Jayson’s Reviews > The Lost Hero > Status Update
Jayson
is 5% done
Notes:
(1) I don't recall much about this book. Two things that stuck with me are that I found Jason boring and Coach Hedge irritating.
- So far, I can't say I've changed my opinion.
(2) One thing that wouldn't fly if this book were released today is Coach Hedge constantly threatening minors with corporal punishment... just a hunch.
(3) I'm digging this new narrator, and the very subtle Mexican accent he's given Leo.
— Oct 20, 2022 05:00AM
(1) I don't recall much about this book. Two things that stuck with me are that I found Jason boring and Coach Hedge irritating.
- So far, I can't say I've changed my opinion.
(2) One thing that wouldn't fly if this book were released today is Coach Hedge constantly threatening minors with corporal punishment... just a hunch.
(3) I'm digging this new narrator, and the very subtle Mexican accent he's given Leo.
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is finished
Notes:
(1) It's interesting reading my notes back from my first read of this book, because I feel pretty much the exact same way.
- It just further crystalized my opinions.
(2) I don't like that Piper and Leo became heads of their respective cabins, thus gaining seats at the camp council, both by acclamation.
- I was looking forward to a showdown between Piper and Drew. A real anticlimactic, albeit hostile, takeover.
— Feb 13, 2023 04:50AM
(1) It's interesting reading my notes back from my first read of this book, because I feel pretty much the exact same way.
- It just further crystalized my opinions.
(2) I don't like that Piper and Leo became heads of their respective cabins, thus gaining seats at the camp council, both by acclamation.
- I was looking forward to a showdown between Piper and Drew. A real anticlimactic, albeit hostile, takeover.
Jayson
is 93% done
Notes:
(1) Jason and Porphyrion have a boast battle, which seems purely for ceremonial intimidation; rather like a Māori haka.
- Unlike a modern rap battle, you only big yourself up, not tear the other guy down.
(2) For the second battle scene in a row, we get the villain explaining their entire plan to the heroes in great detail.
- I understand this is meant for the readers' benefit, but it's lazy and a tired trope.
— Feb 12, 2023 04:30AM
(1) Jason and Porphyrion have a boast battle, which seems purely for ceremonial intimidation; rather like a Māori haka.
- Unlike a modern rap battle, you only big yourself up, not tear the other guy down.
(2) For the second battle scene in a row, we get the villain explaining their entire plan to the heroes in great detail.
- I understand this is meant for the readers' benefit, but it's lazy and a tired trope.
Jayson
is 85% done
Notes:
(1) "'Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes.'
'Only by both,' Jason said. The giant’s smile faltered, and Jason saw in his eyes something like fear. 'It’s true, isn't it?"
- If only villains kept they mouths shut during battle and had better poker faces, they wouldn't be so easy to beat.
(2) For anyone familiar with "Super Smash Bros.," Jason essentially defeats the Enceladus with Pikachu's thunder attack.
— Feb 11, 2023 04:45AM
(1) "'Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes.'
'Only by both,' Jason said. The giant’s smile faltered, and Jason saw in his eyes something like fear. 'It’s true, isn't it?"
- If only villains kept they mouths shut during battle and had better poker faces, they wouldn't be so easy to beat.
(2) For anyone familiar with "Super Smash Bros.," Jason essentially defeats the Enceladus with Pikachu's thunder attack.
Jayson
is 73% done
Notes:
(1) "Leo fell in love with every girl he saw — as long as she was totally out of his league."
- At first I thought that meant Leo considers Piper in his league, since he's not in love with her, but I guess "totally out of his league" is a separate tier she doesn't qualify for.
- Possibly he considers "totally out of his league" a girl who's outwardly repulsed by him. That would actually fit the bill perfectly.
— Feb 09, 2023 04:15AM
(1) "Leo fell in love with every girl he saw — as long as she was totally out of his league."
- At first I thought that meant Leo considers Piper in his league, since he's not in love with her, but I guess "totally out of his league" is a separate tier she doesn't qualify for.
- Possibly he considers "totally out of his league" a girl who's outwardly repulsed by him. That would actually fit the bill perfectly.
Jayson
is 66% done
Notes:
(1) "Leo deactivated all of them. It was like he could smell the traps, and he picked just the right tool out of his belt to disable them.
'You're amazing, man,' Jason said."
- Gee, Jason's easily impressed. If you ask me, acquiring the right tool is a given when your tool belt provides you anything you can think of.
(2) Being out of action for nearly the whole book, I'd forgotten how annoying Coach Hedge is!
— Feb 06, 2023 04:30AM
(1) "Leo deactivated all of them. It was like he could smell the traps, and he picked just the right tool out of his belt to disable them.
'You're amazing, man,' Jason said."
- Gee, Jason's easily impressed. If you ask me, acquiring the right tool is a given when your tool belt provides you anything you can think of.
(2) Being out of action for nearly the whole book, I'd forgotten how annoying Coach Hedge is!
Jayson
is 62% done
Notes:
(1) I'm not down with Swanson's Hephaestus voice. He sounds less like the rough-hewn, hammer-wielding ball of muscle I imagined, and more like some nerdy science teacher.
- It does sort of fit with the inventor aspect of him, so I guess I can't gripe too much.
(2) You'd think with all these crash landings someone would get injured, or get whiplash at the very least.
- I mean, they're demigods, not unbreakable.
— Feb 05, 2023 04:45AM
(1) I'm not down with Swanson's Hephaestus voice. He sounds less like the rough-hewn, hammer-wielding ball of muscle I imagined, and more like some nerdy science teacher.
- It does sort of fit with the inventor aspect of him, so I guess I can't gripe too much.
(2) You'd think with all these crash landings someone would get injured, or get whiplash at the very least.
- I mean, they're demigods, not unbreakable.
Jayson
is 58% done
Notes:
(1) Unfortunately, when I hear the name "Medea" I think of "Madea" and those awful Tyler Perry films... at least, I think they're awful.
(2) It took a while, but we've finally got some meat-and-potatoes Riordan-style mythology going on.
- There was the meeting with Boreas and his offspring, and the battle with the cyclopes, but modern iterations of mythological figures is really what makes these books special.
— Jan 30, 2023 10:35PM
(1) Unfortunately, when I hear the name "Medea" I think of "Madea" and those awful Tyler Perry films... at least, I think they're awful.
(2) It took a while, but we've finally got some meat-and-potatoes Riordan-style mythology going on.
- There was the meeting with Boreas and his offspring, and the battle with the cyclopes, but modern iterations of mythological figures is really what makes these books special.
Jayson
is 53% done
Notes:
(1) "Jason was impressed [with Leo]. Taking out three Cyclopes with nothing but a tool kit? Not bad."
- Depends on what's in said tool kit. Leo's has anything he can think of.
- This Jayson isn't very impressed.
(2) Jason: "She’s trying to make you feel like a failure. But you're not. You're important."
Leo: "That’s what she said."
- Does it say something about me that I expected that to be a punchline?
— Jan 30, 2023 10:30AM
(1) "Jason was impressed [with Leo]. Taking out three Cyclopes with nothing but a tool kit? Not bad."
- Depends on what's in said tool kit. Leo's has anything he can think of.
- This Jayson isn't very impressed.
(2) Jason: "She’s trying to make you feel like a failure. But you're not. You're important."
Leo: "That’s what she said."
- Does it say something about me that I expected that to be a punchline?
Jayson
is 49% done
Notes:
(1) Leo kind of reminds me of Prince Harry, in the way he constantly brings up his mothers death and ensuing trauma as the key moment in his emotional development.
- Not to say that characters shouldn't do this, or real life persons for that matter, but both do it an awful lot, as a point of self-definition.
(2) Leo yells "Boo-yah!" which sort of dates this book.
- Do kids still say that? Seems very mid-2000s.
— Jan 29, 2023 11:15AM
(1) Leo kind of reminds me of Prince Harry, in the way he constantly brings up his mothers death and ensuing trauma as the key moment in his emotional development.
- Not to say that characters shouldn't do this, or real life persons for that matter, but both do it an awful lot, as a point of self-definition.
(2) Leo yells "Boo-yah!" which sort of dates this book.
- Do kids still say that? Seems very mid-2000s.
Jayson
is 45% done
Notes:
(1) Leo just happens to find a magic tool belt that can provide him any tool he can think of.
- Great! Another deus ex machina device to make sure life-threatening situations never result in any tension.
(2) There's an idea here with Piper's father, that Native American actors can pass for most non-white roles because they're so mixed racially they don't look like any one ethnicity.
- Surprisingly deep.
— Jan 22, 2023 06:45AM
(1) Leo just happens to find a magic tool belt that can provide him any tool he can think of.
- Great! Another deus ex machina device to make sure life-threatening situations never result in any tension.
(2) There's an idea here with Piper's father, that Native American actors can pass for most non-white roles because they're so mixed racially they don't look like any one ethnicity.
- Surprisingly deep.
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SK
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rated it 5 stars
Oct 20, 2022 05:13AM
In my re-reads for this series, the thing that always stays consistent is Jason being boring
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SK wrote: "In my re-reads for this series, the thing that always stays consistent is Jason being boring"Unfortunate that my namesake should be so indisputably boring 😅
Jayson wrote: "Unfortunate that my namesake should be so indisputably boring 😅"He does grow on ya eventually in the series, but definitely not in this one 😂🙈
SK wrote: "He does grow on ya eventually in the series, but definitely not in this one 😂🙈"Hopefully so. I don't remember that being the case last time I read the series, but perhaps I'll have a different experience this time around 😅👍
Annie wrote: "True Jason was my least favorite while Leo the best"Totally agree with you on that 😁👍
Jason is definitely more straight-laced than we are used to with Percy as our protagonist and he took a little bit to grow in me but once he did I quite liked him XD That being said, Leo is the best character of this new trio.
For some reason, I've always felt as if The Son of Neptune was the true start of this new series and this one was, like, a prelude.
I think Jason becomes a bit more defined in the later books. I always personally felt he was a bit underrated. He was slightly different in that he didn't have the usual snarky, sarcastic MCU type personality that's typical of Percy and a lot of other Rick Riordan characters, lol. But I agree Leo was definitely the best!
Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Jason is definitely more straight-laced than we are used to with Percy as our protagonist and he took a little bit to grow in me but once he did I quite liked him XD That being said, Leo is the b..."
I agree about this being more the prelude to the series. You don't have Percy Jackson as one of the main characters in the series and not have him appear in the first book. Anything that happens before that doesn't feel very important.
Janhavi wrote: "I think Jason becomes a bit more defined in the later books. I always personally felt he was a bit underrated. He was slightly different in that he didn't have the usual snarky, sarcastic MCU type ..."I think out of the initial trio, everyone like Leo the best. Having read the entire series before, I never really warmed to Jason at all. Though, I'm perhaps an outlier in that respect. 🤷♂️
I feel like the corporal punishment thing would still fly now for 2 reasons: 1. It’s Rick Riordan, he can do no wrong in the eyes of his rabid (and numerous) fans and 2. It’s a humorous aspect more than a seriously threatening one.Can’t believe you’re reading this series now. Good luck! I hated this book!
I also hated Jason and I found it fitting that he was described as a blonde superman because I’ve never really liked superman either. Jason is actually an alright character but he clearly pales in comparison to Percy which is what the narrative and the fans constantly do: compare him to Percy. And anyone compared to Percy fails, it’s a fixed fight!
Kadi wrote: "I feel like the corporal punishment thing would still fly now for 2 reasons: 1. It’s Rick Riordan, he can do no wrong in the eyes of his rabid (and numerous) fans and 2. It’s a humorous aspect more..."I think the idea that you could Percy in a book and force him to share the spotlight was a poor decision. Like you say, there's always going to be comparisons between the old lead and the new lead, and the new one fails nearly all the time when this happens.
In this situation, they're just dropping Jason in cold, didn't give him any distinguishing characteristics or personality quirks, and so he didn't stand a chance. Not only does Jason pale in comparison with Percy, he pales in comparison with Leo, who is just all personality.
As for the corporal punishment gags, Riordan could possibly get away with it, but he's changed his mindset about a lot of things from the earlier books, and even if it would fly today, I doubt that he would go that direction again. His later books tend to be very cautious about perceived social incorrectness.
Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Jason is definitely more straight-laced than we are used to with Percy as our protagonist and he took a little bit to grow in me but once he did I quite liked him XD ..."
Exactly. Add to that the fact that the plot of the book in itself feels a bit disconnected from the next books and you have a very connecting book but not exactly a first book. I mean, a lot of the stuff that we find out here is repeated in Son of Neptune so...
Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly. Add to that the fact that the plot of the book in itself feels a bit disconnected from the next books and you have a very connecting book but not exactly a first book..."I feel like Riordan was doing a lot of experimenting with tone and format after Percy Jackson. He was writing The Kane Chronicles at eh same time as this, and the two are, I think, intentionally very different. It's interesting to note what new elements he ended up keeping and which ones he ditched as soon as possible.
Annie wrote: "I didn't even know Leo is so well loved lol. I'm so basic"Well, compared to everyone else Leo really stands out. But then, that's not much of a compliment, being the one glimmer and spark lighting a rather dim room.
Annie wrote: "Lol true"😁👍
Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly. Add to that the fact that the plot of the book in itself feels a bit disconnected from the next books and you have a very connecting book but not exactly a fir..."Well, since I don't remember much of the Kane Chronicles I cannot really say anything to this XD
The silver line is, Riordan has been very smart in how he can recognize what works and what doesn't and that is commendable and important.
Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Well, since I don't remember much of the Kane Chronicles I cannot really say anything to this XD"You're definitely not alone. I doubt many people remember much at all about The Kane Chronicles. Frankly, the only thing I really remember is how underwhelming it was 😅
Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Well, since I don't remember much of the Kane Chronicles I cannot really say anything to this XD"You're definitely not alone. I doubt many people remember much at all..."
Hahaha, I do remember that I was fine with it but, yeah, the fact I don't remember pretty much anything of it surely means that it WAS underwhelming.
Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hahaha, I do remember that I was fine with it but, yeah, the fact I don't remember pretty much anything of it surely means that it WAS underwhelming.""Fine with it" pretty much sums up my opinion too :)
