© 2010 Rick Riordian
557 pages
Rick Riordian's debut novels introduced us to Percy Jackson, a half-mortal half-divine Demigod destined to save the world. Now the hero of heroes has vanished -- and three new demigods have come into Camp Half-Blood's care, all older than the usual freshman camper and all with troubled histories. The oldest, Jason, doesn't even know who he is. These are dark days for the kids of Camp Half-Blood: their leader has vanished, Olympus is closed, the gods are silent, and strange things are rumbling in the darkness. A great conflict is a-building, and it will test the mettle of three new heroes -- Jason, Piper, and Leo. The result is an exciting, unpredictable story that's left me looking to a sequel with eager anticipation.
The Lost Hero is most impressive. Although I looked forward to revisiting the Greek gods, I did have concerns that it might be repetitive. This isn't the case. Three distinct viewpoint characters tell the story, and each have a history that has set them up for conflict with one another and their allies in the story; they all start out compromised, unlike Percy and Annabeth. Riordan is clearly writing for a more mature audience here: there's more work put into the long-term story, and the writing itself isn't as light-hearted in nature as with the kids' series. The reader is treated to two stories -- not only the action-adventure thriller, as the three struggle against monsters to prevail, but a darker mystery: there's clearly a larger story behind this one, but we have no idea what role Destiny has in mind for the heroes. This mystery is gripping and the ending a spectacular reveal. I'm quite excited about future offerings in this series.
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I wrote this on 6 October, but for some reason never got around to posting it.
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