I have been eagerly waiting for the release of The House of Hades ever since I read the last page and major cliffhanger of The Mark of Athena. I've done my best avoiding spoilers online and devoured the book within a few days. Be rest assured that this review of The House of Hades is spoiler free. If you're curious about picking up the Heroes of Olympus series, I highly recommend reading the Percy Jackson series first as it builds upon that series.
Description: At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?
They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.
Review: What can I say about Rick Riordan that I haven't already said? The House of Hades is quite possibly my favorite book in the Heroes of Olympus series. The book begins at the horrible cliffhanger of The Mark of Athena as Annabeth and Percy plunge into the dark pit of the Underworld. Leaving their friends, both in and out of the side of the book, stunned and on edge for the fear of their safety. Riordan splits his novel by the on-goings of the mortal world and those of the Underworld and continues to have his book narrated from multiple point of views.
In many cases writing effective multiple points of views is a challenge that can either make or break a book, but in the case of The House of Hades it enhances it as each main character is faced with making touch decisions, both individually and collectively as a group, never resorting to brooding and angst. Each of the seven demigods we have met in the Heroes of Olympus series battle their own demons of doubt, insecurity, and vulnerabilities and are forced out of their comfort zone in several mini journeys as they find their ways to achieve their over arching goal: help Percy and Annabeth to keep the doors of Hell closed and sealed from the mortal world. Despite being a demigod, Riordan strips them of their godly powers for most of the book and reminding his characters of their humanity which sets these children of the gods apart from their selfish, manipulative parents and allows them to grow, evolve. I loved Riordan's message of self confidence and that power, success of an individual comes from within first and foremost. I also loved how I got to know some of the characters a lot better particularly Nico, Frank, and even Piper.
Though the book is close to 600 pages, I was never bored with reading The House of Hades. Actually, there is really no time to get bored while reading the book as it is filled with plenty of battle scenes as our crew fights mythological monsters, giants, titans, and outwit lesser gods. There are lots of moments of comic relief too to balance the dark mood of the story along with lots of cute moments of romance (some new, others building, and a really nice surprise). I'm being intentionally vague to avoid spoiling the book for passionate fans of the series. All in all The House of Hades has once again raised the bar of what readers can expect from Rick Riordan and thankfully, the conclusion to the series is just one year away. However the title, The Blood of Olympus, has me worried that some of our heroes may not survive.
Rating: 5 stars
Words of Caution: There are plenty of battle scenes in the book, however, they are not graphically described. Recommended for strong Grades 5 readers and up.
If you like this book try: Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis, Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver, Loki's Wolves by Kelly Armstrong and Melissa Marr
They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.
Review: What can I say about Rick Riordan that I haven't already said? The House of Hades is quite possibly my favorite book in the Heroes of Olympus series. The book begins at the horrible cliffhanger of The Mark of Athena as Annabeth and Percy plunge into the dark pit of the Underworld. Leaving their friends, both in and out of the side of the book, stunned and on edge for the fear of their safety. Riordan splits his novel by the on-goings of the mortal world and those of the Underworld and continues to have his book narrated from multiple point of views.
In many cases writing effective multiple points of views is a challenge that can either make or break a book, but in the case of The House of Hades it enhances it as each main character is faced with making touch decisions, both individually and collectively as a group, never resorting to brooding and angst. Each of the seven demigods we have met in the Heroes of Olympus series battle their own demons of doubt, insecurity, and vulnerabilities and are forced out of their comfort zone in several mini journeys as they find their ways to achieve their over arching goal: help Percy and Annabeth to keep the doors of Hell closed and sealed from the mortal world. Despite being a demigod, Riordan strips them of their godly powers for most of the book and reminding his characters of their humanity which sets these children of the gods apart from their selfish, manipulative parents and allows them to grow, evolve. I loved Riordan's message of self confidence and that power, success of an individual comes from within first and foremost. I also loved how I got to know some of the characters a lot better particularly Nico, Frank, and even Piper.
Though the book is close to 600 pages, I was never bored with reading The House of Hades. Actually, there is really no time to get bored while reading the book as it is filled with plenty of battle scenes as our crew fights mythological monsters, giants, titans, and outwit lesser gods. There are lots of moments of comic relief too to balance the dark mood of the story along with lots of cute moments of romance (some new, others building, and a really nice surprise). I'm being intentionally vague to avoid spoiling the book for passionate fans of the series. All in all The House of Hades has once again raised the bar of what readers can expect from Rick Riordan and thankfully, the conclusion to the series is just one year away. However the title, The Blood of Olympus, has me worried that some of our heroes may not survive.
Rating: 5 stars
Words of Caution: There are plenty of battle scenes in the book, however, they are not graphically described. Recommended for strong Grades 5 readers and up.
If you like this book try: Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis, Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver, Loki's Wolves by Kelly Armstrong and Melissa Marr
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I am undoubtedly the only person left in the entire universe who has yet to even touch this series. I am quite ashamed, actually.I should have done something about it ages ago. I'm glad you're enjoying it! IT's so hard to keep someone's interest for 600 pages, that says a lot.
Wow. 600 pages? That's an impressively sized book! I haven't read any of these, but I did enjoy the first movie, which more than likely means I'll like the books even more since I almost always like the books better:) Glad to see this series is getting better as it goes, I love when later books get 5 star reviews!
I've got a few of his Percy Jackson books on my tbr and I do have to get to them. Oh these sound fab! I always worry about characters with good writers. They don't seem to mind to kill off a good guy or two! :(
My son was the same about this book. He got it for his birthday (2 days after release) and read it all weekend so he could finish it. He loves this series and feels this book is his favorite so far. Maybe someday I will read the series as well!
I've really enjoyed the Percy Jackson books and the Heroes of Olympus, too, but I've been listening to them on CD the whole way through. As soon as I finished Mark of Athena I was anxious to get my hands on this one, so I'm glad to know it lives up to expectations.
The book is really good and is also delivered by flipkart in excellent condition. The book is also available at a cheap price compared to what is sold in stores these days. the book is also unlike the first two books in this series in which Rick Riordan tells the story of the greek and the roman camps separately. In this book, despite the fact that percy and annabeth are separated from the others, the story of both the parties here is told in great detail. A wonderful book, well written and a must-read. Rick Riordan sure does know how to mix modern with mythology into fiction!