The Lost Hero

      The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

      Talk about the dumbing down of a nation. Do we even edit anymore? I am not talking about misspelled words either. I am talking about missing words. Important words like helping verbs. Once upon a time, when I was in grade school, I remember a teacher explaining to the class how an author might "mark" their work to protect it until it had received its copyright. They would use a single error on a given page. We are not talking about a single error here. We are talking about so many errors, that I could not forgive them. Terrible, terrible editting! No book needs to be rushed to print so fast. I am embarrassed for them.

However, I loved the book anyway.

The missing words were quite jilting. Some people might have read right through them. It is certainly possible to be that inattentive. I happen to pay attention to detail. I am very detail-oriented. And it drove me mad. I’m mad. You’re mad. We’re all mad here.

But I loved the book anyway.

What fabulous ideas, Riordan has. I do not know if they are uniquely his. I do not believe I have read anything like this before. I am certainly not as well-versed in adult literature.

In the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, demigods are born of the union between a Greek god – Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite – and a mortal. The Greek gods still live on Mount Olympus, but it has traveled with Democracy from Greece to America. They are well-educated and philosophical.

In the Heroes of Olympus series, a new kind of demigod is introduced. The newest hero is Jason and he turns out to be the son of a Roman god. But if you will remember, the Romans adored Greek culture and they took the Grecian gods and made them their own, but called them by Roman names – Jupiter, Neptune, Venus.

BUT THEY ARE STILL THE SAME GODS. The king of the gods is still Zeus/Jupiter. He is still the king of the sky. It is the same “person” only now they display some new characteristics. The Romans were soldiers. They built an empire. They assimilated the peoples from the surrounding countries including the Greeks. So the modern day Romanesque gods are a little more war-like. Yeah, just great!

Which leads to a problem. The Roman demigods and the Greek demigods, historically, do NOT get along. In fact, it is suggested that many if not all revolutions and civil wars can be attributed to their struggle.

So why were we not aware of this? The two “camps” have been separated for their own protection. Very, very cool. What’s better than one camp full of demigods lead by a centaur? Two camps full of demigods lead by unusual teachers.

Another idea that I simply relish: These gods are pretty amazing, bordering upon God-like. What do I mean? They are not God. Riordan does not make them out to be God. They are not perfect. They are not all-powerful. They are not all-knowing. They can be manipulated and used. They have tempers and conflicts. They play favorites.
BUT! They are gods all the same. They are too big for us to fathom. They cannot be contained. They can be many things all at once. They can be many places all at once. They can be both nurturing and destructive. And when they are in their full glory, they can kill you merely by their presence. I truly enjoyed Riordan’s descriptions of these gods and goddesses. They helped me to come to a better understanding of my God and a better appreciation of His Goodness and Mercy.