(photo cred here)
In this spin-off from Percy Jackson & the Olympians, we get a few unexpected revelations. One, Percy's missing during the first book - like literally missing. Annabeth's been on the hunt for him for months, but she has no idea where he is. This leads her to Jason, who ultimately provides us with unexpected revelation number two: demigods aren't only Greek. They've also got Roman counterparts.
Jason doesn't tell us this right away, though. You see, he's had his memory wiped by Hera/Juno, leaving him to wake up one day surrounded by a bunch of kids he's never met, two of whom claim to be his best friend and his girlfriend - Leo Valdez and Piper McLean, to be specific. After getting attacked by storm spirits, Leo, Piper, and Jason get sent to Camp Half-Blood, where they all learn that they're the children of gods.
Leo and Piper have their problems, but they do feel like Camp Half-Blood is ultimately the place where they belong. Jason's not so sure, especially since he keeps defaulting to the Latin names for creatures instead of the Greek. That's not the biggest issue he's facing though: he, Leo, and Piper are subjected to a prophecy saying they need to go fight a giant to keep Gaea from rising and killing them all.
As they work their way west, Jason's memory slowly becomes clearer, and he drops this bombshell at the end of book one: he's actually a Roman demigod, and he's pretty sure that Percy's been sent to Camp Jupiter in his place.
Jason's entirely correct: book two is all about Percy's own journey through amnesia at Camp Jupiter, where he befriends Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang, two Roman campers with massive secrets about their lives. The three of them get sent on a quest to Alaska, where they also defeat a giant, and end the book by helping to save New Rome from Gaea's army.
Book three is where everyone finally meets each other, but things also get a little crazy. Percy, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth know they're the seven demigods from the Prophecy of Seven that closed the original series, and they've got to get to old Rome quick or Gaea will successfully rise. However, Leo accidentally fires on New Rome, provoking the Roman demigods into declaring war on the Greeks. Now they've still got to get to the ancient lands - a place that's technically forbidden - and they can't rely on help from either camp.
They do make it eventually, though, but they're forced to split up. Annabeth's been given a harrowing solo quest from her mother; Jason, Piper, and Percy end up taking on more giants; and Frank, Hazel, and Leo make an exciting discovery in some of the underground catacombs. They manage to rescue Nico di Angelo, who had been imprisoned by the giants as bait, but then Percy and Annabeth are lost after falling into the pit to Tartarus.
Oops.
Book four switches perspective between all seven demigods of the prophecy as all parties make their way to the Doors of Death. If Percy and Annabeth can close them from Tartarus and the others can get to them in Epirus back in the real world, then the monsters they kill will finally stop coming back immediately. It's not particularly safe or easy for either group to get to the doors, though, and sacrifices are made all around to get Percy and Annabeth back aboveground.
So, let's talk about my feelings: I love this series so much. So much of it is about the power of teamwork and friendship, and that warms my heart down to its cockles. Sure, each of the demigods is exceptionally powerful on their own, but it takes at least two of them working together at any given moment to actually defeat their strongest enemies.
I also feel like I learn a little when I read these books. Riordan uses real Greek and Roman mythology to construct all his characters, so it's kind of like getting a little Classics lesson every time another new character appears. It's probably not entirely appropriate for academic use - the kids can get really snarky about the gods/creatures/etc - but the basics are all there.
Now, for the two things that make me ridiculously emotional: Nico di Angelo and the Percy/Annabeth relationship.
Ever since Nico lost his older sister Bianca, he's been moody and withdrawn, and he's made some questionable choices. He also never really hangs out at camp - either camp, seeing as we find him at Camp Jupiter when Percy arrives. A lot of the characters think it's because he's got a crush on Annabeth and he can't stand to see her and Percy together, including Annabeth herself.
Wrong.
He's got a crush on Percy.
There has been fandom speculation/daydreaming for years that Nico had feelings for Percy, and Riordan went and made it canon. He did it pretty respectfully, too - Jason's the only one who knows in canon, and he doesn't really change how he acts around Nico because of it. He treats Nico with a little more understanding, maybe, but it's not overwhelming or patronizing. I'm really hopeful that this development will get expanded on more in Blood of Olympus, book five.
And now for Percabeth. I'm gonna try to keep this as short as possible, because otherwise I'll be writing this all day: Percy and Annabeth have one of my top two favorite fictional relationships of all time.
Overall, the Heroes of Olympus series brings both the action and the romance without letting either overshadow the other, and I'm counting down the days til the last book comes out. Five stars and a box of tissues.
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