The Heroes of Olympus #1: The Lost Hero

Basically an extension for the much acclaimed Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Presenting before you all my views of The Heroes of Olympus #1 The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan.

Here is the summary of the book:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out. Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

Where there are Greek Gods, you bet you'll find their Roman counterparts as well. The Greek gods came first before the Roman ones, so while the greek bunch might be considered ancient, the roman ones are a bit more disciplinary and a bit more on the modern side. Technically as the history books say the romans took to the Greek gods are polished or improved them a little bit.

Anyways our story begins with a different set of trio - Jason, Leo and Piper. These three are best friends but there is a bit of a problem, Jason doesn't really remember who he really is or where he comes from but only the fact that he just woke up on the bus for the school trip to the grand canyon. Things go crazy when a storm spirit attacked them at the Grand Canyon and they have nothing to do except well fight for their lives. Jason realizes he could fly and had an amazing coin which could turn to a sword. Things go much more weirder when a bunch of people appeared, Annabeth and Butch asked for a guy named Percy Jackson. Of course, they couldn't understand what was that about. Jason, Leo, Piper then whisked to Camp Half Blood, well of course they go there - they are demigods.

But Camp Half-blood has got a predicament of its own - Percy Jackson is missing. Yup the beloved hero and son of Poseidon has gone MIA, no trace at all. The only positive factor he is not dead - yet. So Jason, Leo and Piper get themselves well acquainted with the camp while trying to fit-in. But trouble is not far behind. For some reason the Olympians have gone mum, literally. They are no longer answering the prayers or the summons. Our current trio is having troubles of their own. Jason is getting little glimpses of his past, Piper has her own problems (dad gone missing) and Leo is seeing ghosts. And that is not the only problem here - trouble is brewing - something far older than the gods or the titans themselves is stirring.

So this book marks the beginning of the new series and since it is an extension for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, so we cannot talk about this book without talking about the series now can we! So what made that series so likable? Well firstly it was a whole new concept and the bonus point was - the gradual growth and change of our protagonist. It takes Percy a lot of time to fill the position of a hero, the journey and the whole transition period between this interim was what made the series so interesting to read and we could easily connect and those hilarious chapter titles - "Grover unexpectedly looses his pants"..."We get advice from a Poodle" and "I sit on the hot seat" or the snippy comments also didn't hurt. But in The Lost Hero - Jason, Leo and Piper....well are heroes. No transition necessary. Jason tries to be Percy, Piper feels like an outcast and Leo is insecure and sometimes even jealous. The three try to fill the roles of the original trio but fail. Its like they are just put there and we readers must deal with it. They are not given the space to evolve like Percy, Annabeth and Grover had.

While the above mentioned points give it a bad name and but it had a definite quality - you couldn't put it down for a second even if you want to. The best part of the book can be pointed at the whole idea of Greek and Roman camps, which indicates more character-to-character conflicts than ever before. The part which will doubtlessly hold readers on tenterhooks is the news of what has happened to Percy.

That reminds me - stay connected as I go through the next book The Son of Neptune, which if the title is understood deals with our beloved character Percy, and what's been happening to him during the time he was missing in action.