The Son of Neptune

     Another great book by Rick Riordan.  Percy finds himself in California this time, fighting Gorgons who won't die.  These Gorgons are greeters from Bargain Mart with big buttons on their vests and silver trays loaded with free samples.  Although Percy puts up a good fight, these Gorgons keep coming back to life.  Death has been kidnapped and the monsters reform as fast as Percy can kill them.
     As Percy escapes on a free sample tray, he encounters Juno and carries her across the Tiber River to Camp Jupiter.  By doing so, Percy loses the protection of the River Styx and chooses a life of pain and possibility.
     Percy becomes a member of the Fifth Cohort with the two kids who save him from the Gorgons - Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque.  After the nightly war games, Frank is claimed by his father Mars.  Percy, Frank, and Hazel are sent on a quest to free Thanatos, the god of death, from captivity in Alaska.
     On their way, they face many monsters and have wonderful adventures.  I love the new characters in the book.  In Greek tradition, they meet a blind man who sees and knows everything.
     Ella is another favorite.  She is a small, kind-hearted Harpy that remembers everything she reads, including prophecies.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when she falls in love with Percy's cyclops brother - Tyson, my favorite character in the series.  They were very cute together.
      I also like the Hyperboreans, bright blue, peaceful giants, living in Alaska  For some reason, they seemed to fit Alaska well.  I could visualize them going through Alaskan life at peace with nature and immune to the angst of the humans and monsters below.
     Arion was another fun character.  Who wouldn't love riding a gold-eating horse at the speed of light?  He also has a trash mouth, but we never have to actually hear the words, since Percy is the only one who understands horses.  
     Of course, I also like Octavian.  In the ancient days of Rome he would have read animal entrails for signs.  At Camp Jupiter, he reads the stuffing of stuffed animals instead.  That made Nick and I laugh hysterically.    
     My favorite part of the book occurs at Iris' store called Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles or R.O.F.L. for short.  The store is protected by a brilliant rainbow that blinds the monsters trying to get inside.  When Polybotes demands Iris kneel before him, a dark object flies out the window and lands at his feet.  Polybotes yells, Grenade" and orders everyone to the ground.  When it doesn't explode, he looks more closely.  He roars in outrage, "A Ding Dong?  You dare insult me with a Ding Dong?"  It was so unexpected that I couldn't stop laughing.  What a great thing to throw at a giant threatening you to show how little you think of his threat.  A great life lesson in that analogy, as well.  
      The book was fast paced and full of adventures, romance, and monsters.  I enjoyed the writing, the variety of new characters, and the humor.  It was a wonderful addition to the series.  It is going to be really hard to wait for the next book that comes out in the fall.                 

The Lost Hero

      Rick Riordan is now officially one of my all-time favorite authors.  This man is an incredible writer.  I wish I had written this book!
     The Lost Hero is the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series.  I loved the characters in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, so I was leery of a new set of characters.  I knew from the first sentence that I would love these characters just as much as Percy, Annabeth and Grover - "Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day."
     The story alternates between three characters, which is confusing at first.  I would just get into this character's story and then it would switch the point-of-view.  It took a while, but once I got to know the character's better, I was able to keep them straight.  I liked getting to know the perspectives of the three characters.  I did miss the funny chapter titles that Rick Riordan used in the first series though - like "I Accidentally Vaporized my Pre-Algebra Teacher."
     I loved the new monsters/bad guys.  It was fun to see how King Midas would survive in the modern world.  Of course, with all of our current greed, he fit right in.  I also loved Medea and her department store of gently used items of dead demigods.  I was alternately disgusted, sympathetic, and intrigued by her character.  I also liked Aeolus - the Lord of the Winds.  It turns out that the weather is controlled by the God's whims and their needs to reward or punish mortals.  Aeolus runs a weather channel that updates every 12 minutes and he is literally going insane from updating the weather as the Gods change their minds about the weather patterns. "We'll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers..."  He tapped his earpiece.  "Sorry, folks!  Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on!  Sorry, Demeter.  Over in the midwest, I'm not sure what St. Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect winter storms!"
     It is a long book, but the action, humor, and well-developed characters make it a fun read.  I recommend it to all kids, teens, and adults that love fantasy or Greek/Roman mythology.  One of the best books Rick Riordan has written so far.