The Heroes of Olympus

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy (Mythology), Adventure, Middle School

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Year: 2010 - 2014

Ranking: 4.8/ 5

Synopsis

After the series Percy Jackson, Rachel Elizabeth Dare communicates a new prophecy at Camp Half-Blood.

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

To storm or fire the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Our new adventure begins four months after the end of the previous saga. With a new plot that moves on over the last battle with the Titans, the series "Heroes of Olympus" opens the doors again for readers to get into the world of Camp Half-Blood and the adventures of the children of the great gods of Greek mythology.

The story begins featuring Jason, Piper and Leo, our three new characters. Jason wakes up and does not remember anything. Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Leo has a way with tools. All three are on track to a boarding school for difficult children ... but their fate is another.

A few hours later, the three discover that not only are children of Olympian gods but their destiny is to fulfill a crazy prophecy: to free Hera, goddess of fury, from the clutches of an enemy who has long been planning his revenge.

The Author

Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr.  (Born June 5, 1964) is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the adult mystery series Tres Navarre and helped edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on his Percy Jackson series. He helped develop the ten books of The 39 Clues series and wrote the first book in the series, The Maze of Bones. In 2012, he completed a trilogy focusing on Egyptian mythology, The Kane Chronicles, and, in 2014, completed The Heroes of Olympus, the sequel to the Percy Jackson series that focuses on Roman and Greek mythology. He is also planning to write a series based on Norse mythology.

Personal Experience with This Series

NOTE: I CAN GET TO MENTION THINGS ABOUT THE GENERAL PLOT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT CONSIDER IT TO BE SPOILERS. TO SEE THE FIRST BOOK REVIEW ONLY PLEASE CLICK HERE. 

"The Heroes of Olympus" is a saga that I loved. I enjoy it very much and I took my time to read it complete because I did not want to finish it. I can say I liked it much more than the Percy Jackson saga (I'll be doing some comparisons with this saga).

Let's talk about the overall plot of the series. We have a new prophecy that will lead us to endless adventures where the 7 prophecy demigods pass through many incredible things and grow as individuals and as demigods as well. I loved that Rick considered the part of the Roman Gods as well because that gave a whole new flavor to the series.

I liked very much, so much, that the first two books focus only in introducing the new characters because we have two complete books seeing their fears, their desire to prove to themselves and their ability to meet the challenges they faced forward. In the third book, "The Mark of Athena", we finally see them together and embarked on a new adventure that leaves behind two demigods’ camps and focuses on trying to defeat this enemy that is waking up next with the giants, Gaea. But up to here I will talk about the because I do not want to spoil anyone with more details.

I will now focus on the main characters. You could say that the 7 demigods are our main characters right? I think that really is 10, including Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge. Although the coach is always in the background but I think his presence gave a  cute and funny twist to the general plot.

My favorite characters in the whole series were Nico and Leo definitely. Of course I also loved the other characters a lot but I must say that Nico and Leo stole my heart for eternity. We get to know Leo from the first book, he gives a funny view to the story from start to finish but we also realize that underneath that entire humorous outlook and all the sarcasm that he prints to his words hides a person who feels alone. Nico, on the other hand, has matured a lot since the saga of Percy Jackson and now we see a darker and quieter side of him but always with that noble and cute heart that characterized him the first time we saw him with his sister Bianca. They go through a lot and grow throughout the series. Both make you feel sad and make you cry with their love stories and their endings. I completely fell in love with the two characters.

Of the other demigods I have to say, I loved seeing Percy and Annabeth as a couple. These two are the cutest thing in the world. And Percy is a great boyfriend, who would have thought that. Also I have to add that although both had matured a lot in the previous series, for this series in particular, you can see that they are now dealing with working with people who might be as strong as they are, where they are no longer leaders and where they worried more about the future together than in the past.

Jason, Piper, Frank and Hazel grow too much during the saga. Each faces his fears and find their strengths. When the series ends you will not recognize any of the characters for who they were when they started the adventure. Besides that both couples are a beautiful thing. I really liked that this series had much more romance in the air than the previous one, without let this overshadow the importance of the rest of the plot.

The 7 complement each other in a fantastic way. What one cannot do or what one has any flaw, someone else does or have much confidence in it. I loved that each member of the group was essential for the prophecy to turn out well and to defeat all the troubles presented to them as the story progressed.

About Reyna I can say, her character comes to be essential only in the last book but I think for that one book we know her perfectly. At first she looks very confident but then we realize that Reyna also has fears and concerns within her heart. She definitely is indispensable for the end of the series and for me one of the best demigoddesses there, after Annabeth, of course.

As for Rick Riordan’s writing, I have to say that I could see a huge development to when he wrote Percy Jackson. Not that I am an expert in this area but one as a reader does feel like a writer grows if you read a lot from that particular author. Rick gives plenty of adventure to his stories, continues to educate and also gives you that feeling in your heart that makes you love his characters beyond what you could imagine. Take it from one person that did not enjoy that much the first two books of the Percy Jackson’s series. The way he made me feel with this saga is unmatched by anything I've read from him before. I loved it!

Finally I must say that it’s totally and absolutely worth reading this series. If you did not you like the saga of Percy Jackson, keep reading because you'll end up loving it and when you get to "The Heroes of Olympus" you'll realize that it was not at all a waste of time or it wasn’t as bad as you had thought. This is what happened to me. If Rick writes something else in this world of demigods and camp Half-Blood I will definitely read it.

In terms of what book I liked most I must say that I cannot tell between "The House of Hades" and "The Blood of Olympus". The least I liked or the least I enjoyed was "The Mark of Athena" but I think this was because I read the first two books in less than a week and when I reached the third one for some reason I was overwhelmed so it take me a lot of time reading it. After that I took my time to read the last two books and I enjoyed them more than the third one.

I recommend this series to anyone who liked Percy Jackson and those who did not like them a lot too. I recommend it to anyone who likes stories with adventure, action, romance and lots of intrigue. I loved it completely. I hope you read it.