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Apr. 18th, 2011 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsThe oddest thing for me about The Lost Hero, the first book of the sequel series to the Percy Jackson books, is that it isn't in first person. Not only is the whole book in third, but there are three different POVs! THREE! After spending the entire first series in Percy's head this seems almost an embarrassment of riches. I mean, I liked Percy's head, it's a very enjoyable place to be, but given that I spent so much of the last few books wistfully wishing we could have seen the buildup of all the plot-important relationships that are not directly Percy-relevant, I'm excited for the possibilities here.
- but I'm getting ahead of myself. Is it possible to summarize this book without spoiling Percy Jackson? I will try! So: the Percy Jackson books focus on modern-day half-human children of the Greek gods, and they go around having adventures that echo various Greek myths and preventing apocalypses while dealing with the sort of parental issues you'd expect from this setup. The Lost Hero picks up after the apocalypse at the end of the Percy Jackson books has ended, with three new (exceedingly bemused) half-bloods - two who don't know what they are and one who presumably does but has unfortunately lost all his memory of everything - and, of course, the looming threat of a BRAND NEW APOCALYPSE.
Pros:
- I really like the way that the universe is expanding!
- after side-eying the treatment of most of the female gods in the Percy Jackson books a lot - don't get me wrong, he does very well by some of them, but the ones he likes always appear as little girls and the adult women get the short end of the stick - I'm really pleased to see that both Aphrodite and Hera are a lot more interesting here, and come off as much more than the caricatures we saw first time round
- this may just be me, but I find it totally hilarious how Jason is set up as this great hero, quest-leader, etc., and then Leo proceeds to be FIVE MILLION TIME MORE USEFUL every single time. I mean, let's look at the facts: Leo has the ability to whip up helper robots to do anything he needs in five minutes flat, a magic tool belt that can pull out a nearly unlimited array of small items, including food, AND is apparently Firebender. Jason . . . can call lightning? That's cool? And yet does NOT QUITE measure up. (Admittedly Jason can also fly, but I am pretty sure Leo can build some jet sneakers or something to let him do the same thing, so.)
- TALIA IS BACK and likely to be plot-relevant! And there was much rejoicing.
Cons:
- man, every time a sequel or sequel series picks up about six months later with a BRAND NEW APOCALYPSE, EVEN MORE EPIC AND TERRIFYING THAN THE FIRST ONE, no seriously the first one was CHILD'S PLAY compared to WHAT IS COMING NOW, I just kind of have to laugh
- but I'm getting ahead of myself. Is it possible to summarize this book without spoiling Percy Jackson? I will try! So: the Percy Jackson books focus on modern-day half-human children of the Greek gods, and they go around having adventures that echo various Greek myths and preventing apocalypses while dealing with the sort of parental issues you'd expect from this setup. The Lost Hero picks up after the apocalypse at the end of the Percy Jackson books has ended, with three new (exceedingly bemused) half-bloods - two who don't know what they are and one who presumably does but has unfortunately lost all his memory of everything - and, of course, the looming threat of a BRAND NEW APOCALYPSE.
Pros:
- I really like the way that the universe is expanding!
- after side-eying the treatment of most of the female gods in the Percy Jackson books a lot - don't get me wrong, he does very well by some of them, but the ones he likes always appear as little girls and the adult women get the short end of the stick - I'm really pleased to see that both Aphrodite and Hera are a lot more interesting here, and come off as much more than the caricatures we saw first time round
- this may just be me, but I find it totally hilarious how Jason is set up as this great hero, quest-leader, etc., and then Leo proceeds to be FIVE MILLION TIME MORE USEFUL every single time. I mean, let's look at the facts: Leo has the ability to whip up helper robots to do anything he needs in five minutes flat, a magic tool belt that can pull out a nearly unlimited array of small items, including food, AND is apparently Firebender. Jason . . . can call lightning? That's cool? And yet does NOT QUITE measure up. (Admittedly Jason can also fly, but I am pretty sure Leo can build some jet sneakers or something to let him do the same thing, so.)
- TALIA IS BACK and likely to be plot-relevant! And there was much rejoicing.
Cons:
- man, every time a sequel or sequel series picks up about six months later with a BRAND NEW APOCALYPSE, EVEN MORE EPIC AND TERRIFYING THAN THE FIRST ONE, no seriously the first one was CHILD'S PLAY compared to WHAT IS COMING NOW, I just kind of have to laugh
