“The Lost Hero” by Rick Riordan is the first book in the “Heroes of Olympus” series, which follows the original “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series. Despite “The Lost Hero” starting shortly after the events of the final book in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” this series is entirely unique in the best way.
“The Lost Hero” follows three new characters named Jason, Piper and Leo who are new to the demi-god safe haven Camp Half-Blood. Shortly after their arrival, they are sent on a perilous quest that appears to be a part of a new, great prophecy.
However, this book has little to do with Percy, Annabeth and Grover, who are the main characters of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
This was disheartening at the beginning of the book. I was aware going in that Percy does not make an appearance in book one of this series, but it made me sad not having him around.
That feeling did not last long, because the new characters brought so much to the table. For example, Piper, who is a daughter of Aphrodite, demonstrated that she is so much more than a pretty face. She is such a great representation that there is more to Aphrodite and her kids than just beauty because she is strong and actually dislikes the normal ideologies of beauty.
She isn’t the only unique character either. Leo is a hilarious character that adds so much humor to the book, but he also is super powerful and knows when to be serious. Leo has a similar character archetype to Ridoc, a character from “Fourth Wing.”
The characters by themselves offer so much to the story, but the fact that this book has multiple points of view, which was something that “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” lacked, adds so much more to this story. Having insights into all the main characters truly helps one understand the story as a whole, because it prevents the story from having an unreliable narrator.
For example, in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” Percy is an unreliable narrator because he constantly downplays how powerful he is, but he is almost unmatched in strength.
Another unique aspect of the book is the introduction of the Roman gods and their children. In “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” only Greek gods and their children were brought up, so it was interesting to see how the Roman gods played a role in this series.
The way Riordan incorporated the Roman gods was very unique, because the Roman and Greek gods are described as sharing a body but having completely different personalities or personae depending on whether they are actively Greek or Roman.
Overall, “The Lost Hero” may lack some beloved characters, but it makes up for it.
