Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune

The SECOND title in this number one, bestselling spin-off series from Percy Jackson creator, Rick Riordan.

This crazy messed up world of gods and monsters is Percy Jackson’s reality, which pretty much sucks for him.

Heroes of Olympus – Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, god of the Sea, has woken from a very deep sleep and come face to face with two snake-haired ladies who refuse to die.

But they’re the least of his problems. Because Percy finds himself at a camp for half-bloods, which doesn’t ring any bells for him. There’s just one name he remembers from his past. Annabeth.

Only one thing is certain – Percy’s questing days aren’t over. He and fellow demigods Frank and Hazel must face the most important quest of all: the Prophecy of Seven.If they fail, it’s not just their camp at risk. Percy’s old life, the gods, and the entire world might be destroyed . . .

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Book Review by Whittie Pie

Reading this book series is starting to feel a lot like coming home. A really brutal, terrifying home, what with all of the monsters and war and whatnot, but home nonetheless.
Riordan continues to blow me away with these books and I’m really not sure what I’m going to do when I finish this series.

But luckily for me, I have almost a thousand pages before I need to worry about that. However, I digress, let’s move on to the good stuff!
This book! Ahhhhhh!!!!! That covers it pretty accurately.
The Percabeth reunion! Perfection.

It was done in true Percabeth form. “Hi, sweetheart, I’m sorry I went missing for six months after a nutty goddess stole my memory. Give me a kiss and then we’ll go stop the vicious goddess of Earth from rising.” I mean, what else did I expect?
Coach Hedge. I freaking love Coach Hedge; he’s the perfect non chaperone chaperone to have on the “Argo II.”

I loved seeing the “Big Seven” together for the first time (even if it wasn’t the great first meeting) and I really enjoyed watching them grow as a team as the book went on.
I love each of the “Big Seven” but seriously, how can anyone not love Leo Valdez? The part with Leo and Echo and Narcissus had me laughing out loud. Oh goodness. Such a great moment.
The performing giants! Glad to see that the monsters are broadening their horizons a bit. Killing demigods just doesn’t pay the bills, you know.

Annabeth is such a boss! I was literally cheering for her when she was on her journey, and she came out victorious! (Kind of, but we’ll get to that in a minute.)
Thank you, Rick Riordan, for writing a kick butt female heroine that is smart, strong, and brave. I love that Annabeth was/is kind of the leader of the team; everyone looks to her because of her wisdom and knowledge. The feminist in me did a fist pump for that.
Ok, that freaking cliff hanger. What the what?! Rick! How could you do that to my babies? Ugh. I knew it was coming, but it was like my stomach dropped down with them.
This book was phenomenal! I’m loving this adventure with the gang, no matter how hazardous it is to my emotional health. :o)
Onward to the next one!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, October 2011: From the Roman demigod camp to the prison of Death himself, The Son of Neptune reunites readers with old friends and introduces them to a whole new cast of characters. The Roman camp is a far cry from Camp Half-Blood, but it’s every bit as fascinating to explore. Our heroes battle up and down the West Coast with impossibly few days before disaster is unleashed, fighting new foes and finding new friends along the way. Some of the mysteries from The Lost Hero are solved, while others loom even larger. Rick Riordan is a master at balancing just the right amount of seriousness and levity in every situation, and his three teen narrators point out the strangeness of the iterations of ancient myths in the modern world with spot-on accuracy. With page-turning adventure, witty dialogue, and fun, fascinating characters, this second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series is a must-read for any fan of myths and fables. –Malissa Kent

Review

5Q 5P M J Riordan’s original demigod hero returns to the spotlight in this highly anticipated second book in the Heroes of Olympus series. With two indestructible gorgons hunting him, an amnesiac Percy Jackson arrives at Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of the secret Greek demigod camp, Camp Half-Blood. There he learns that Death has been imprisoned and that the titan Gaea is assembling an army of escaped souls and immortal monsters to reclaim the world from the gods. Percy embarks on a seemingly impossible quest to free Death before Gaea’s army obliterates Camp Jupiter. At his side are two new Roman friends: Hazel Levesque, who conceals mysteries about her past, and Frank Zhang, who wonders about his immortal lineage and likewise harbors his own secrets. Together they journey to the land beyond the gods to fulfill a prophecy and to each assume a role as one of the seven heroes of Olympus.

Riordan’s seamless weaving of various cultural mythologies into a modern landscape continues to shine in Son of Neptune. As in previous books, the plot is engrossing, the characters robust and compelling. Percy, Frank, and Hazel alternate as narrators without missing a beat of pace, suspense, or humor. Readers will find themselves automatically consumed by the story without having read the first book, though some knowledge of Percy’s previous adventures will help fill in minor gaps of background information. Son of Neptune is yet another absorbing and exciting addition to Riordan’s chronicles.-Grace Enriquez. VOYA”

After spinning his wheels in series opener The Lost Hero (2010), Riordan regains his traction with book two of The Heroes of Olympus. Gaea is raising an army of giants to defeat the gods, and Juno has switched heroes Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason Grace (son of Jupiter) in order to unite Greek and Roman gods and demigods in battle against her. His memory wiped, Percy knows only that he has another life and a girlfriend, Annabeth; he needs to focus now on winning the trust of the Roman demigods. As per usual, he has two appealing companions with intriguing back stories, Hazel Levesque (daughter of Pluto) and Frank Zhang (son of ?).

The three undertake a quest to Alaska to defeat the giant Alcyoneus and free Thanatos, “the border patrol” of the Underworld, assisted and opposed along the way by a pleasing variety of magical beings. Riordan achieves freshness within his formula by giving characters and readers a new environment-Camp Jupiter, similar only in broad concept to Camp Half-Blood-to discover, and his pell-mell pacing has returned.

As with all of Riordan’s mythological tales, the details that bring the legends into the 21st century delight: The camp’s augur reads the entrails of Beanie Babies; tiny, malignant grain spirits dissolve into Chex Mix; the Amazons’ headquarters are in Seattle at, well, you guessed it. Should pacing and wit continue unabated into the third volume, whose foretold European setting promises further freshness, fans will eagerly await numbers four and five. (Fantasy. 10-14) Kirkus”

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About the Author

Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, and the Heroes of Olympus. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults.

For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 2002, Saint Mary’s Hall honored him with the school’s first Master Teacher Award.

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