The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, Book 2)
Percy is confused. When he awoke after his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain-fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight. Somehow Percy managed to make it to the camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he had to continually kill monsters that, annoyingly, would not stay dead. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him.
Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. When the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now, because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk.
Frank is a klutz. His grandmother claims he is descended from ancient heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery--although not good enough to help the Fifth Cohort win at war games. His big and bulky physique makes him feel like a clumsy ox, especially in front of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely--enough, even, to share the secret he holds close to his heart.
Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far north as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment in the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all of whom are destined to play a part in the most important quest of all: the Prophecy of Seven.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Romans vs. Greek. You must now unite in order to save both camps. Simply great. I was nervous Rick Riordan may churn out a lesser of a sequel. I am glad I was wrong.
Well, it's not the worst Percy Jackson book I've read. But can I stop now? I've read SIX of these books. SIX. I have yet to truly enjoy any of them. I am putting Rick Riordan to rest. No more. I know that there's the whole Roman set and the Egypt set. I heard he's doing a Norse set and maaaaaaaaybe I'll pick that up because I do a lot of research into Viking culture, but maybe not.
Because this book was just like all the others: annoying.
The formula is annoying. Percy is annoying. The middle school humor is annoying. The plot is annoying. I can't do it anymore.
The formula: I don't even need to really read this because every book has the exact same plot. Literally just the characters are different (and they're not even that different). Thus, it gets boring. I know what's coming and when. There are no surprises.
Percy: dude, you're still dumb. I don't care how many people say, "you're smarter than you look," you'll always be dumb as a bag of rocks to me.
The middle school humor: another reviewer put it really well: if the characters can't even take their situations seriously, why should we? Rick Riordan can never hit the serious note. Never. He tries -- there's a character who almost raised an evil monster to life but sacrificed herself to destroy it -- but it always falls flat. There's no real pathos there. But then again, there's no ethos or logos, either, so...
The plot: oh god. Nothing is ever actually bad. Always, always, always, there's a big fat monster that nobody can ever hope to defeat and Percy and his friends defeat them in record time. Snore. And nobody ever dies! There's just the threat of death, but it's never carried out. You want me to care? Give me an actual, emotional death. Kill Cedric Diggory. Kill Ares (oh god I'm still really damn upset about that one). Kill Hedwig (okay that one got me too). Kill King Arthur, for god's sake! Stop. Threatening. Unless you're willing to carry it out, I'm not gonna be scared. And thus, not emotionally invested.
Finally, I have hit upon something that has been niggling at me for quite some time that really bothers me about Rick Riordan's writing. He's really insensitive. One of the best examples I saw had to do with Buddhism and Taoism. These are two very popular philosophies over in Asia and elsewhere. Hell, I had a 5th grader last year who was a practicing Buddhist. My aunt is a Buddhist monk. And Rick Riordan described statues of Buddhist and Taoist iconography as looking like "psycho clowns". Really? Really? Instead of tying in another religion/philosophy into your whole mythos, let's just put down this whole culture in one broad movement by comparing sacred iconography to "psycho clowns". And also, Percy is given a bunch of supplies in a tie-dyed satchel meant to be for men. He proceeds to complain about it for literally the rest of the book. IT'S A GODDAMN BAG, YOU BINARY-BLINDED BIGOT, GET OVER IT. It's holding your supplies, do you have to be so whiny about the fact that it's a "man bag"? And why wouldn't a man need a bag? Don't men have supplies they need? Was it not butch enough for you because of your extremely fragile masculinity?
But the real problem I have with this is: what is Rick Riordan saying to children? Is a little boy who loves purses going to read this and feel ashamed because Percy made such a big fuss about having to carry a satchel? Is a little girl who practices Buddhism going to be upset because Riordan negatively portrayed her philosophy? Are there other little kids whose only exposure to Buddhism is going to be negative because of this? Are these the kinds of ideas we want to promote in the novels we give to our children? At the very least, this should be the start of a conversation. But I bet it's not. I bet these kids are just reading these and the parents are just letting them and nobody cares. Until they grow up and vote to "make China pay for the wall" because they only know that there are a lot of Buddhists in China and Buddhism reminds them of "psycho clowns".
And maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe I'm getting real pissed off about nothing. But THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER, BETTER BOOKS OUT THERE FOR KIDS. Why must this drivel continue to be privileged when IT'S SO VERY SECOND-RATE? Ugh. I'm done. I'm done with this review, I'm done with this rant, and I'm done with Rick Riordan. Sayonara, sucka.
Because this book was just like all the others: annoying.
The formula is annoying. Percy is annoying. The middle school humor is annoying. The plot is annoying. I can't do it anymore.
The formula: I don't even need to really read this because every book has the exact same plot. Literally just the characters are different (and they're not even that different). Thus, it gets boring. I know what's coming and when. There are no surprises.
Percy: dude, you're still dumb. I don't care how many people say, "you're smarter than you look," you'll always be dumb as a bag of rocks to me.
The middle school humor: another reviewer put it really well: if the characters can't even take their situations seriously, why should we? Rick Riordan can never hit the serious note. Never. He tries -- there's a character who almost raised an evil monster to life but sacrificed herself to destroy it -- but it always falls flat. There's no real pathos there. But then again, there's no ethos or logos, either, so...
The plot: oh god. Nothing is ever actually bad. Always, always, always, there's a big fat monster that nobody can ever hope to defeat and Percy and his friends defeat them in record time. Snore. And nobody ever dies! There's just the threat of death, but it's never carried out. You want me to care? Give me an actual, emotional death. Kill Cedric Diggory. Kill Ares (oh god I'm still really damn upset about that one). Kill Hedwig (okay that one got me too). Kill King Arthur, for god's sake! Stop. Threatening. Unless you're willing to carry it out, I'm not gonna be scared. And thus, not emotionally invested.
Finally, I have hit upon something that has been niggling at me for quite some time that really bothers me about Rick Riordan's writing. He's really insensitive. One of the best examples I saw had to do with Buddhism and Taoism. These are two very popular philosophies over in Asia and elsewhere. Hell, I had a 5th grader last year who was a practicing Buddhist. My aunt is a Buddhist monk. And Rick Riordan described statues of Buddhist and Taoist iconography as looking like "psycho clowns". Really? Really? Instead of tying in another religion/philosophy into your whole mythos, let's just put down this whole culture in one broad movement by comparing sacred iconography to "psycho clowns". And also, Percy is given a bunch of supplies in a tie-dyed satchel meant to be for men. He proceeds to complain about it for literally the rest of the book. IT'S A GODDAMN BAG, YOU BINARY-BLINDED BIGOT, GET OVER IT. It's holding your supplies, do you have to be so whiny about the fact that it's a "man bag"? And why wouldn't a man need a bag? Don't men have supplies they need? Was it not butch enough for you because of your extremely fragile masculinity?
But the real problem I have with this is: what is Rick Riordan saying to children? Is a little boy who loves purses going to read this and feel ashamed because Percy made such a big fuss about having to carry a satchel? Is a little girl who practices Buddhism going to be upset because Riordan negatively portrayed her philosophy? Are there other little kids whose only exposure to Buddhism is going to be negative because of this? Are these the kinds of ideas we want to promote in the novels we give to our children? At the very least, this should be the start of a conversation. But I bet it's not. I bet these kids are just reading these and the parents are just letting them and nobody cares. Until they grow up and vote to "make China pay for the wall" because they only know that there are a lot of Buddhists in China and Buddhism reminds them of "psycho clowns".
And maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe I'm getting real pissed off about nothing. But THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER, BETTER BOOKS OUT THERE FOR KIDS. Why must this drivel continue to be privileged when IT'S SO VERY SECOND-RATE? Ugh. I'm done. I'm done with this review, I'm done with this rant, and I'm done with Rick Riordan. Sayonara, sucka.
I’m glad we got Percy back in this one. And I enjoyed him remembering his memories. The new camp we got to see was great!!
Rick Riordan does it again. This is a good example of plot weaving, which is a skill mastered by great authors. This novel also includes plenty of action to keep the readers attention. Very well rounded story.
-[a:Keith Yagerman|25350068|Keith Yagerman|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1675497216p2/25350068.jpg]- author of [bc:Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|102188662|Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|Keith Yagerman|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675662770l/102188662._SY75_.jpg|114268809]
[b:Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|102188662|Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|Keith Yagerman|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675662770l/102188662._SY75_.jpg|114268809]
-[a:Keith Yagerman|25350068|Keith Yagerman|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1675497216p2/25350068.jpg]- author of [bc:Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|102188662|Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|Keith Yagerman|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675662770l/102188662._SY75_.jpg|114268809]
[b:Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|102188662|Braxton Rogers and the Brave New Beyond|Keith Yagerman|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675662770l/102188662._SY75_.jpg|114268809]
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.