Book Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero
by Rick Riordan
Blurb: Jason has a problem. He doesn't remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently, he has a girlfriend named Piper and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They're all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids", as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything, except that everything seems very wrong.
Piper has a secret. Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn't understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly does't recognize her. When a freak storms hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she's going to find out, whether she wants to or not.
Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there's weird stuff, too- like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them- including Leo- is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?
Cover Review: You can never go wrong with a dragon on the cover. It gives a hint at what's to come in the book and shows a glimpse of our heroes. The nice blue-green/gold color scheme looks great.
Plot: In this new series, we're introduced to new characters, new monsters, and new heroes. The goal of the book is complete a quest to find and free Hera, queen of the gods. It takes a pretty classic quest format, heading off with one goal and getting sidetracked by various monsters and obstacles on the way. But it's still engaging and fun, with Riordan's trademark humor.
Characters: There are three main characters in this book, each with their own third person POV (which gives it a different feel than Percy Jackson). Our first hero is Jason, the mysterious demigod with no memory. I like him because of his being haunted by a past he doesn't remember, as he tries to fit in a world where he doesn't belong.
Piper, of the three characters, has the strongest arc. She learns to stop letting people control her over the course of the book and comes into her own. She's a child of Aphrodite and while at first she fights that, she learns that her mother's powers can be a weapon.
Leo is the goofball of the crew, with a hidden sadness inside due to the death of his mother. He has an awesome magic toolbelt and fixes a flying dragon named Festus, who is another one of my favorite characters. He also has some great growth over the book.
World: We return to the world of Camp Half-Blood, but again, much of the book isn't spent there. We get to see lots of new monsters and locations, including the the Wolf House, which sounds awesome.
I continue to love how Riordan mixes mythology and our world. Cyclops that run a car plant. Medea with a department store. It's all so unexpected, yet natural.
Other: Riordan also uses this book to drop hints about book two and the rest of the series. Another camp. Other demigods. Roman mythology. Bring it on.
Rating:
Have you read this book? What's your favorite part of the book? Are you a mythology lover? Tell me in the comments.
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