The Lost Hero

Summer break is finally here, and I decided to kick it off with rereading one of the greatest epics of my childhood. I have always thought of The Lost Hero as the most tedious book to get through in the series because the characters I got to know and love in the previous five books were not there at all, but this time around, these new heroes were actually pretty interesting to me! After the conclusion of the Titan War in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Camp Half-Blood, a home for Greek demigods, is in desperate search for Percy, who went messing. In his stead, three other Demigods were found. Jason, a son of Zeus who lost his memory, Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite who’s father is in danger, and Leo, a son of Hephaestus who’s an insane mechanic, all must work together on a quest to save Hera from Gaea, the primordial and evil goddess of the Earth.

I remember Rick Riordan’s humor as being great, and after rereading, I can still say that’s true. The characters end up in all sorts of wacky situations with irreverent dialogue and it’s great. A character can be in a dangerous situation like Jason when he had to fight Lit, a formidable warrior, and his first thought is as follows:

“Jason wondered if he looked that ripped holding a sword, Sadly, he doubted it.”

This is hardly a normal thought process but this type of humor reminds me why I loved this author so much. Another character who is so effortlessly funny is Coach Hedge. When facing of King Midas, the satyr decided to ‘secretly’ signal Jason.

“He winked at Jason meaningfully. Then he pointed at himself, pointed two fingers at their hosts, and sliced a finger across his throat. Very subtle sign language.”

Pretty much any time this character speaks, nobody takes him seriously, leading to a lot more “Shut up Gleeson”s than should be allowed.

My reactions to the characters have definitely changed over time, except for Jason. I have always thought that he was basic and kind of useless throughout the book, and it was the same this time through. The entire joke of him getting knocked out whenever something important was happening was very realistic because in numerous occasions in the book, he was the one getting saved rather than saving others. And it’s even funnier that his problem gets worse to the point he acknowledges it in a later book. However there was one thing Jason said that made me literally go “huh?” because I had no recollection of how weird it was. When Piper was claimed by her godly mother, she got a full makeover, courtesy of Aphrodite. This was an extremely embarrassing event for her though, because it was in front of the entire camp and she usually does everything possible to avoid the attention of others. Instead of staying silent and waiting for the moment to pass like a normal person, Jason literally says something along the lines of “Piper, you’re a knockout”. Like, why? Why would you say that in  front of the entire camp? Does he have no idea what that implies? That is the most embarrassing and impulsive thing he could say to her, and I don’t understand why Piper didn’t dump him, though they were never really together. But other than that, my interpretation of Jason was pretty much the same as it was years ago.

Leo’s character definitely seems different from how I remember it. Before, he was the third-wheel comedic relief mechanic, and now, he is the depressed third-wheel comedic relief mechanic. He went through such traumatizing things in his childhood, yet he is still joking around this entire book.

“I mean… Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let’s do this.”

Leo’s entire storyline with Happy the Dragon was also way more moving reading it this time through. Before, I simply did not care, but now, Festus really does have a place in my heart. Good thing they are reusing his head for the Argo II!

Out of all the characters, Piper is definitely the most interesting. She is brave, smart, flawed, and a really well written character. The only thing I don’t understand about her is why she would want Jason, especially after his COMMENTS, but that’s okay. But the thing I’m really interested in related to Piper is her mom, Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the oldest of the Greek gods, and she rules over love and beauty. That allows for a great deal of complexity that is within her domain of power. However, love and beauty gets simplified by Camp Half-Blood into being obsessed with pop stars and superficial looks. Though the character of Piper subverts that stereotype a little, it always makes me mad when media shows a goddess of love as an airhead. This happens in the anime Demon Slayer where the Love Hashira is reduced to a complete idiot that everyone is meant to stare at. In the world of Percy Jackson, it takes the form of Aphrodite’s kids being the ‘popular kids’, the ones obsessed with make-up and putting others down. I wish these kinds of stories could do something more like Desire from The Sandman comics, because Desire is a complex character that gives love and beauty more meaning rather than sticking to superficial tropes. The Lost Hero does do a decent job with changing the trend though, especially when Piper is talking to her mom, and Aphrodite says this:

“My point is that love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness…It can bring even the gods to their knees.”

Considering that the only reason demigods exist, and therefore this story exists, is because of ‘love’, this line was especially important. This book gave me the opportunity to reflect on all these ideas, and it was a great experience to read what I thought was the least interesting book in the series again. Now, the ideas I find in it are way more compelling than what I thought years ago, and if it has been a long time since you have read this book as well, try reading it again! Also, happy birthday to Rick Riordan because it’s tomorrow!