The Heroes of Olympus

The Heroes of Olympus

The Lost Hero The Son of Neptune The Mark of Athena
Author	Rick Riordan
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy, Young-adult fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Publisher	Disney Hyperion
Published	2010-2014
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback) Audiobook
Preceded by	Percy Jackson & the Olympians

The Heroes of Olympus is a fantasy book series written by Rick Riordan and based on Greek and Roman mythology. It is the sequel series to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians pentalogy.

The first book, The Lost Hero, was released on October 12, 2010. The second book, The Son of Neptune, was released on October 4, 2011. The third book, The Mark of Athena, will be released on October 2, 2012 tentatively. Some of the segments in the books are based on information from The Golden Fleece and The Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum. There will be a total of five books in the series, which will end in 2014.

Plot

This series, continuing with its predecessor's pattern, ultimately deals with a prophecy. Given out in The Last Olympian, the prophecy of The Heroes of Olympus will serve as the backbone of this series' events as the main characters try to save their world while meeting the prophecy's message. It reads:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.

To storm or fire the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

This is the second Great Pophecy. In The Son of Neptune it is revealed that the prophecy was previously known to the Romans for many centuries. The Greeks are first made aware of the prophecy in the fifth book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Last Olympian. However, in the first book, The Lost Hero, when Leo Valdez first enters bunker Nine he sees a blueprint of a boat. He realizes that this boat is the same as the one drawn when he was 5 years old. The lines "Prophecy? Unclear. Flight?" were written on the bottom, and the blueprint was dated 1864 hinting, that maybe the prophecy has been heard before but was not passed on. The first two books deal with the introduction of the 7 demigods of the prophecy, the unification of the Greek and Roman Camps, and their plan of going to Rome and eventually Greece.

Novels

After the events of The Last Olympian, the final book in the Percy Jackson series, Gaea, the primordial goddess of the earth, has started to stir and she begins to bring the giants, her children, back to life to depose the gods. Zeus, having been embarrassed by needing the help of the demigods to defeat Kronos and the Titans, insists that the gods not interfere with the mortal world, as he thinks that their interference was the cause of Gaea's awakening.

The Roman aspects of the gods are explored; the gods in the Greek pantheon are, in this series, considered to be the same as the Roman gods (ex. Zeus is Jupiter and Jupiter is Zeus). The gods in this series have numerous children from both their Greek and Roman forms. These children, demigods or half-bloods, are born with a mutual mistrust of the other group and in the past, every time the Greek demigods and the Roman demigods encounter each other they would attack one another, the last time occurring during the American Civil War. During their last encounter with each other, it ended up as their bloodiest fight yet and it forced the gods to force the two apart. Attempting to reunify the two groups, Hera, or Juno, brings Jason Grace (a Roman son of Jupiter) to the Greek camp, Camp Half-Blood, and Percy Jackson (a Greek son of Poseidon) to the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter, so that they can reconcile with one another and help defeat Gaea.

The Lost Hero

Main article: The Lost Hero

Set at least two months after the end of the Percy Jackson series, this book introduces Jason, a teenager who is suffering from amnesia. Jason wakes up on a bus not remembering anything from his past, including his identity. Sitting next to him on the bus are Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, who claim to be his girlfriend and best friend, respectively. On a field trip to the Grand Canyon, a hord of Venti attack the three while their supervising teacher, Coach Gleeson Hedge, reveals himself to be a Satyr, and defends them from the Venti. Jason surprises himself by using a sword disguised as a coin to fight off the spirits and being able to withstand being struck by lightning. Coach Hedge is captured while defending them. After the storm spirits flee, two pegasi land next to them carrying two strangers: a girl named Annabeth, a daughter of Athena and a boy with a rainbow tattoo named Butch, a son of Iris. Annabeth is hostile toward Jason when they meet as she had a vision in which Hera gave her a clue concerning the whereabouts of her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson. She was told to look for the "one with the missing shoe," but Jason, who had lost a shoe in the battle, has no memories of his own identity, let alone Percy Jackson's whereabouts.

Jason, Piper and Leo are taken to Camp Half Blood and are informed that they are demigods, children conceived from a god and a mortal. Upon arriving, Leo and Piper are claimed by their godly parents, Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Jason is revealed to be a son of Zeus and to have a sister, Thalia. He remembers Thalia while seeing a picture of her in Cabin One, the cabin of Zeus' offspring. Less than a day later, the three new demigods are sent on an urgent quest to rescue Hera, the queen of the gods who was being held captive by unnamed forces.

The three friends set off on the back of a giant robotic dragon, Festus, on a cross-country quest to save Hera. Their enemies are under orders from Gaea and are seeking to overthrow the Olympian gods after the defeat of her children, the Titans, in The Last Olympian. Along their way, Jason, Piper and Leo meet and confront: Boreas the North Wind; a trio of Cyclops; the evil enchantress Medea; King Midas; King Lycaon and his pack of Werewolves; and the master of the winds, Aeolus. Aeolus gives the trio an old drawing Leo had drawn which would later prove to be very handy.

At the end the heroes and their friends, the Hunters of Artemis, manage to save both Piper's father, who'd been held for ransom by Enceladus and Hera, whose godly energies were being used to raise the giant Porphyrion. They temporarily stall Gaea's plans, but Porphyrion is able to escape. With part of his memory returned, Jason realizes that he is from the Roman counterpart to Camp Half-Blood that is located somewhere near San Francisco, and that Hera switched him with Percy Jackson, who is now at the Roman camp with no memory of his life at Camp Half-Blood.Leo then builds a flying war ship called the Argo II to fly over to Camp Jupiter.

The Son of Neptune

Main article: The Son of Neptune

The Son of Neptune opens with Percy Jackson being chased by two of the gorgons. They intend to kill Percy in order to avenge the killing of their sister, Medusa. Percy, who has amnesia, does not remember anything about Medusa or killing her. He barely escapes down a hill and stumbles upon a goddess in disguise named June. June, who reveals herself to be Juno, gives him a choice: he can carry her across the highway, through the Caldecott tunnel, and across the Little Tiber river or he can retreat to the safety of the sea and live a long, happy life. She also warns him that if he chooses the former and crosses the river, he will lose the Mark of Achilles, making him feel pain, loss, and misery beyond anything he has ever known but he will slowly regain his memory.

Percy chooses to carry her, and when he gets to Camp Jupiter, the camp for Roman demigods, he meets two other demigods: Hazel Levesque, a daughter of Pluto and Frank Zhang, a son of Mars. Percy saves Frank from the Gorgons by creating huge hands from the water of the Little Tiber, and then uses the current of the river to rip the monsters apart. Percy is taken into the camp. Reyna, the camp praetor, initially dislikes Percy because he had, unknowingly, ruined her home on Circe's Island resort in the Sea of Monsters years ago.

He is interviewed by the camp augur, Octavian, who descends from Apollo. During the war games, Percy impresses everyone by his battle skills and instincts. Mars, the god of war, then appears and informs Frank Zhang that he is his son. Mars insists that Percy must go on the quest in order for him to learn 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 start off with very little supplies for their quest, but they begin their way to Alaska, the land beyond the gods.

While traveling, Percy struggles to regain his memory. Hazel reveals that she had died, but then Nico di Angelo, a son of Hades, saved her from the Fields of Asphodel, while looking for his sister, Bianca (she died in The Titan's Curse and chose to be reborn into a new life before Nico can find her). When they finally get to Alaska they find Thanatos in chains. His chains cannot be broken, unless melted by the fire of life, Frank's stick of life. Percy defends Frank while he melts Thanatos' chains as Hazel attacks Alcyoneus, the giant born to oppose Pluto and Hades. Frank, Hazel, and her horse, Arion, take Alcyoneus over the U.S.-Canadian border, since he may not die in the land he was born, and into Canada. Frank utilizes his family gift of turning into animals and transforms himself into an elephant and fights Alcyoneus, and Hazel kills Alcyoneus. Frank and Hazel rush back to help Percy, but Percy was standing there unharmed after falling into the sea.

Percy regains his memory as they race 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 and Mrs. O'Leary. The morale of the Romans is recharged after discovering that Percy saved the golden eagle from Alcyoneus. Percy then challenges the giant, Polybotes, to a duel and calls to Terminus, the Roman border god, to help him defeat the giant. Percy eventually beats Polybotes by using the head of Terminus' statue as a weapon. The camp then named him a praetor, a leader of the Roman camp. The whole camp waits as the Argo II makes its way into the camp to begin the reunification of the demigods.

The Mark of Athena

The Mark of Athena will be released on October 2, 2012, and will have alternating Point of Views (as in the two previous Heroes of Olympus books and will probably alternate around each person which means it will alternate around 7 people). During his book tour for the The Serpent's Shadow (from the Kane Chronicles Series), Rick Riordan read the first chapter of the Mark of Athena. The first chapter is told from Annabeth's point of view when arriving at the Roman camp in the Argo II. She is constantly wondering about what will happen when the warship touches down at the Roman Camp and what will happen when arriving and meeting her boyfriend Percy Jackson. It is confirmed that for now, Piper McLean has a romantic tie with Jason Grace (it is implied that they are boyfriend and girlfriend). Description of the war ship was also given. It is said to be quite big (at least 200 feet), with many different weapons attached to it. It has an elaborate steering system, consisting of a dubstep sound board, Wii remotes, and many other parts. As the boat sails into Roman territory, the white flag is up, and Jason stands on the bow of the ship, wearing his old praetor's toga and cape over his Camp Half-Blood clothes. Annabeth hopes that this familiar face will make the Roman's think before they blast them out of the sky, and will show them that they are friends and not enemies.

Supplementary works

Main article: The Demigod Diaries

Similar to the The Demigod Files, The Demigod Diaries will be a collection of short stories. It is set to be released August 14, 2012.

It will contain four new stories with character interviews, illustrations, puzzles, and a quiz. The four stories include: Thalia's and Luke's adventures before the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series began; a first-person narrative from Percy's viewpoint as he and Annabeth complete a task from Hermes; and a story involving Jason, Leo, and Piper during their time spent at Camp Half-Blood between The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune. It will also contain a story written by Riordan's son concerning the Demigods who fought for Kronos, after the events of "The Last Olympian", narrated by one such Demigod.

Main Characters

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

Listed are the major characters in the series:

• Percy Jackson: age 16, demigod son of Poseidon, head counselor of Poseidon's cabin; he was switched with Jason Grace before the series began. The first of the seven of the second Great Prophecy. A Greek demigod and a praetor of the 12th legion; boyfriend of Annabeth Chase.
• Jason Grace: age 15; demigod son of Jupiter; switched with Percy Jackson before The Lost Hero; a Roman demigod; former praetor of the 12th legion; the second of the seven of the second Great Prophecy; boyfriend of Piper McLean; brother of Thalia.
• Annabeth Chase: age 16; demigod daughter of Athena; head counselor of Athena's cabin; a Greek demigod; girlfriend of Percy Jackson. She is the last of the seven demigods in the second Great Prophecy.
• Reyna: demigod daughter of Bellona; praetor of the 12th legion; lived on Circe's Island during the Sea of Monsters; a Roman demigod; allows the Argo II to land at Camp Jupiter.
• Hazel Levesque: age 13; demigod daughter of Pluto; returned to life by Nico di Angelo after dying decades prior; the fifth of the seven of the second Great Prophecy; a Roman demigod. Girlfriend of Frank Zhang
• Leo Valdez: age 15; demigod son of Hephaestus; has the ability to control flames; an expert in machinery; head counselor of Hephaestus' cabin; the fourth of the seven of the second great prophecy; a Greek demigod.
• Frank Zhang: age 16; demigod son of Mars; descendant of Poseidon ; ability to shape-shift; a Roman demigod; the sixth of the seven of the second great prophecy. Boyfriend of Hazel Levesque
• Piper McLean: age 15, demigod daughter of Aphrodite; attended Wilderness School with Leo; power to "charmspeak" others; head counselor of Aphrodite's cabin; the third of the seven of the second Great Prophecy; girlfriend of Jason Grace; a Greek demigod.

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter is the monster-protected camp of the Roman demigods, first seen in the Son of Neptune. 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, Temple Hill where the shrines of the Gods are situated, 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 Greek Mark of Achilles).

Although Percy can't remember his old 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 (the Roman word for satyrs) are barely tolerated roadside beggars.

• Greek half-bloods are told prophecies and the will of the gods through the Oracle of Delphi. Roman half-bloods and legacies (descendants of the gods) instead rely on practices such as augury. The Romans also know more prophecies than the Greeks, as they have known the Prophecy of Seven for centuries.

• Instead of dividing campers by their godly parent, campers are divided into cohorts with an equal number of soldiers.

• Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto do not seem to have made 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 Levesque are their children. It is also possible that the Roman demigods simply weren't aware of the oath, as the Roman gods are more distant than their Greek forms.

• Greek half-bloods have shorter and more dangerous lives because they often leave camp for good around adulthood, whereas the Romans can and often do live in a small city within the camp known as "New Rome", with houses like any other city.

• Unlike Camp-Half Blood, which is run by Dionysus and Chiron, Camp Jupiter is run by two campers who hold the position of Praetor, with Reyna being a Praetor of an unknown Cohort, Jason Grace (before Hera switched him with Percy Jackson) being of the fifth cohort and Percy Jackson, also of the fifth cohort.

External links

• Official website