Greeks Beat the Romans, Hands Down

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Reading this book, I got an inkling of what it would be like if J.K. Rowling wrote a new Hogwarts series, with Harry and Co. as mentors.

Don't do it, J. Ro.  Rick Riordan is a far more skilled writer than you, and he fell short of the mark.

In this first volume of his Heroes of Olympus series, Riordan introduces us to three new fledgling demi-gods: Jason, an amnesiac who learns that he can fly; Piper, a not-really-kleptomaniac; and Leo, the mechanical genius who is haunted by his mother's death at (he thinks) his hands.  In due course they find out who their godly parents are (some nice twists here - one of them is the child of the Roman aspect of one of the Greek gods) and shortly thereafter are off on a quest to save an imprisoned deity and, of course, stop the end of the world as we know it.

Oh, and that Percy guy? He's missing in action. He's mentioned a lot, but we never get to see him. (You'll find out why about two pages from the end, and yeah, that was a nice twist as well.)

I liked this book.  There was plenty of action, Leo and Piper are cool characters (Jason, the protagonist, is oddly un-charismatic for the child of a major deity) and the references to famous and not-so-famous myths are a blast. (What's better than a book that makes you feel smart.)  What I didn't get was the "Oh my god, I can't wait to read the next one, let me go on Barnes and Noble and order it RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" feeling.   Part of this, I think, was the fault of the shift from a first-person (which all of the Percy books had) to third person point of view.  One of the things I enjoyed about the first five books was Percy's smart-ass, sardonic narration, and that was sorely missed in this book.

4 out of 6 stars.