Well, let's not bury the lead. Before I get into my review of the fourth book in Rick Riordan's
Heroes of Olympus series,
The House of Hades, there's something I'd like to address.
Be forewarned; there are spoilers ahead. So don't read this post if you haven't read the book and plan on doing so!
Whenever I finish a book, I usually like to go online to read what other people think. Were their opinions of the novel similar to mine? Did they have a different reaction to the characters than I did? The sites that I usually choose to peruse are Amazon and Goodreads.
I was completely shocked at some of the reviews I read. Despite the fact that The House of Hades was a very good book, several people gave it negative reviews merely for the fact that Nico comes out as homosexual. Let's take a look at some of these comments. (Click on the pictures to expand them.)
These were only a few of several similar comments I found online. I find it unbelievable that in the year 2013 people can be so close minded. What especially disturbs me is that people are upset because they don't want their children to know about homosexuals. I just find that completely ridiculous. It's not like the fact that there are homosexuals is a giant secret. It's just a fact of the world, and there's no reason that children shouldn't know that as soon as they're able to understand the concept of love.
Also, I find the idea that Rick Riordan is pushing his own "political agenda" by having Nico come out as gay completely ridiculous. Riordan is merely taking a character in the direction he feels is best for his series. It's not like Riordan was demanding that Nico and Percy should be allowed to get married. And even if he was, who cares? Anyone who wants to should be allowed to get married. It's sad that people are so ignorant and it's disheartening to see just how much homophobia, hate, and fear can arise from a harmless novel.
Okay, I'm done with my rant. Time to get to the review!
Background
I'm honestly not going to give much of the backhand round of the story away here, because if you haven't read any of this series then what are you doing with your life??? Instead, I'm going to give my background when it comes to Riordan's novels.
I first picked up The Lighting Thief in fifth grade and was instantly sucked in. It was the definition of a page turner as I finished it within a day. Yet, I thought Riordan's first series was a little shaky. I found The Sea of Monsters to be disappointing, and after a very strong effort in The Titan's Curse I thought that The Battle of the Labyrinth was rather weak. But Riordan ended on a solid enough note with The Last Olympian, that I was anxious to see what he would produce moving forward.
Riordan's next project involved the Egyptian gods instead of the Greeks, and I was very excited when I began to read The Red Pyramid in 2010. Unfortunately, it was a letdown as I could not get into the novel at all. In my mind, it was easily Riordan's worst effort to date and I believed that the brilliance of his first novel might have been a fluke.
But later in 2010, the first book of a new Riordan series was published, this time once again dealing with the Greek gods. At first, I had no intention of reading this series. But when I heard that my old beloved characters, Percy and Annabeth, were going to be in this series, I had to check out The Lost Hero.
Not only was it as good as The Lighting Thief, but the books that followed it, The Son of Neptune and The Mark of Athena, have been just as strong. In fact, The Mark of Athena was Riordan's best work yet by far. Unlike the original series, Riordan's second shot at the Olympians had no weak points. So needless to say, I had high expectations for The House of Hades.
The Good
The House of Hades has all of Riordan's signature quirks. He expertly weaves in Greek mythology with modern day landmarks and cities. There are several new and exciting monsters that our heroes have to face. And of course, humor is present throughout the novel.
Yet despite the humor, there is a significant darkness throughout this novel, much more so than any of Riordan's other books. Most of this darkness is conveyed through the chapters with Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, a storyline which adds a whole new layer to the book that takes the series into a place it had never gone before.
Leo's POV chapters were also a highlight. I think it's safe to say that Leo is the breakout star from Riordan's new series. At first he basically seems like Grover's substitute, a tool to provide comic relief and a more lighthearted character. But we have slowly come to learn that there is much more to Leo than just comedy, as has definitely become the most developed of the new characters. Along with Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, his chapters with Calypso were my favorite part of this novel.
The Bad
Throughout The Heroes of Olympus series Riordan has employed a POV style of writing. That is, he alternates chapters between the points of view of different characters. In the first two books of the series, it worked well for him due to the fact that he only had to write from three characters' POVs in each novel. This became a problem in the third book, however, as Riordan now had seven characters to write for. As a result, he decided that a few unlucky characters wouldn't get POV chapters. As a result, we missed out on chapters with Jason, Hazel, and Frank which was disappointing. However, it was better than the clumsiness with which Riordan handled the POVs in The House of Hades.
For some reason, Riordan decided to give all seven characters POV chapters in The House of Hades. While it was nice to get to hear from each character, this made for some very abrupt, awkward, and downright disappointing character development. We randomly hear that Frank has been hearing the voices Ares and Mars arguing in his head since the Argo II set sail, only for that dilemma to end a few chapters later with Frank now a stronger more respectable son of Ares. Okay.
Then, there was Jason randomly deciding that he wanted to be a Greek instead of a Roman in the middle of the novel. Maybe I missed something, but that completely came out of nowhere for me and didn't seem to fit in with where the novel had been heading thus far.
Finally, there was Hazel learning to manipulate the mist. It seemed as though this was being set up as one of the main subplots of the story along with Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus. However, after the opening chapters with Hecate, we only get one brief scene with Hazel using the Mist in action before the final confrontation in the House of Hades. Riordan made a great leap by claiming that since Hazel used the Mist in battle once, she could face a sorceress.
It was almost as if Riordan focused all of his energy on the Percy and Annabeth story and forgot he had other characters to write about.
The Ugly
Please, can someone tell me how it is that EVERY SINGLE TIME one of the demigods is confronted by a monster in this book, they get out of the situation by stalling???? EVERY TIME.
This is a problem I've had with all of the Riordan's books, but he usually uses the stalling tactic sparingly so I let it slide. But not in this story; oh no. Almost every time one of our heroes is confronted with a monster they are able to escape by stalling. I get it. They're clever. But it becomes mind numbing and insulting to the reader after being used so often.
Not only does Riordan have the characters stall when facing minor enemies, but he also has them successfully use that tactic against some of their most dangerous foes in Nyx and Tartarus. It's ridiculous.
However, the strong storylines of Leo and of Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus as well as Riordan's signature quirks and humor are enough to overcome the faults. This is another great book that Riordan can add to his resume, despite the fact that it is a step down from the previous novel in the series.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
