Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Listening Library
Published: October 8th 2013
Series: Heroes of Olympus # 4
How I Served It: Audiobook
How I Got It: Library
Summary: "At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea's forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?
They have no choice. If the demigods don't succeed, Gaea's armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus." -- Goodreads
The hardcover edition of this book has been sitting on my shelf since October 8th, 2013. It was at the point where I'd forgotten I bought it! Call me a wimp but Riordan's hardcover books are a commitment and, frankly, my purse isn't big enough to squeeze them into. So for the past summer every time I've thought about reading The House of Hades, I'd end up opting for a smaller book or a book that my library had in e-book form instead. I know, I know, wimpy. But then suddenly it was late August and The Blood of Olympus already had cover art and I knew it was time to suck it up and... the library had it on audiobook. Audiobook is actually how I experienced all five of the original Percy Jackson books, so in many ways it felt like coming home.
The plot of this book was pretty simple compared to some of the past Heroes books; Percy and Annabeth travel across Tartarus to get to the Doors of Death and escape/cut off Gaea's supply of monsters. The others have to travel to mortal world's Doors of Death to let Percy and Annabeth out. Everyone makes a bunch of delightful (to read, not for the characters to experience) pit-stops, but for the most part it's a pretty linear plot. Not that that makes it boring, cause it really doesn't. I can honestly say that I wasn't bored at any point in this. And you know why? Characters.
Riordan has always been awesome at characters. The only bad thing about the original series was that it focused on just the core three (and occasionally Nico or Bianca or Rachel or others). The best thing about Heroes is that he gets to play with so many strong and distinctive characters. I don't know how he keeps them all so distinct but he does. Each demigod has a voice and it's impossible to mix them up. And they all talked a lot in this book. Seriously, this was like the most character development I've ever read in a novel. Not a single one of the seven ends the book the same way they started it... and while I guess excessive amounts of growing up is bound to happen in a book filled with adolescents, it was kind of refreshing.
It definitely felt like a penultimate book, you know? Probably because of all the character growth; it was clear they were getting ready for something big. I like how, even though this book clearly mostly exists to set up the big finale, the story could still stand alone. It was still exciting and dramatic and finally answered some questions (though I'm pretty sure Blood is just going to be a giant answer guide...). Plus every single character had a moment in which they were able to shine and a moment in which they realized how strong they were. I know all of the skills they learned in this volume will come into play in the next, and I'm sooooooo excited.
Maybe I'm too much of a girl sometimes, but I do wish there had been a bit more acknowledgement/development of the relationships in the book. Outside of Leo. His story (and I won't name names or spoil spoils), was nothing less than adorable and I'm stoked to see it come to fruition. I know all of the major couples (Percabeth, Jason/Piper & Hazel/Frank) are all established, but I also feel like Percabeth was the only one who got any real screen time. And, no complaints, but they're kind of the most solid of the three, so while I love seeing them in action, I feel like Piper and Jason were completely abandoned. And while Frank and Hazel had some big moments I feel like the amount of changing they each did as individuals should have affected their relationship in some palpable way.... but I guess we'll see in Blood.
Somewhat spoiler:
Oh, and the 'Nico thing.' I know a lot of people were really upset about it, or confused or whatever, but I actually kind of liked the twist. I thought it worked really well in the 'huh this makes a lot of things make sense but I never would have though of it without guidance' way. So props to Riordan... I wonder if this was always the plan? I feel like it was. It added a whole new dimension to why Nico is such a loner. And I can't oversell how cool it is that Nico can be gay in a ya/children's book. I'm not going to go on my equality mantra here, but the fact that this is such a casual thing Riordan did... I don't know, its a real sign of how times are changing.
The Final Noodle: Five Spoons Up, I want seconds.
I think this is my favorite Rick Riordan book yet... or well, at least it's easily, definitely my favorite in this series. If you've been keeping up with Heroes, don't quit now. If you read the original five Percy Jackson books and haven't started Heroes, you should. If you haven't read ANY of the books then, Dude, get on it.
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