The Lost Hero: By Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero picks up after the final book in the Percy Jackson series, The Last Olympian, has concluded. This book is about the Greek Gods- with a whole new twist and a whole new set of characters. I was not sure if I would like this book because there were new characters, but Rick Riordan cleverly brings back the old characters and mixes them in with all the new ones in such a way that you find yourself glad you decided to read.

There are three main characters in this book- Jason, who wakes up on a bus, can’t remember who he is or even how he got there. Weirder still is that he’s sitting next to a pretty girl who appears to be his girlfriend, and he can’t remember who she is. The girl’s name is Piper and she can tell Jason is upset, and can’t stand to see him struggling to remember who he is. Even worse, her Dad, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, and she has been having horrible nightmares about him being in trouble. On the seat behind him is Leo, Jason’s supposed best friend and he can’t decide if Jason is joking or not about his memory loss. They are best friends after all- or are they? Yet Leo has bigger problems, because he is seeing ghosts.

The three friends are on a school field trip when chaos ensues and strange creatures attack them. Luckily, they are able to hold them off- that’s when two strange people arrive and insist on taking them to some place safe called Camp Half-blood. That’s when the three friends discover that one of their parents is really a Greek God- but which God is their Dad or Mom? Plus, camp half-blood is in disarray and these new heroes may be the only ones who can set it to rights.

This book is excellent. I think it is Riordan’s best book yet. I read it in less than two days and was very sad when it was over because the new book does not come out until fall of 2011, which means I’ve got to wait to see what happens next. Boo! At any rate, if you start with Percy Jackson and read your way up to this one, I very much doubt you will be disappointed. Rick Riordan is so great at mixing fact and fiction, and changing the characters of Greek Mythology to give them a clever, sometimes funny, modern day personas. These books are great and I think people of any age would enjoy them!