Jayson’s Reviews > The Lost Hero > Status Update
Jayson
is 14% done
Notes:
(1) "Leo didn’t quite understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn’t mean he was cousins with all these ladies."
- Nah, not all of them. Just nearly of them. They did add all the minor deities and Demeter Cabin are technically his second-cousins.
(2) Leo's first solo chapters are so much shorter than Jason and Piper's.
- Unfortunate, since he's the most interesting of three.
— Oct 31, 2022 04:40AM
(1) "Leo didn’t quite understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn’t mean he was cousins with all these ladies."
- Nah, not all of them. Just nearly of them. They did add all the minor deities and Demeter Cabin are technically his second-cousins.
(2) Leo's first solo chapters are so much shorter than Jason and Piper's.
- Unfortunate, since he's the most interesting of three.
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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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Virginia Ronan
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rated it 4 stars
Oct 31, 2022 06:41AM
I always felt the same about Leo's chapters. I loved his character so much but he never got enough page time.
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Virginia Ronan wrote: "I always felt the same about Leo's chapters. I loved his character so much but he never got enough page time."Especially since he's the most like Percy out of the bunch, and readers expect that sort of comedic aesthetic to play a central role in these books.
Jayson wrote: "Especially since he's the most like Percy out of the bunch, an..."Very true! Tbh Jason and Piper were never my faves of this series. I really loved Leo, Hazel and Nico. And boy, even after finishing this series I still want more of them, especially Nico. XD
Virginia Ronan wrote: "Very true! Tbh Jason and Piper were never my faves of this series. I really loved Leo, Hazel and Nico. And boy, even after finishing this series I still want more of them, especially Nico. XD"Never really been a fan of Nico myself. Seems quite one-note to me. But I understand that I'm not necessarily the target demographic for these books, and can see how he can be a lot people's favorite. I can stand Piper as a secondary character, but Jason is just a personality black hole.
Jayson wrote: "Never really been a fan of Nico myself. Seems quite one-note to me. But I understand that I'm not necessarily the target demographic for these books, and..."Jason is just too perfect and nice. I like my heroes with personality and baggage. Guess that's why I love Batman and never really liked Superman all too much. *lol* I think Nico has such a high potential to be more than one-note, but unfortunately Uncle Rick never used his potential. Maybe he'll play a bigger part in the other books? And haha! I'm definitely not the target group for these books but I still love them. XD
Virginia Ronan wrote: "Jason is just too perfect and nice. I like my heroes with personality and baggage. Guess that's why I love Batman and never really liked Superman all too much. *lol* I think Nico has such a high potential to be more than one-note..."Especially when it comes to young adult and middle grade fiction, I think we're seeing the slow death of the flawed protagonist. I see this a lot in comic books too, where heroes are written so cautiously that they cease to be realistic.
It's the Barbie and Ken mode of fiction writing. Barbie and Ken have no ostensible personality except what the observer project onto them. They're just there to be perfect and plastic and entirely inoffensive. As tame as the Percy Jackson books were, they had a lot more bite to them than everything that's followed.
As for Nico, I'm all for getting behind him as a main character or major player, provided he moves past being just sulky and brooding.
Jayson wrote: "Especially when it comes to young adult and middle grade fiction, I think we're seeing the slow death of the flawed protagonist. I see this a lot in comic books too, where heroes are written..."It's a shame, really. Flawed protagonists aren't just very intriguing but also more realistic than all the goody good ones. I guess it's a sign of our time that people write all their heroes so cautiously. Times have changed and no one wants to get a shitstorm.
I agree about the bite of the first 5 Percy Jackson books. *lol* I really enjoyed it. I know Barbie and Ken should be inoffensive but to me they actually are extemely offensive because I totally dislike the entire black or white thinking. Perfect is unrealistic and I'd rather prefer charming imperfectionism in a character. =)
I still haven't read "The Trials of Apollo" but I heard he might play a bigger role in those books so I'm hoping his potential will finally be used. XD
Virginia Ronan wrote: "It's a shame, really. Flawed protagonists aren't just very intriguing but also more realistic than all the goody good ones. I guess it's a sign of our time that people write all their heroes so cautiously..."I find that when writers gain a modicum of success, they tend to become risk-averse and are prone to self-censor. It's like they've finally got their foot in the door of a very competitive industry and are afraid of losing their grip. So, nothing's challenging, stories become more a succession of episodes and characters are more or less interchangeable.
I haven't read Trials of Apollo yet either. Actually, the reason I doing this whole reread is to refresh my memory of the books to that point, so I can have the full experience of it, references, parallels and all :)
So I found a BRAND NEW FREAKING COPY of The Son of Neptune for 43 cents at the thrift store next to my house two weeks ago and I was STOKED AF! Just have to erm, collect the rest of this series lmao. WILL SHE THRIFT THEM ALL?! 🤣
Also yes. 100% yes re: Leo.
Ashley wrote: "So I found a BRAND NEW FREAKING COPY of The Son of Neptune for 43 cents at the thrift store next to my house two weeks ago and I was STOKED AF! Just have to erm, collect the rest of this series lma..."Fantastic! Love it when that happens. A couple weeks ago I found a pristine copy of a book I've been searching for in a dollar store. I've gone back hoping lightning will strike twice... hasn't yet, but it's not impossible. I've got my fingers crossed for you 😁🤞
Ashley wrote: "Also yes. 100% yes re: Leo."He really deserves to be the lead. Apart from Percy, I think he's the best equipped to carry his own series.
