The House of Hades
discussion
NICO… YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT O.o
I loved this. I especially loved it when Nico told Percy, then Annabeth and Nico were cool about it, but Percy was just confused and like, WHAAAAA????? haha seaweed brain. But I don't see a problem with this. Was it a bit risky for Rick Riordan to make a character homosexual, perhaps. But there's nothing wrong with that.
I totally feel the same as you faith, I thought it was so cool and a little sad that the world isn't used to it yet, for me to notice how cool it is!! I love how confused seaweed brain is- it's so cute!!
That's why I never liked the PJ books too much. It feels like they're more about adoring the characters than anything else.
Blue wrote: "That's why I never liked the PJ books too much. It feels like they're more about adoring the characters than anything else."I beg to differ
I also beg to differ.
Three (so far) beg to differ.
Matthew wrote: "Three (so far) beg to differ."
Make that four.
Make that four.
It isn't just about the characters. In language arts we do vocab, and two of the roots were hipp and plut. Some people were thinking about saying Pluto for plut, but they thought the planet didn't fit with the root. But it actually did, because the root plut meant wealth, and if you recall, Pluto is the Roman god of wealth. Hipp means horse, and a hippocampus is practically a water horse.
These books aren't just about the characters, they teach you about history. Because of Percy Jackson, I already know about things when teachers make references to Greek or Roman mythology.
What are your reasons for disagreeing?
Okay, they're educational.
But storytelling isn't about learning facts, it's about giving an experience. As a story, what about it was a fulfilling experience?
All anyone ever tells me is "Percy is so cute and awesome," or "I love Nico so much!!" or something to that effect.
So just be honest, is it more about learning from the characters or worshiping them?
But storytelling isn't about learning facts, it's about giving an experience. As a story, what about it was a fulfilling experience?
All anyone ever tells me is "Percy is so cute and awesome," or "I love Nico so much!!" or something to that effect.
So just be honest, is it more about learning from the characters or worshiping them?
Dear Blue,That is your opinion. But please, I am just asking you to not try to get others to agree with your opinion. It is my opinion that the series is great, and you won't change it. And, I had an amazing experience reading them. So if it is your opinion that you do not like the books, that is okay. So, I am fine with you having your opinion, but I am asking you not to tear others down because what they are saying isn't what you believe. If you would like to talk to others about how bad the series was, please make another thread, because this isn't the place.
Sincerly,
ihearthawaii
Blue wrote: "Okay, they're educational. But storytelling isn't about learning facts, it's about giving an experience. As a story, what about it was a fulfilling experience?
All anyone ever tells me is "Percy ..."
Oh get off your high horse! Do you know the backstory to PJ? Why it was written? Like honestly there's going to be favs and non-favs. This series was projected towards a younger audience so obviously we weren't going to see very deep developments. Like??? It's a fun book with characters that have distinct features. Worship away my fanatics!!
ihearthawaii wrote: "Dear Blue,That is your opinion. But please, I am just asking you to not try to get others to agree with your opinion. It is my opinion that the series is great, and you won't change it. And, I ha..."
Um, they have every right to post here, as irritating as it may be to you, as this is not an adoration thread.
Blue:
On the merits of Riordan's books beyond simply gushing about the characters, I feel that their strength comes from their incorporation of archetypes and the Hero's Journey, like many works of fantasy, the stylistic repetition (there's a fancier word that evades me here) of the original myths in the modern setting—look at the parallels between Achilles and Patroclus in The Iliad and Clarisse and Silena in The Last Olympian (well, minus the homoerotic subtext in the former). Another characteristic of the series is the demonstration that anyone can be heroic. In order that they were introduced, there are:
1. Learning differences like dyslexia and ADHD (the whole ****ing reason PJO got started).
2. Biracial people (The Kane Chronicles)
3. Native Americans and Hispanics/Latinos (The Lost Hero onward)
4. African and Asian people (The Son of Neptune onward)
5. (I suspect this may be a stickler for you) Non-heterosexual people from The House of Hades onward.
6. The physically disabled and those of Islamic background (The Sword of Summer onward).
I also noted an interesting point in the argument as to whether Riordan outed Nico because of legitimate character development or to simply gain Political Correctness Points™ when writing that list: Despite the growing societal awareness toward transgender people, there was no such inclusion in his latest book, and when asked about it here on Goodreads, he gave a similar answer as to Nico's sexuality, in that he doesn't come up with those kind of things ahead of time so much as them being natural growths of how he writes his characters, even when a transgender character would have been easy to shoehorn into a new series. The other "missing" entry is that there are no characters of Jewish background: granted, that is a group of people largely defined by their religion, and he only just managed to jump through the theological hoops for the issues surrounding a character being a devout Muslim and a Norse demigoddess.
Whew that went longer than I expected.
Beautiful post, Matthew. Beautiful.
Thanks Matthew. I really do appreciate it.
Interesting, I admit the series was enjoyable and it made the Greek myths more memorable. However, I don't know if introducing people to concepts is what makes a story the best it can be. It's more about how you accomplish it, that's the difference between a textbook and a storybook. As a story, it was sort of typical and contrived, and the characters don't grow much or cause us to really think.
For example, Percy's fatal flaw is that he cares too much about his friends. How is that inspiring? How is that better than a Gary Stu? When does the author challenge us ethically or logically (and by that I don't mean knowledge of facts)? It's just a bunch of flashy lights with some Greek facts sprinkled in.
Also I do think a majority of his choices were based on being politically correct, and were kind of obvious/forced. It just didn't feel sincere, like, say Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
Everyone else: Well, I don't have to agree with you. That doesn't mean we're enemies. Is this because I disagreed about the homosexual issue?
I get if you disagree. You don't have to take other opinions as an insult, and you're welcome to argue with me.
I don't believe in aiming stories for a "younger audience" if that means making it cornier. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Interesting, I admit the series was enjoyable and it made the Greek myths more memorable. However, I don't know if introducing people to concepts is what makes a story the best it can be. It's more about how you accomplish it, that's the difference between a textbook and a storybook. As a story, it was sort of typical and contrived, and the characters don't grow much or cause us to really think.
For example, Percy's fatal flaw is that he cares too much about his friends. How is that inspiring? How is that better than a Gary Stu? When does the author challenge us ethically or logically (and by that I don't mean knowledge of facts)? It's just a bunch of flashy lights with some Greek facts sprinkled in.
Also I do think a majority of his choices were based on being politically correct, and were kind of obvious/forced. It just didn't feel sincere, like, say Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
Everyone else: Well, I don't have to agree with you. That doesn't mean we're enemies. Is this because I disagreed about the homosexual issue?
I get if you disagree. You don't have to take other opinions as an insult, and you're welcome to argue with me.
I don't believe in aiming stories for a "younger audience" if that means making it cornier. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Isn't it kind of dishonest to say somebody is tearing others down just because they don't enjoy a book?
Matthew wrote: "ihearthawaii wrote: "Dear Blue,That is your opinion. But please, I am just asking you to not try to get others to agree with your opinion. It is my opinion that the series is great, and you won't..."
well said
Blue wrote: "Isn't it kind of dishonest to say somebody is tearing others down just because they don't enjoy a book?"Receipts?
Blogger wrote: "Blue wrote: "Isn't it kind of dishonest to say somebody is tearing others down just because they don't enjoy a book?"Receipts?"
Huh?
—————————————————————————————————————————————
I make a distinction when adding characters of sexual, ethnic, and religious minorities between "I have to have an X character" and "Could Character Y be X? Yes? Then what the heck, why not?" I get the impression that Riordan follows the latter, although as an impression it is subjective. Now that I think about it, there's actually some plot relevance to the deaf character in The Sword of Summer for highly spoileriffic reasons, so there're some chicken-versus-egg questions for that particular example.
so apparently having characters that aren't white and straight "strains" the plot?? ok. I can see where you're going but if you have so many problems with his writing style, why do you still read his books
how does it feel to be #exposed
Blogger, I don't understand any of your comments.
Why do you think he's saying having characters that aren't white or straight strains the plot?
I swear, everyone here just sees what they want to see.
I swear, everyone here just sees what they want to see.
message 4725:
by
Amanda-I dream of a gallant southern gentleman watching the sunset
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rated it 1 star
I never read past that part. I really, really, really liked nico. Until then. It was heartbreaking. I also hate percy now, just 'cause if he hadn't been all oh, look at me, I'm a hero, nico would have been fine. I toasted to his death with blue chips.
Blue wrote: "Blogger, I don't understand any of your comments."The feeling's mutual
Not to be rude, but you never answer the questions, you just put weird insults, and it kind of makes discussion pointless.
I think Nico was so harsh with Percy in the Titan's Curse and the Battle of the Labyrinth because he was confused about his feelings towards Percy.
Blue wrote: "Not to be rude, but you never answer the questions, you just put weird insults, and it kind of makes discussion pointless."If you were hoping for a debate, you're 2 years behind
Well, I don't understand why you're determined to be angry.
My general reaction was "Oh, cool"...and looking back over the Nico Percy reactions it made sense.For those worried about younger kids, um, it's no different than Percy/Annabeth or Jason/Piper
Thank you! That was very well put
Blue wrote: "Well, I don't understand why you're determined to be angry."Maybe it's called "amusing the hopeless"? lmao love the flavor
This is still going on.... Will the ride ever end?
@kevin what would be the fun in that?
Merry Christmas to the ones that truly battled on from the glorious year of 2013 to the lame bros of 2015, you guys are The Originals™: no gloats, no bloats, just boasts. So I thank you all for entertaining me (more so than others. *ahem* a certain color I shall never name) and for bringing me towards a more enlighten viewpoint. May you cherish from here and onwards
I loved this book. It was probably my favorite one. When Percy and Annabeth fell I to Tartarus and they had to survive, I felt like it strengthened their relationship and made it stronger, because no one else knows what they went through and they only have each other to deal with the horrid memories. In this book, now I must say this, I think Leo became more joke crcking becasue he got heart broken from leaving Calypso behind who h left in even bigger hole in his heart. Besides these few sad things, this book was always interesting and action packed.
Blogger wrote: "battled on from the glorious year of 2013 to the lame bros of 2015t..."This is truly sad.... this thread has been going on for 2 years....
deleted user wrote: "Happy 16th birthday!! :D"Blogger wrote: "yes yes *YIPPEEEEEE**"
deleted user wrote: "Your birthday..?"
Blogger wrote: "Guess what day it is *giddy smile*"
And here you find the 2nd anniversary of this comment. Sadly the person I shared this with is no longer here........
Honestly, I didn't see it coming till in The House of Hades just before he was bullied into confessing to Cupid..it hit me..''it is not Annabeth, is it? It is too obvious, he is making too big a deal of it.'' I do think though, out of all those teenage demigods, someone had to be a gay character..it wouldn't have been realistic, I guess, for them all to be straight. You gotta hand it to Rick, he did what even JKR didn't have the guts to do till AFTER her books were published, when she outed Dumbledore..but she never did in the books. No, that was not real obvious to me, save for a couple of things.
I hate the fact that some people think that you can just throw that in a book that kids may read and that is okay. I think not that is just wrong and kids younger then 10 should not read because of this and only parents should teach there kids about this at the aproprite age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Waswsa wrote: "I hate the fact that some people think that you can just throw that in a book that kids may read and that is okay. I think not that is just wrong and kids younger then 10 should not read because of..."The least you could've done was use proper grammar. Not only was I subjected to reading this vile message, I also had the strong urge to download Spellcheck for you.
C.R. wrote: "Um... well I wasn't prepared for it. I didn't think he'd put it in because a bunch of younger kids read this. My fifth grade sister just asked, "How can a boy have a crush on a boy?" And I was like..."I'm as straight as they come but I can't BELIEVE the ignorance in half of these comments. Being gay is not an adult topic, but a perfectly normal reality for so many. You *should* have explained to your sister that some people are just romantically interested in the same sex, instead of feeding homophobia by making it seem anything other than normal. How would you like it if I told you that a huge part of what makes you who you are is 'too adult' to talk about with children? Anyway, I can tell you can't be any older than, like, 12, so I guess it's not really your fault -- it's your mother's, for bringing you up wrong. Shame on her tbh
Aurora wrote: "I don't think that Nico is gay as in he wants to be in a sexual relationship with Percy. That totally doesn't fit Nico's character to me at all. I think it's more fitting that Nico would have roman..."So basically what you're saying is, "Nico isn't gay but he has feelings for Percy"? Honey, I think you need to rethink your definition of the word gay, because that's one of the most contradictory sentences I've ever seen. lmao you have a brain, use it
Grace wrote: "Umm... I really don't know what to say about this, but I thought these books were for 9-12 year-olds."And why would that change anything. Being gay is also for 9-12 year olds.
Joy wrote: "I agree with Aurora that the House of Hades has done an excellent job of showing us one thing - that when the parents aren't around, the kids' lives are very difficult. There is nothing wrong with ..."Did you...just...compare Rick Riordan...to Kronos...because he introduced a gay character to his books???????????????????? I'm just........wow.
Kcatty wrote: "Grace wrote: "Umm... I really don't know what to say about this, but I thought these books were for 9-12 year-olds."It really bugs me when people say, "Let's not talk about things like sexual ori..."
After reading the comments here I lost my faith in humanity for a sec. You restored it. Thanks g
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