Oh, Series Books

Somebody on Reddit suggested that I add graphics to each entry, so this fancy looking cover is my attempt at doing so. I also went back and added pictures for some other entries as well, but then I got tired of copy/pasting, so I stopped. Does it look fancy yet?

I finished The Lost Hero, but I don't feel finished. It's a series book, so now of course I have to go and order the sequel.

Anyway, an awesome book. For those of you who have read or heard anything about Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, this book follows that one. I haven't read Percy Jackson, nor did I even realize that this book was at all related to that book until I started reading it, so having read it is not essential to your understanding of this book.

The Lost Hero seems to have picked up where Percy Jackson left off: the Titans have been defeated and things have more or less returned to normal. Except that one day, this kid Jason wakes up on a school bus with a girlfriend (Piper) and a best friend (Leo), but zero recollection of either. He and his friends eventually find their way to Camp Half-Blood, which is the same place Percy Jackson went to when he found out he was related to a Greek God. Because that's what this camp is for: the demi-god children of Greek Gods and Goddesses. Leo finds out he's the son of Hephaestus, the God of the force; Piper finds out she's the daughter of Aphrodite, Goddess of love; and Jason finds out he's the son of Zeus, God of the skies. Then they have to go on a quest, because if they don't the whole world will end.

Coming from somebody who hasn't read Percy Jackson, I can guess that this book more or less has a similar plot to the other one. Do I care? Not at all. The story line was compelling enough to keep me reading (I read 200-odd pages today), the characters were interesting, and the ending was cliff-hangery-enough that I'm going to buy the sequel so I can find out what happens next (and maybe how it ends).

The characters were actually one of my favorite parts. Being that Jason is the son of Zeus, he is somehow the star of the book. However, unlike in Harry Potter, his two sidekicks, Leo and Piper, are given equally interesting backgrounds and unique characterizations. In fact, my favorite character was Leo, the sarcastic son of a mechanic and Hephaestus. His humor and ingenuity throughout the book made him one of the more important characters. Whereas J.K. Rowling seemed to have to work to make Ron Weasley important to Harry, Leo is an invaluable asset to the success of the quest. And the necessity of Leo comes naturally to the story.

In terms of classroom usage, this is definitely useful for getting students excited about learning about Greek and Roman myths. The story talks a lot about Jason and the Argonauts (duh), along with references to Medea, King Midas, Gaea and Ouranos, Kronos, and the roles each of the Gods plays in making the world function (or not, as the case may be). I know that I didn't remember that much of Medea, which left me clicking on link after link on Wikipedia, trying to learn more about her story (while, of course, forgetting the garlic bread in the oven and subsequently burning it -what a dangerous game we lifelong learners play). I can definitely see putting this book in the hands of a couple of readers eager for some adventure, then hooking them into Greek mythology so they can better understand the significance of the myths as they are told in the book. While the book is probably too long to work as a read aloud (550 pages, approximately), if enough students read it, Greek myths could be the next big thing in a classroom. The book isn't leveled by F&P, but if I had to guess I'd say it's a Y or Z, so hang onto this book for upper level readers.

Oh, and read it yourself, because it's just that good of a book.