn't know, Piper's chapters focus on her relationship with her father and her friends that she never really had, and Leo has the bulk of the comedy, all the while hiding a pain of loosing his mother, and having to come to terms with that. I also like how each of these characters react to events in ways that we would expect them to given what we know about them and their personality.

I also like how each of these characters tends to go against the stereotype that was set for them. One of the best examples of this would be Piper. One would think, that because she is a daughter of Aphrodite, she is an airhead who cannot do anything right except look pretty. Riordan makes this character a vital part of the message on the book, that just because someone is very good looking or rich, they don't have it easy, and it is a message I like.

I also like the message he sends with Jace. Jace being a powerful son of Zeus, seems to have it all together, but on the inside, the reader learns that with that power comes responsibilities that can seem overwhelming. Leo also has a good moment of sympathy, when the reader learns what happened to his mother. (No spoilers, I promise) The reader learns that often those who are the most humorous often have the most pain inside them. All of these messages are ones that I like and are good ones for kids to learn.

If I had to identify some negative aspects of this novel, one would be that there seems to be less of an emphasis on real-world connotations in this book, at least, compared to the Percy Jackson series. There is also a moment of deus ex machineia towards the end of the book, but I am willing to overlook that, just because I like this book so much. While I do caution you to read the Percy Jackson series first, this is an excellent addition to the world of Greek Gods and Myths. Also, be sure to brush up on your Greek mythology before reading either series, the books do a good job explaining them, but you get more out of it if you read about them before hand. I give this book a five out of five.