With the holiday break from work, I was able to finish House of Hades (Book 4 in Heroes of Olympus) in relatively short order. If you haven't read books one through three, you should read those first, i.e. there will be spoilers to those books in this review. But I will do my best not to spoil this one. I enjoyed all of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books and particularly liked the Kane Chronicles (featuring Egyptian myth and legend). I like The Heroes of Olympus more than Percy Jackson and the Olympians because it adds the culture of the Romans and introduces such fun characters as Leo, Jason, Frank, Hazel, and Piper. Percy and Annabeth are cool and all, but I like meeting new people. And let's face it, the Romans are cool! House of Hades didn't disappoint in the grand scheme. I do have to say that it did have a different vibe for me and I didn't think that some of the tricks that Annabeth and Percy used should have worked, but I still enjoyed myself.
Plot: The heroes of Olympus have been split. The two groups have to shut the Doors of Death or the demigod forces will be overrun with monsters that cannot die. Annabeth, who had just recovered her mother's statue, and Percy have fallen into the very depths of Tartarus - the dark underworld where all monsters come from and return to when they die - and will close the doors from that side. Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank with the newly rescued Nico are headed for Greece to find the House of Hades where they can close the doors from the mortal side. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is how will Percy and Annabeth get out if they shut the doors. While the heroes struggle with this question there are plenty of other things to keep them distracted. With Gods struggling between their Greek and Roman personas it's hard to know what is going to happen. Not to mention Percy and Annabeth. With Nico being the only other demigod to travel to Tartarus, they don't know how they are going to survive the realm of monsters, titans, and giants. They don't even know if they can drink the water. The situation seems drastic and hopeless but as we all know, these heroes were chosen for a reason and there are few things that they can't do. And overcoming drastic and hopeless situations is something they excel at.
Personal favorites: As usual, Riordan writes a good story. I still love the characters in this series and we're able to see more of them. Frank and Leo both have some great development and have to face personal challenges. Hazel and Piper also have some good victory moments. As I mentioned, I really like the non-Percy and Annabeth characters and feel that they add a lot to the world. Percy and Annabeth are great and we get some good development from them as well. The pace was consistent and it was a fun ride. There were some good discussions on what it means to be a true friend and about choosing who you are going to be.
Consideration: There is the usual non-graphic violence in this one as in the other books in the series. There is a scene where there are two references to homosexual attraction. The scene did not discuss anything beyond the fact that such feelings were felt - there was no mention beyond what could be considered "a crush." The reference does not feel forced and builds on the character in question. I did not mind the reference and while I do not support particular behaviors of the homosexual community I was not offended or distracted by the scene. I have to mention that while the last book ended in a cliff hanger the size of Tartarus (literally), the ending to this book felt "too easy." I think this was because of the near constant state of stress from Percy and Annabeth as they waded through Tartarus meant that the tension was already pretty high when they met the climatic battle for the book, so you were a little desensitized to peril. The only thing that caused me to role my eyes a little was some of the tricks that various monsters fell for. Stupid villains aren't hard to overcome, so it doesn't help the heroes look any more heroic when they beat the monsters with tricks that work on anyone less than 5 years old. Small annoyance, not a deal breaker.
I enjoyed the book and immediately loaned it out to by wife's brother who started reading it as soon as he got it. I'm looking forward to the last one and can't wait to see what happens to the characters. The total length was just (barely) under 600 pages.
Plot: The heroes of Olympus have been split. The two groups have to shut the Doors of Death or the demigod forces will be overrun with monsters that cannot die. Annabeth, who had just recovered her mother's statue, and Percy have fallen into the very depths of Tartarus - the dark underworld where all monsters come from and return to when they die - and will close the doors from that side. Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank with the newly rescued Nico are headed for Greece to find the House of Hades where they can close the doors from the mortal side. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is how will Percy and Annabeth get out if they shut the doors. While the heroes struggle with this question there are plenty of other things to keep them distracted. With Gods struggling between their Greek and Roman personas it's hard to know what is going to happen. Not to mention Percy and Annabeth. With Nico being the only other demigod to travel to Tartarus, they don't know how they are going to survive the realm of monsters, titans, and giants. They don't even know if they can drink the water. The situation seems drastic and hopeless but as we all know, these heroes were chosen for a reason and there are few things that they can't do. And overcoming drastic and hopeless situations is something they excel at.Personal favorites: As usual, Riordan writes a good story. I still love the characters in this series and we're able to see more of them. Frank and Leo both have some great development and have to face personal challenges. Hazel and Piper also have some good victory moments. As I mentioned, I really like the non-Percy and Annabeth characters and feel that they add a lot to the world. Percy and Annabeth are great and we get some good development from them as well. The pace was consistent and it was a fun ride. There were some good discussions on what it means to be a true friend and about choosing who you are going to be.
Consideration: There is the usual non-graphic violence in this one as in the other books in the series. There is a scene where there are two references to homosexual attraction. The scene did not discuss anything beyond the fact that such feelings were felt - there was no mention beyond what could be considered "a crush." The reference does not feel forced and builds on the character in question. I did not mind the reference and while I do not support particular behaviors of the homosexual community I was not offended or distracted by the scene. I have to mention that while the last book ended in a cliff hanger the size of Tartarus (literally), the ending to this book felt "too easy." I think this was because of the near constant state of stress from Percy and Annabeth as they waded through Tartarus meant that the tension was already pretty high when they met the climatic battle for the book, so you were a little desensitized to peril. The only thing that caused me to role my eyes a little was some of the tricks that various monsters fell for. Stupid villains aren't hard to overcome, so it doesn't help the heroes look any more heroic when they beat the monsters with tricks that work on anyone less than 5 years old. Small annoyance, not a deal breaker.
I enjoyed the book and immediately loaned it out to by wife's brother who started reading it as soon as he got it. I'm looking forward to the last one and can't wait to see what happens to the characters. The total length was just (barely) under 600 pages.
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