(no subject)

[skygiants]

I thought after The Lost Hero that I was used to reading books by Rick Riordan that were not in first person!

And maybe that is true, but what I'm really not used to is reading Percy Jackson's POV in third person, which is probably I think the biggest thing that kept throwing me about The Son of Neptune.

Mind, I liked a lot of The Son of Neptune in principle. I loved Frank - I mean, of course I did, he's giant and clumsy and his soul is a piece of wood - and I like Hazel's story a lot too, although I really wish Rick Riordan were more consistent and had done more with her spoilery culture clash, because that could be so interesting and instead it's mostly ignored. (What I really want is fanfic that does lots with her spoilery culture clash, but I probably won't get it, because fandom never wants the same things I do. ;__;) Also, hey, the main romance of this book is an interracial romance involving no white people at all, which is rare enough that it gets some automatic points from me!

I'm also really interested in the differences between the Roman and Greek demigod cultures, and I think Rick Riordan did a good job there too with making them believably distinct from each other. And I like Reyna! And I like the Amazons! And Frank's grandma! There are a lot of things I like, in short.

And yet I spent a good third of the book just staring at the pages thinking about how I missed Percy's first-person narration, which is really not something I expected. OH WELL.

Comments

[wakeupnew]

OMG BECCA I LOVE FRANK AND HAZEL SO MUCH. Like -- I thought I could not possibly have more feels for new baby demigods than I did for Leo and Piper, AND THEN BOOM. I loved Son of Neptune, though admittedly a huge part of that was (A) whole new demigod culture to roll around in!!!, and (B) I was hilariously bored by Jason in The Lost Hero, despite adoring the other two, so taking a character I already knew and loved and sticking him in the third-wheel-to-two-awesome-characters-who-already-knew-each-other position made it so much more entertaining for me!

the three of them are just so funny and fun together and I half never want them to reunite with the other group because I just want Frank and Hazel and Percy fighting and wisecracking together always ;____;

[wakeupnew]

I totally agree that he could and should have done a lot more with Hazel's culture shock, though, and the lack of first person narration still totally wigs me, too.

[skygiants]

hahahaha I too was SO BORED with Jason in The Lost Hero. There is nothing interesting about him! There is so little interesting about him I sort of forgot it was the Jason book and not the Piper And Leo book so whenever anyone mentioned Jason in this one I was like "who . . .? OH YEAH THAT DUDE."

I would totally read the Continuing Fighting and Wisecracking and Having Dorky Feelings Adventures of Frank and Hazel and Percy! But I want it to be ALL first person for all three of them. THEN WE COULD HAVE HAZEL THINKING IN HILARIOUSLY OUT OF DATE SLANG which really I think is all I want out of life.

(I am also super nervous that he's setting up for all the love triangles next book, with the Leo foreshadowing. DO NOT WANT. I just want everyone to go on being awesome!)

[wakeupnew]

Oh balls, I totally forgot about that foreshadowing. LALALA FINGERS IN MY EARS, FRANK AND HAZEL ARE GOING TO BE FUNCTIONAL AND CUTE TOGETHER WITH NO MELODRAMATIC LOVE TRIANGLES EVER LALALALA

I would so be behind the "EVERYONE IN FIRST PERSON" idea! He does the Kane Chronicle series in two characters' first person POVs; adding one more surely couldn't be that bad!

[skygiants]

I WANT TO JOIN YOU IN THAT LAND. All the foreshadowing was just for the fact that Leo and Hazel and Frank are gonna be awesome friends, that's all, THE END.

Exactly! And also that would mean we get the funny chapter titles back! :D

[kate_nepveu]

I avert my eyes from spoilers to say that I haven't been able to get more than a chapter or two into _The Lost Hero_ because I also miss Percy's narration! So it's not just you.

[skygiants]

I'm glad it's not just me! I was able to get more into it as the book got further on, but it still was a really weird adjustment.

[lacewood]

... It's kind of weird and possibly sad but what I think I miss most about Percy's first-person narration is THE HILARIOUS CHAPTER TITLES THAT WENT WITH IT. (Also, Percy is funnier in first person)

And I totally second the commentor who was cracking up over Percy remembering NO ONE ELSE BUT ANNABETH. OK, Hera, I get that you are the goddess of marriage and maybe, idk, wouldn't want Percy cheating on Annabeth unintentionally, but he doesn't remember HIS MOM even a little? XD

[skygiants]

I MISS THEM SO MUCH. But yeah, I don't know why, they're some mysterious alchemy that turns his first-person narration into comic gold, while his third-person narration is . . . you know, okay?

AND RIGHT? HIS POOR MOM. Not to mention his brother, or the faun with which he has an ACTUAL SOULBOND . . .