So I had intended to leave off from delving back into the Greek myth that never ends for a while, I've got a backlog of grownup books waiting for me at home. As you remember if you've been listening to my grousing, I like Riordan's work, but I've got to be in the right frame of mind to trip the light fantastic. I was resolved until I happened to be left at work without a book to read and when I wandered to the Reading classroom next door there it was on the end of a shelf. And I thought, why the hell not, its a Friday, the kids are taking a quiz, lets do this.In retrospect, a very good way to spend a Friday afternoon. When my Reading teacher friend and I had discussed the fact that I was stuck on The Red Pyramid and its dual narrators and more grown up humor she told me I'd like The Lost Hero. Which I did, Riordan entertains many favorite Greek myths that somehow eluded him in the Percy Jackson series, and brings in a few more unexpected ones.
The plot lines are more complex than some of the other stories, but in this case they weave together quite well and nothing seems random or misplaced. The hefty ~500 pages leave plenty of room to ensure everything gets its due. The continuation of the Percy Jackson series isn't overpowering, and we are treated to a whole other side of our old favorites, and Percy's absence does make my heart grow fonder of our old friend. The three way narrative is certainly a departure, and is different from the back and forth bickering tone of The Red Pyramid. The three narrators Jason, Piper, and Leo are very different from one another both in personal history and motivation. They often forge their on paths, making the book sometimes seem like a personal story for each of them. The fact that Jason is wracked with amnesia and both Piper and Leo have memories altered by the mist only adds to the confusion at points. Riordan is certainly more guarded, less inclined to give away major plot points, keeping his secrets until the bitter end.
The question of Greek versus Roman interpretations of polytheism has long been something readers demanded from Riordan, and he finally starts to satisfy in The Lost Hero, in fact the big revel at its end is that there is a Roman Camp Half-Blood out near San Francisco and Jason is its equivalent of Percy Jackson. Not a whole lot is actually said about differences between greek and Roman views of the gods, other than that the Romans saw their gods as more violent and warlike. Riordan does take the chance however to explore some of the less prominent gods and goddesses in this book making Piper a daughter of Aphrodite, who is something more than superficial and Leo a son of Hephestus with brains as well as brawn. All in all this book is just deeper, I think often in the Percy Jackson books he had to hold back on description for the sake of brevity to meet the appropriate length for adolescent readers. Considering the man is pretty much set for life he can write as much as he damn well pleases now, and his writing has improved as a result of it.
