The Son of Neptune

The Son of Neptune

Author	Rick Riordan
Illustrator	John Rocco
Language	English
Series	The Heroes of Olympus (Book 2)
Genre	Fantasy, Greek and Roman mythology, Young adult
Publisher	Disney-Hyperion
Publication date	October 4th, 2011 (hardcover, audiobook CD, Kindle/Nook eBook)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback, audiobook CD, E-book)
Pages	513 (Hardcover)
ISBN	978-1423140597
Preceded by	The Lost Hero
Followed by	The Mark of Athena

The Son of Neptune is the second book in The Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan. It was released on October 4, 2011. So far it has won The Goodreads choice award 2011, making Throne Of Fire the runner-up.

Development

In an interview by Scholastic with Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero, Riordan is questioned about the whereabouts of Percy Jackson. The author hints that the answer would be revealed as Jason's quest progressed. By the end of the book, he said that readers would have a good idea where the second book is going. It led to speculation that the book would explore the events surrounding Percy and his involvement with the Roman Camp for Roman demigods- Camp Jupiter. On May 26, 2011, Riordan released both the cover art and the first chapter of the book confirming such speculation.

According to Rick Riordan's blog, revisions of the third draft were completed on April 2, 2011. Riordan then tweets (@camphalfblood) on 5/15 that the manuscript is completely finished and completely revised/edited. All that is left is publishing, cover art, formatting, etc.

On August 8, 2011, Rick Riordan released a video giving more information about the book and its characters. The video includes pictures of a black haired boy with a bow and arrow in his hands who is later revealed to be Frank Zhang, a blonde haired kid holding a teddy bear later revealed as Octavian, a girl with black hair wearing gold armor and a purple cloak sitting on a throne surrounded by a gold dog-looking creature with red eyes on her left and a silver dog-looking creature on her right also with red eyes, who was revealed on Rick Riordan's blog to be Reyna, and another girl riding a horse named Hazel Levesque.

Plot

The Son of Neptune begins with Percy Jackson being chased by the Gorgon sisters. They intend to kill Percy in order to avenge the killing of their sister Medusa 4 years ago in the lightning thief but Percy has amnesia and since he only remembers Annabeth from his past, does not understand why they are chasing him. He barely escapes with his life and stumbles upon a old lady who is a goddess named Juno. Juno gives him two options: he can carry her across the highway, through the Caldecott, and across the Little Tiber river (though she warns him that when he crosses the river he will lose the Mark of Achilles, feel pain, loss, and misery beyond anything he's ever known and slowly regain his memory); or he can retreat to the safety of the sea and live a long, happy life.

Percy chooses to carry her, and when he gets to Camp Jupiter, a camp for Roman demigods, he meets two other demigods: Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. Percy saves Frank from the Gorgons by creating huge hands from the water of the Little Tiber, and then uses the water of the river to rip the monsters apart. He also loses the Curse of Achilles, since it is a Greek blessing, and Greek magic is washed away by the Little Tiber as it is Roman territory. Percy is taken to Reyna, the camp praetor, who initially dislikes Percy because he ruined her home (Circe's island in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series).

He is interviewed by Octavian, the camp augur. During the war games Percy and his friends impress everyone with his battle skills and instincts. Mars (Ares in Greek), the god of war, then appears and claims Frank Zhang as his son, and says that Frank is to go on a quest. Octavian complains that there has been no prophecy, and Mars pulls out a grenade which transforms into a pen and writes a prophecy: Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die. Mars insists that Percy must go on the quest in order for him to earn some respect; the third person to go on the quest is up to Frank. Frank requests that Hazel also come on the quest. Percy, Frank, and Hazel are to free Thanatos, the god of Death, because monsters are no longer going to Tartarus and souls are escaping from the Underworld. Mars also gives Frank a spear with a dragon tooth tip, advising him to use it wisely, since it has only three charges.

While travelling, Percy struggles to regain his memory. They travel in a little boat, the Pax, which is all that composes the Roman Navy. They stop in Mendocino, where Hazel gets kidnapped by karpoi (grain spirits), but defeats them with help from Percy and Frank. They also see the giant Polybotes, the giant born to oppose Poseidon/Neptune, leading an army to destroy Camp Jupiter. He and his monsters, who include Ma Gasket from the previous book, attack the Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles(R.O.F.L.), which is run by the goddess Iris. After the monsters give up, she advises Percy, Frank, and Hazel to look for Phineas, another mortal returned to life by Gaea, who is killing harpies for sport, since they can only eat from his table. Phineas asks Percy to capture a particular harpy called Ella for him, in exchange for the location of Alcyoneus's camp, who is the eldest giant and is born to oppose Hades. Percy goes to find Ella, discovering that she can memorize anything she reads. They decide to make a gamble: Phineas and Percy will both drink a vial of gorgon blood. One will die, the other will be healed (Percy, his memory; Phineas, his sight). Phineas accepts, and they drink a vial each. Percy prays to Gaea to give the safe one to the more important person, and he receives the healing vial, while Phineas die and gives them the location of the camp: Hubbard Glacier. They next make shore at Seattle, where they discover that the Amazons are running the online company Amazon.com. The Queen, Hylla, initially refuses to help them, but relents after forgiving Percy for destroying her home in the Sea of Monsters, and seeing Hazel tame the fastest horse in the world, Arion, helps them escape from Otrera, the first Queen of the Amazons who returned from the dead. Arion then carries them in chariot to the glacier, where they confront Alcyoneus. Hazel reveals that she had died, but that Nico di Angelo (a son of pluto or in greek form Hades) saved her from the Fields of Asphodel, while looking for his other sister, Bianca Di Angelo. They also make a stop at Frank's grandmother's house, where she reveals that Frank has the family gift passed down to him from Periclymenus, the Prince of Pylos, that he can change into any animal. The house is destroyed by Laistrygonian giants, and they escape, while Frank's grandmother presumably escapes using the gift.They fly to Alaska in a plane piloted by a veteran of the legion. They then ride on Arion until Anchorage, Alaska. From there they hitch a ride, but the vehicle breaks down, and they have to walk. Hazel then saves Percy from falling into muskeg, and refuses Gaia's offer of her old life back. They are then attacked by gryphons near Seward, Alaska, and barely manage to defeat them. When they finally get to the glacier, they find Thanatos in chains. His chains cannot be broken unless melted by the fire of life i.e. Frank's stick of life. Hazel attacks Alcyoneus (the giant born to oppose Pluto/Hades), who cannot die in the land he is born in (the land they are currently in), while Percy is defending Frank from hundreds of ghosts. Percy then destroys the edge of the glacier, taking all the ghosts into the sea. They take Alcyoneus over the borders of Alaska to Canada and as he charges Frank, Frank transforms into an elephant (his family gift) and Hazel kills Alcyoneus. After that Frank and Hazel rushed back to where Percy had gone over the edge of the glacier, and Percy was standing there unharmed. Percy regains his memory on the journey back to Camp Jupiter. They speed back to Camp Jupiter, knowing that the Camp is under attack. Percy takes charge and leads the Romans into battle, with the help of his old friends, Tyson, his brother and a cyclops, and Mrs. O'Leary (a giant hellhound). The Romans defend their camp with valor after discovering that Percy saved the golden eagle from Alcyoneus. Percy then challenges the giant Polybotes (born to oppose Poseidon/Neptune) to a duel, as the rest of the camp fought his army. Percy calls to Terminus, the border god, to help him defeat the giant. Percy eventually beat Polybotes after a treacherous battle by using the head of Terminus' statue as a weapon,which was the god's manifestation in the camp(thus a demigod and god working together). Percy is named as the praetor, a leader of the Roman camp. At the end of the book Hazel realizes that Leo closely resembles her "boyfriend" Sammy (back from when she was alive first). There are only two problems; that she had first died 70 years ago and that she and Frank like each other. The whole camp waits as Argo II, the ship with the head of Festus, shows who its occupants are.

Major characters

Main article: List of characters in the Camp Half-Blood series

• Percy Jackson: A demigod son of Poseidon, who was the main protagonist in the first Camp Half-Blood series. He and Jason Grace have been swapped, causing their memories to be taken away and Percy is sent to Camp Jupiter (the Roman equivelant of Camp Half-blood), from which Jason originally came. He goes on a quest with Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque to save Thanatos, Pluto's lieutenant and the guardian of the doors of death. He succeeds and at the end of the book, leads the Roman camp into battle against Gaea's forces and is made Praetor by the campers. His memories are restored at around the middle of the book, as Percy drinks the gorgons' blood when he challenges Phineas.

• Frank Zhang: A demigod son of Mars, he is also related to Poseidon through his mother's family. He has the ability to shapeshift from his Greek ancestor, the Prince of Pylos, Periclymenus, and is an excellent marksman with a bow. His life is linked to a stick of wood, and, as his grandmother tells him, when it is burnt up, he will die. He is picked to lead a quest to free Thanatos. He has a crush on Hazel. Despite Frank's father choosing him to lead the quest, Percy makes most of the team's decisions. By the end of the book, Frank decides to forget about worrying how long he'll live and just do his duty as his mother would - Mars implies this is what Frank will contribute to fulfilling the Prophecy of Seven. Frank is the only known demigod of both Greek (Poseidon) and Roman (Mars) descent with different abilities from different gods.

• Hazel Levesque: A demigod daughter of Pluto, she was born in 1929 and lived in New Orleans. Her mother asked for the riches of the earth and so precious metals and gems rise to the surface near Hazel, but they cause misfortune in those who keep them. She was tricked into raising Alcyoneus in Alaska by Gaea and died in 1942. Nico di Angelo rescued her from the Fields of Asphodel, giving her a second chance. She is the third member of the trio that goes on a quest for Thanatos. She harbors feelings for Frank and they kiss near the end of the book. She tames Arion, a horse the Amazons kept for their greatest warrior.

• Nico di Angelo: A demigod son of Hades, he pretends not to know or acknowledge Percy. He is the half brother of Hazel, and brought her back to life instead of his sister Bianca because she decided to be reborn in the underworld. He attempts to help free Thanatos by finding the Doors of Death from the underworld, but it is later revealed he has been captured by Gaea.

• Reyna: A demigod daughter of Bellona, she is the sister of Hylla (queen of the Amazons) and they were on Circe's Island in The Sea of Monsters. Although when Percy asks her if she knows anything about his past, she lies at first but eventually tells him of their encounter in Circe's Island. She is a praetor of the Twelfth Legion. Like all the other Romans, she has a tattoo on her arm that spells "SPQR", which stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, which roughly translates into "The Senate and the People of Rome". She has dark hair and wears a purple cloak over her golden armor and wears a lot of golden medals.

• Octavian: is a Roman legacy who performs auguries, reading the will of the gods by performing a ritual that involves sacrificing a stuffed animal (in the past real animals were used). It is still unknown whether he is one of Percy's allies or enemies. It is implied, however, that he may be responsible for the attempted murder of another camper named Gwen. He is also the descendent of one of Apollo's sons. He laments the loss of Sybilline prophecy books. He is an excellent orator, and easily manipulates the senate at the hearing, which frustrates Reyna. It is mentioned that he is blackmailing Hazel either about her curse, or about her being born in 1929.It is also known in the book that Octavian suggests to everyone that Percy is a Greek spy, working for Gaea.

• Grandma Zhang: Frank's grandmother, who helped his mother raise him. She doesn't approve of her grandson's un-Chinese name, preferring to call him Fai, and seems to think he's a bit stupid, although she loves him. She entrusted Frank with the stick that represents his life after his mother's funeral, knowing that Lupa would come to take him to Camp Jupiter soon and that she herself would soon be claimed by death. She is dying when Frank and the others arrive at her house but quickly takes charge of the situation, telling them that weapons are stored in the attic and to go to a friend of hers to get to Alaska. She also convinces Frank to not worry about her and just make sure he finishes the quest. The house is then burned by Laistrygonians, but Frank thinks he sees a bird fly away from the burning house, so it seems she used the family shapeshifting power to escape.

• Ella: is a Harpy, half-bird, half-woman. She has red hair and feathers, grey eyes, and a bony structure. She was one of the harpies sent to torture Phineas by stealing his food. She has memorized a lot of books and can recite from them word for word. She has extensive knowledge about the Romans and their culture. It is possible she may have read books of prophecy, perhaps even the Sybilline books that Octavian wants. It is mentioned towards the end of The Son of Neptune that Ella was going to have to be hidden from Octavian because of her knowledge. Tyson appears to have a crush on her. Ella's name is a reference to one of the harpies from the original myth; however, in the original myth, the harpy in question was named Aello, not Aella. (Aella was an Amazon.)

• Thanatos: is the Greek god of death. Thanatos is a lieutenant of Pluto (Hades) and is captured by Alcyoneus.He is rescued by Percy, Hazel and Frank, although they all three nearly died in the process. It is said he is confused with Cupid often, Percy even calls him "a really buff Cupid".This is because, the book mentions how beautiful Thanatos is. Thanatos carries a black Ipad with him to check the list of souls needed to be reaped. He also mentions how closely related love and death are.

• Juno: The goddess of marriage and Zeus's wife. Also known as Hera in Greek mythology. She swaps Percy with Jason and puts Percy to "sleep" for eight months so the timing of his visit to Camp Jupiter would be right. Juno hints a lot about the prophecy, and pulls all the strings to unite the seven demigods, even disobeying her husband, Zeus [(known as Jupiter among the Romans)], in the process.Juno often gets angry or jealous at Zeus for having affairs with mortal women.

• Gaea: (also spelled Gaia)The goddess of the earth, and the mother of all living things. The mastermind behind Hera's imprisonment. She has also been dealing with Phineas and Otrera, whom they encounter in Portland and Seattle, respectively. When the Olympian gods took over in ruling the Earth, Gaea became extremely angry and took on a new husband Tartarus (the spirit of the abyss)thus giving birth to the 12 giants.

• Annabeth: daughter of Athena and Percy's girlfriend. She was one of the main characters in the first series. Percy mentions her several times throughout the book as the only person he remembers. He sees her in a dream once. Percy eventually remembers everything at the end of the book. It is implied that she will have a vital role in the Prophecy of Seven and will appear in the third book, The Mark of Athena. Juno hints at this and also warns Percy that Annabeth will cause great trouble for the Seven. Percy angrily ignores this. Of course, they have a romance.

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter is the home base of half-bloods of Roman descent, where the story begins and ends. It is located in a hidden valley in the shadow of Mount Diablo and consists of barracks, a small Roman-style city called New Rome and the Field of Mars, where war games are held. It is bordered by the Little Tiber, which possesses the same boundary-enforcing magic as the original Tiber (for example, when Percy wades through it while fleeing the Gorgons, it strips him of the Mark of Achilles because Greeks cannot enter New Rome).

Although Percy can't remember his old half life for most of the story, he notices several differences between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood:

• At Camp Half-blood, satyrs are employed to help protect and train half-bloods. At Camp Jupiter, fauns are barely tolerated roadside beggars.
• Greek half-bloods are told prophecies and the will of the gods through the Oracle of Delphi, the current host of which is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Roman half-bloods and legacies instead rely on practices such as augury, and the Sybilline Books (ancient prophecies once consulted by the emperors) were apparently lost when Rome fell, thus making them more advanced than the Greeks (they knew the Prophecy of the Seven long before it was revealed to the Greeks).
• The prophecy that the seven half-bloods must fulfill to stop Gaea is known as the Second Great Prophecy at Camp Half-blood and was foretold by Rachel at the end of the Titan War. At Camp Jupiter, it is known as the Prophecy of Seven and is centuries old.
• Greek half-bloods tend to have very dangerous lives, even with the protection of Camp Half-blood, only a few of them ever lived long enough to have children(i.e. Daedalus, son of Athena). At Camp Jupiter, many half-bloods live to an advanced age and even raise families or retire in New Rome - many of the campers are children or grandchildren of half-bloods rather than half-bloods themselves. In The Son of Neptune, it is revealed that Percy has ideas to live in the city with Annabeth if they survive the Great Prophecy.
• Camp Half-blood divides campers into cabins depending on who their Olympian parent is. The campers at Camp Jupiter are divided into five equal cohorts with no relation to their Olympian ancestor. The Fifth Cohort is believed to be cursed, since they lost their eagle during the first attempt to fulfill the Prophecy of Seven, which was imbued with the power of Jupiter, and Jason Grace, who seemed to be on the way to restoring their fortunes,was lost.
• The Romans are more organized than their Greek counterparts, as they have a specific area for the campers (the actual camp itself), a city for retired campers and their families, entire forts built for war games, and a hill on which the temples of five major Roman gods reside. The Greek camp only has the twelve cabins (now approximately 20), the Big House (headquarters), and the more modern additions such as the basketball courts and the climbing wall; however, the Greeks make more use of cavalry with their pegasi – at Camp Jupiter, the only pegasus is Reyna's (Scipio-"Skippy") and the unicorns are mainly kept for medicinal purposes.
• The Romans are also more conservative about what weapons they use, most campers being equipped in a manner similar to legionnaires. Both Hazel (who wields a cavalry sword) and Frank (who is an archer) are considered weird by the others. Roman weapons tend to made of Imperial Gold and they only know of Celestial Bronze as a legend; Greek weapons are usually Celestial Bronze and they have never heard of Imperial Gold.
• Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto do not seem to have kept the post-war Pact of the Big Three that they made in their Greek identities, as no-one at Camp Jupiter seems to think it's unusual that Jason Grace, Percy Jackson or Hazel Levasque (prior to the revelation that she was born in the 1920s) are their children - although it could be they just think all three brothers broke it. It is also not mentioned if the Roman half-bloods knew about the Great Prophecy foretelling the Titan War, which they would presumably believe Jason to have fulfilled by leading them to victory over the Titans and also that Camp Jupiter destroyed Mount Othrys.
• In Rome, traveling by sea is considered cowardly. Also that Romans fight horribly while Greeks fight strategically and slowly.

Release

The Son of Neptune was given a first printing of three million copies, the largest for the company. Upon release, the book stood at No.1 on the Amazon.com sales rank and ranked #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, USA today bestseller list and The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. It was Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2011.

Promotion

Before full release, Riordan released two chapters. The first chapter was released on his website and the second chapter was read out by Riordan himself on Percy's birthday, August 18. It was posted on the Barnes and Noble website and later deleted. It can now be found on Facebook.

Critical Reception

Most reception has been good, as the book has been called refreshing and captivating; claiming the book will keep you on your toes and you won't want to put it down. Some have said it's an emotional roller coaster and it will please fans old and new. Rick Riordan must be given credit for introducing Greek and Roman mythology to a new generation and with the book, Rick Riordan regained his traction. Some critics have not been so positive about the book, though; saying its characters have flaws, the book's plot is confusing, and that the first half of the book isn't engaging

Sequel

According to Riordan, the sequel, entitled The Mark of Athena, is due to be released on fall 2012.