The Lost Hero

Oh, how happy I am that Rick Riordan is back with some more Greek mythology stories. I've missed percy Jackson since he finished his quests, saved the gods on Mt. Olympus, and completed his prophecy. Although he is not in THE LOST HERO, other than just his name being mentioned, he still plays an integral role. I loved being taken back to Camp Half Blood, and some familiar characters, as we met three new demigods who we learn are incredibly important to the world as the gods have set it up now. THE LOST HERO has it all: adventure, battles, comedy, friendship, family drama, mythology references, saving the world urgency, excitement, mystery, and a little teen romance thrown in for good measure all in a quick read book.In THE LOST HERO we meet Jason who doesn't remember who he is or where he's from - he just pops up one day on a school field trip. He's sitting next to Piper, who has her own issues because she keeps stealing things to get her famous father's attention and also thinks Jason is her boyfriend. Sitting near them is Leo who brings most of the comic relief to the story. When the monsters attack, we come to find out that Jason can speak Latin and refers to the gods by their Roman names. When the three are rescued and taken to Camp Half Blood, we meet up with lots of familiar characters and hear a new prophecy, and find out the parentage of the three new characters and what their quest will be. Along the way we meet new minor gods and goddesses, lots of mythological animals and people, and go along on their journey to building the friendship of Jason, Piper, and Leo and saving a major goddess.The thing I really love about Rick Riordan's writing is that it's pretty straight forward and written at a great middle grades level. That means it will be easily accessible/readable to all of my eighth grade students; however, as Percy's fans have grown, so has the size of the new series of books - this one tops out at 553 pages. The beauty is that because of the excitement and pacing of the story, I never wanted to stop reading it or put it down. Another change that was made for this series, that I really enjoyed, is that it is actually told from three different character's points-of-view. The book is written in third person, but when we first meet the main characters, we're reading from Jason's perspective, then after two chapters we move to Piper's, and then after another two chapters we get Leo's. I liked that the timing of the change was consistent throughout the book allowing me to know what was coming, but also each chapter was titled the character's name from whose perspective it was written.This book nicely sets up the larger premise for this new series by Rick Riordan - but I won't give that away here because I don't want to spoil the story! Luckily, we'll be getting new Rick Riordan books every six months alternating between The Kane Chronicles series and The Heroes of Olympus series - with the next heroes book, THE SON OF NEPTUNE coming out in a year.THE LOST HERO is a must-read book for everyone who loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, Battle of the Labryinth, and The Last Olympian. You won't be disappointed and will be so happy to be back in this world again. And if you haven't read the others yet, you need to!Review originally posted at Heise Reads & Recommends

Oh, Rick Riordan, you are a God yourself. Or at least a demigod! Your books are amazing, they suck me in so quickly I have to save them for long weekends, and I really wish I was a demigod (without the monsters of course). I am not sure which God or Goddess I'd like to belong to, but I know I wouldn't want to belong to Hades- what a creeper! My only complaint? Why in all of Mount Olympus can't you save all your books in a series and release them together?! I really can't wait a whole year for the next book!After the amazing conclusion of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Riordan has created another little gem, The Heroes of Olympus. The first book in the series, Lost Heroes, doesn't disappoint. It is full of Greek myths, some Roman mythology for good measure, sprinkled with some familiar characters like Annabeth, Chiron and our favorite Gods and Goddesses (in all their ridiculous glory). While Percy Jackson may not be present, his mysterious disappearance is still in the background as some of the heroes go off to find him. The focus of the story, though, is three demigods who are thrown together in a Hail Mary attempt to save the Gods from the new threat brewing. Percy may have finished off the Titans in the first series, but he really ticked of their mother, the Earth mother Gaia herself, and she can be one mean old lady.Now Jason, Piper, and Leo, all demigods with special circumstances and powers, must go on a quest to find Piper's kidnapped father, find out why Jason's memory has been wiped, and stop whatever is threatening the Gods. Unfortunately, there are plenty of saucy or wicked Gods and spirits out their to derail their quest. Can they find the kidnapped Goddess in time to save her and stop Gaia from awaking? Should they trust each other? What the heck is up with creepy mud giants?!This was an amazing first installment to this new series. I loved having a new series with new main characters, but familiar ties to places like Camp Halfblood and characters from the first series made it seem like an extension of the first series- it was the best of both worlds!! Since the Percy Jackson books are not terribly long, if a student made it through the five books in that series, this would be the next graduated step. Topping out at over 550 pages, it is like two Percy Jackson books in one, but the mutual characters and setting along with fun new themes and quests make it an exciting new adventure. The writing style and skill level is the same as the first series, relatively accessible for a middle school student through high school (especially for low-skilled high school students because it is still fun and exciting- not at all juvenile). Give Jason, Piper, and Leo a chance- you won't be sorry!

Conforme descrito

My 8 year old son says that this book is VERY good. There were lots of details and reading it was fun.

Gostei

My 13 year old son is very into this series, loves the Greek god references and adventure

Fantasy set in modern time with such engaging plot and humor its so interesting i just pray rick writes more of the PFU percy fictional universe like MCU in movies