The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

Summary:  Jason has a problem.  He doesn't remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip.  Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo.  They're all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids," as Leo puts it.  What did Jason do to end up here?  And where is here, exactly?  Jason doesn't know anything--except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret.  Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble.  Piper doesn't understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn't recognize her.  When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she's going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

Leo has a way with tools.  When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home.  But there's weird stuff, too--like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing.  Weirdest of all, his bunk mates insist that each of them --including Leo-- is related to a god.  Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts.    (Summary from book - Image from fanpop.com)

My Review:  I am a die-hard fan of those Lightning Thief books (aka the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series) and jumped at the chance to revisit Riordan’s magical world of mythology, monsters and mayhem by reading the first book in his new series, The Heroes of Olympus. I loved Riordan’s unique blend of modern with mythological and found that The Lost Hero, now with new demigods (and a few old ones), another ominous prophecy, a case of amnesia, and a treacherous quest, had a similar feel to Riordan’s previous works.

In short, I liked this book.  The Lost Hero was fun, easy to read, and I enjoyed learning more about familiar characters and being introduced to some new ones.  It's always interesting to see what powers each demigod has inherited from their parent and the full extent of what they can do.  Riordan also adds some new gods to the mix and even throws in a a few heroes or villains for good measure.  I loved the addition of the lesser known (to me) Roman mythology and all that it means for the series. 

My only real complaint is that, at first, I had some difficulty figuring out who the "bad guy" really was, or which "bad guy" was speaking to which demigod.  It took a little mental exercise and reading a little further into the story before I finally figured everything out, but it eventually all made sense. 

This is a book aimed at older children or younger young adults, and as such, isn’t overly complex or arduous. It doesn’t take long before an obstacle is faced, overcome, and replaced with another. If this book were written for an older audience, I would call this a “flaw”, but in this case, the pace kept things exciting for younger readers. Either way the story was laced with enough trademark creativity and humor that I didn’t really mind. I look forward to the next book in the Heroes of Olympus series, The Son of Neptune (releasing 10/11/11), and hope that the excitement continues.

My Rating: 4 Stars

For the sensitive reader:  Um.  I don't remember anything offensive -- unless you are offended by Cyclops.

Sum it up: A fun spin-off to a much-loved series.