The House of Hades

The House of Hades

The House of Hades, the fourth novel by Rick Riordan in the Heroes of Olympus series, was released on October 8, 2013.

At the conclusion of the previous book in the series, The Mark of Athena, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson fell into a pit leading to Tartarus. The protagonists are on a quest to close the Doors of Death, rescue Annabeth and Percy from Tartarus, and stop the Roman demigods from Camp Jupiter from attacking Camp Half-Blood.

The third-person narrators of this book are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Jason Grace, and Piper McLean.

Plot

The five remaining demigods: Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, and Hazel Levesque, accompanied by Nico di Angelo and Coach Hedge, continue to set sail towards Greece aboard the flying warship, Argo II, to search for the Doors of Death and possibly saving Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from Tartarus along the way. After unsuccessfully attempting to cross the Apennine Mountains due to the Ourae's hindering, Hazel leaves with her horse Arion to meet with Hecate, who offers Hazel four directions to choose. She promises the northern route that Hazel picked will work under the condition that Hazel has to practice manipulating the Mist first. Arriving at Bologna, the Argo II is raided by the Kerkopes, Passalos and Akmon, who steal Archimedes's sphere that Leo had found in Rome, among other things. Leo corners the thieves inside the Two Towers and retrieves the items alongside an agricultural book belonging to Demeter's helper, Triptolemus, and an astrolabe belonging to Odysseus but he spares the two under the condition that they head to New York City to stall the impending Roman demigods from attacking Camp Half-Blood. Frank, Hazel, and Nico meet with Triptolemus at Venice, but upon discovering Nico's status as a demigod of Hades, he forces Frank to kill the katobleps of Venice by taking Hazel and Nico hostage first before he gives them barley to make cakes that will render them immune to the poison of the Necromanteion. After Frank succeeds, the Argo II heads to the direction of the Balkans, but is blocked by the bandit Sciron, who would use his giant carnivorous turtle to devour them. By manipulating the Mist, Hazel is able to make him fall into his own trap. Her father, Pluto appears to inform her that the Doors of Death are located at the lowest level of the Necromanteion in Epirus.

Release

The House of Hades was published on October 8, 2013. It is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook formats. Special edition versions were also released which were signed, and had exclusive drawings inside. Versions with the short story "The Crown of Ptolemy," a crossover with the other Rick Riordan series, The Kane Chronicles, and the short story "Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades" printed at the back of the book were also released.

Characters

The Seven Demigods of the Great Prophecy

• Percy Jackson – Son of Poseidon
• Annabeth Chase – Daughter of Athena
• Jason Grace – Son of Jupiter
• Leo Valdez – Son of Hephaestus
• Piper McLean – Daughter of Aphrodite
• Frank Zhang – Son of Mars and descendant of Poseidon
• Hazel Levesque – Daughter of Pluto

The Son of Neptune

The Son of Neptune

The Son of Neptune is a 2011 fantasy novel, the second book in The Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan. The story follows the adventures of amnesiac Percy Jackson, a demigod son of Poseidon the god of the sea, as he meets a camp of Roman demigods and goes to Alaska with his new friends Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang to free the Greek god of death, Thanatos and help save the world from Gaea, the earth goddess.

The book received mostly critical acclaim, won the Goodreads Choice Award in 2011, and appeared on several bestseller lists.^[3]The book continues Riordan's use of third person narration, where chapters are from the point of view of one of the main characters, switching between Percy, Frank, and Hazel.

The book was first published in hardcover on October 4, 2011 by Disney-Hyperion with a cover designed by illustrator John Rocco. After an initial hardcover printing of three million copies, the book has since been released in paperback as well as an audiobook and e-book, and has been translated into 37 languages.

Development and promotion

In an interview by Scholastic with Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero, Riordan was questioned about the whereabouts of Percy Jackson. The author hinted 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.^[5] On May 26, 2011, Riordan released both the cover art and the first chapter for The Son of Neptune confirming that Percy would play a role in the book.

Sequel

The Mark of Athena was released on October 2, 2012 and "The House of Hades" was released on October 8, 2013 The Blood of Olympus was released on October 7, 2014.

Synopsis

Several months after Percy Jackson's defense of Mount Olympus during the events of The Last Olympian, Percy finds himself alone and on the run from monsters in southern California without his memories. Under the initial guidance of Lupa, the wolf-goddess and protector of ancient Rome, he makes his way toward Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod training camp and counterpart to Camp Half-Blood. Upon arriving, he is again attacked by several Gorgons, and successfully defends a disguised goddess Juno as well as the camp with the help of the guards on duty. Because he protected her during the attack, Juno announces his arrival with her approval, identifying that Percy is a son of Neptune. She further tells him privately that he can only regain his memory by learning to be a hero again and successfully survive the challenges he encounters at camp.

Quickly befriending the guards, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, he acclimates quickly to Camp Jupiter's new routines and leadership. Though Frank and Hazel are outcasts at Camp Jupiter, relate to Percy's outsider status and consider it their duty to help Percy adjust. However, the three receive a direct prophecy from Mars, the Roman god of war:

Go to Alaska.
Find Thanatos and free him.
Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.

Major characters

• Percy Jackson: A demigod son of Poseidon(Neptune), who is the main protagonist in the first Camp Half-Blood series. He and Jason Grace have been swapped, because Hera (Juno in Roman form) has wiped their memories away to unite the two demigod camps. Percy is sent to Camp Jupiter, from which Jason comes from. And Percy is from Camp Half-Blood. He goes on a quest with Frank Zhang, son of Mars, and Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, to save Thanatos, Pluto's lieutenant and the deity 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 gorgon's blood when he challenges Phineas.
• Frank Zhang: a son of Mars and a legacy (distant descendant) of Poseidon on his mother's side. A notable ancestor of Frank is Periclymenus, who was given the ability of shapeshifting by his grandfather, Poseidon. It is revealed that the descendants of Periclymenus have inherited this ability, and Frank learns to use it late in the novel. Frank is a Roman demigod at Camp Jupiter, a camp for Roman demigods. Frank has a crush on Hazel, which she reciprocates. He is a Chinese Canadian.
• Hazel Levesque: daughter of Pluto and Nico's half sister. She has been recently resurrected by Nico from her death in 1942 at the age of 13 and lives in Camp Jupiter. She has a crush on Frank Zhang. She is an African American demigod from New Orleans.
• Nico di Angelo: Hazel's half-brother and son of Hades. Initially, he is aware of what Hera has done to Percy, and pretends he does not know who Percy is. He rescues Hazel, his half-sister, from the Fields of Asphodel, giving her a second chance.
• Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano: daughter of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, and praetor of Camp Jupiter. It is found that Reyna and her sister Hylla were servants of the witch Circe, whom Annabeth and Percy had killed in The Sea of Monsters. Reyna goes on to Camp Jupiter, and Hylla goes to the Amazons, where she later becomes queen.