The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Series: The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1

Review by An P.

Waking up on a bus, Jason does not know where he is. Why is he on a bus holding hands with a girl named Piper. But, most importantly, he does not know who he is. Jason cannot even remember his last name. If you know about the Gods through Greek culture, then this story will expand it and help you more with a bit understanding, even with some surprise!

Synopsis

The novel starts with Jason waking up with his memories wiped clean. Jason later finds out that he is a demigod and protected to be in Half-Blood Camp after a brutal fight that involved supernatural forces, such as storm spirits and satyrs. But, even more surprising, he is claimed to be the son of the Lord of the Sky, Zeus, the most powerful God of all. Dealing with that, he must take on a quest with his friends, Piper (the daughter of Aphrodite) and Leo (the son of Hephaestus). Jason and his friends have visions, dreams that foreshadow things, but they do not know what will happen and how to fight against it.

Praise

From my opinion and others, this story is so good because of its ability to entertain readers through changing points of view. Each chapter there is a new voice and a new story told by Jason, Leo, or Piper. It helps the story so much because we can feel the desperation of Jason when he worries about his memories and his friends at the same time. It helps because we can feel the excitement to go in battles but also deep thoughts involving the father of Leo. It helps, because we can feel the love of Piper for Jason and her courage through how she protects her friend but also worries of her secrets. Based on the time when the character figures out a problem, it seems like the readers get the pieces together, too.

Rick Riordan is also wonderful with technique of foreshadowing and “playing with readers’ minds”. He shows great evidences that seems to make a good connection but still, at some point, it twists. They always surprise us!

Critique

Honestly, I do not know what to say for this. The book is either perfect or I just cannot find any bad things about it. But, some readers tend to have a hard time figuring out some myths and stories and they have to catch up when a character replaces another.

Finally...

The book is an outcome of incredible plot and intelligent writing. To  be honest, some people even thought they were demigods after they read this. I pointed that out so you know how convincing Rick Riordan can be when it comes down to his books. This would be a phenomenal book to read to children, teenagers (not all!), and adults who seek for some stress-relief after a hard day of work!!