Going back to Percy Jackson as the main character for the
second book in The Heroes of Olympus series was to be expected, but was
more risky than fans may have realized. The
Last Olympian had essentially ended Percy’s story: he had fulfilled his
prophecy, gotten the girl, and finished everything he needed to do. But The Lost Hero had him kidnapped by
Hera as an emissary to the Roman demigod camp implying that that perfect ending
wasn’t the final ending. Rick Riordan,
however, avoids making Percy’s story feel unnecessary through a number of
things. Like Jason he has amnesia
throughout The Son of Neptune, though he does recover his memory throughout,
and The Son of Neptune isn’t about Percy Jackson. Sure, he is a major viewpoint character and the
audience cipher for the segments at Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod camp, and
the title refers to him, but the book isn’t actually about him. Instead, like The
Lost Hero was about deeper themes of identity, The Son of Neptune is
about coming to terms with death in all its forms. First, is the death associated with being
forgotten, which is where Percy Jackson actually figures into the narrative
proper.
Percy starts the novel as a homeless team just trying
to find his way to Camp Jupiter with a sword in his pocket and no memory except
the name Annabeth. Riordan shows Percy
in a truly desperate and animalistic state, just trying to survive a world where
the monsters don’t die and every normal person spits on the less
fortunate. It only lasts a few very
early chapters, but there is a lot of groundwork laid for just how Percy has
changed by the loss of his memories. He
has to confront past mistakes throughout this novel with events of The Sea
of Monsters catching up to him in unexpected ways. Riordan also gives Percy a power downgrade
upon entering Camp Jupiter by stripping him of the invulnerability which, while
done slightly clunkily, shows a knowledge of how to keep Percy’s story going in
future installments of The Heroes of Olympus without making it feel
artificially extended. Camp Jupiter
itself is markedly different from Camp Half-Blood, as Roman society was
markedly different from Greek. It is run
by the campers themselves as they are all guided to its location by the wolf Lupa,
with a Senate made up of full centurions.
Percy is placed in the Fifth Cohort on probatio, having to wait a year
before ranking up to a centurion (until godly intervention sends him on a quest). It’s a harsh, but not uncaring, operation,
with the one Praetor Reyna knowing Percy from her own past on Circe’s
island. Reyna is an interesting
character, a leader in battles, but not the best when it comes to political machinations,
trying to keep Jason Grace’s Praetorship open and free of Octavian, a sniveling
little wretch who’s far too prideful for his own good. The political machinations and secrets become
the main thrust for the early part of the novel, including a surprise
appearance from Nico di Angelo who is an honored guest. By the end of the novel Nico’s goals aren’t
ever quite explained, but he does go missing implying he was in over his head.
The actual conflict of The Son of Neptune
involves Thanatos, the god of death, being chained in Alaska and the Doors of
Death being forced opened. Nothing that
dies is staying dead and the Roman god of war Mars demands a quest for his un-Marslike
son Frank Zheng with Percy and daughter of Pluto Hazel Levesque to kill the
giant Alcyoneus and returning glory to the Legion and the Fifth Cohort. There isn’t some grand prophecy which Riordan
can twist into character motivation, just a feeling of dread of the consequences
of death no longer occurring while Frank and Hazel both have links to death
itself. Frank Zheng’s life is tied to a
piece of firewood, which if burned will kill him completely and his journey is
one of growing to accept his parentage and being willing to die to save the
world. At the climax of the novel, Frank
comes to burn the stick near to the end right as he comes into his own. As a descendent of Poseidon he was given the
gift of shapeshifting in his family line, something which is obvious to the
reader from the first mention of who his family is. Frank as a character is a fascinating
parallel to the rest of the Roman legion and the idea of someone in war. While he shows a proficiency for tactics in
battle, Frank wants peace throughout and is more of a softy who loves his
family, has a crush on Hazel, and really doesn’t want to get caught up in
war. There’s also this real insecurity
in his own ability and self-worth which he must work to overcome throughout the
book, once finding this he is given the strength to put his life on the line,
only surviving due to a fluke.
Hazel Levesque should be dead. She is the one responsible for giving
Alcyoneus and Gaea the ability to even rise in the first place and it killed
her, but once the Doors of Death opened she escaped the Underworld with
Nico. Hazel comes from the 1940s and is
black, which Riordan mostly portrays well: there’s that sense of displacement
with Hazel and genuine guilt that she has caused the problem, but the reaction
to how racism has changed since the 1940s isn’t really touched on which I feel
is probably for the best as this is aimed at younger readers. Hazel already has to come to accept that freeing
Thanatos may mean that she will be sent back.
She’s also someone who’s life was taken away at an early age: her mother
was greedy and wished for wealth so Hazel was cursed with the ability to make
precious gemstones and metals rise from the depths of the Earth and it was this
power that attracted Gaea. Her mother
manipulated her into raising Gaea, which would give her mother eternal punishment,
but it was Hazel’s sacrifice in the Underworld which gave them both a
settlement in Asphodel. Hazel, while
scared, is incredibly brave to go on the quest and actually succeed. Yes, a blind eye is turned as she’s part of
the Prophecy of Seven, but if that wasn’t the case, she would be dead. She is also a horse girl who has a crush on
Frank. Frank and Hazel’s romance
throughout The Son of Neptune is a perfect example of two people who
love each other, but are far too scared to actually admit it. Wrapping that around Thanatos, who is
portrayed as closely linked to love, adds an interesting depth to the book.
Overall, The Son of Neptune is a far more
mature book than it has any right to be.
It sets up Camp Jupiter and the rest of the series as it ends with the
cliffhanger of Camp Half-Blood coming to find them due to a harpy who knows
prophecies being sent to Tyson. There is
a sense of uneasiness as the conclusion isn’t quite as happily ever after as
other books Riordan has written, though there are a few stumbling blocks along
the way with some of the middle feeling a bit too long and maybe one two many
moving pieces. The themes of death and
identity seem to be the prevailing themes for The Heroes of Olympus
going forward and it seems that this could outlast even the first series. 9/10.
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