Jayson’s Reviews > The Son of Neptune > Status Update

Notes:
(1) Finally finished this after three months. I got audiobooks done much faster when I drove a lot more.
- I've got to fit them better into my routine. Find some mindless, repetitive task to listen along with.
(2) Riordan's Achilles heel are his battle scenes.
- They're often so chaotic and noisy that everything just melts into one big cacophony.
- Outside of notable deaths, I don't find them memorable at all.

Notes:
(1) Riordan makes a big deal about muskeg. Not being a homonym or near-homonym with an obscenity feels like a letdown.
- It's no "dam" or "shist" in other words.
- "Muskeg" is only moderately funny sounding.
(2) "Then she kissed him — a real kiss on the lips, much better than the kind of kiss she'd given Percy on the airplane."
- Even when Percy's not anywhere to be found, he's on people's minds during kisses.

Notes:
(1) Hazel kisses Percy, which the narrator says "was totally sisterly."
- Whatever the reason, girls are always kissing Percy.
(2) "[Percy]'d never used a pay phone before. They were strange antiques to him, like his mom's turntable or his teacher Chiron's Frank Sinatra cassette tapes."
- Pay phones were ancient in 2011?
- Seriously, why would cassettes be Chiron's preferred audio format? For analog, go vinyl.

Notes:
(1) Being from Vancouver, it's weird to to hear Riordan's touristy tidbits. No less because it's actually North Vancouver he goes on about.
- Firstly, no locals call it "North Vancouver," everyone calls it "North Van.
- Also, it's not very interesting compared to Vancouver. Riordan name drops a bridge, a park, etc.
(2) Apparently, Frank's family has a mansion in North Van.
- Mansions are more a West Van thing.

Notes:
(1) Usually, we get a kind of touristy overview and commentary on each city/locale. However, we see very little of Seattle here outside of a Space Needle mention.
- Instead, this section is all about Amazon HQ, with loads of Amazon purchasing and shipping jokes.
- There is one Seattle Sonics pun that I appreciate.
(2) Frank asks Hazel to tend to his stick... literally, it's a piece of wood.
- No innuendo here.

Notes:
(1) Riordan makes a peeping Tom joke, where Reyna's in the bath when Hazel calls and Frank says he wishes he could have seen her. Surprisingly edgy for these books.
- I mean, this series is more mature than "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," but up until now there hasn't been a whiff of anything sexual.
(2) Is Portland famous for food trucks? Because that's the main takeaway (pardon the pun) of these chapters.

Notes:
(1) Iris has a store called ROFL, which the narrator pronounces "roffle."
- I don't think I've ever heard ROFL pronounced phonetically. I've always just said each initial.
(2) These Frank chapters are rough! Definitely my least favorite here.
- His backstory's never about him, but his ancient ancestors, his mother and grandmother, and a burnt stick he keeps on himself.
- He's an entirely superficial character.

Notes:
(1) There's this wheat field scene where the word "schist" is used as a faux expletive, in place of the other S-word.
- Keen observers will know this is a reworking of the "dam" gag from "The Titan's Curse," albeit less spot-on.
- Essentially, a modern take on the classic "Who's on First" routine.
(2) We get Hazel's backstory here, which is good stuff.
- Much more substantial and less superficial than Frank's.

Notes:
(1) Reyna seemed to be proposing some sort of political marriage with Percy.
- Percy gives her the cliché, and always-awkward, "but I have a girlfriend" excuse. Though, having no memory, he can only assume so.
- From what I understand, having watched HBO's "Rome," this is quite the Roman thing to do.
(2) Terminus scoffs at the idea of magical trains.
- Yet another of this series' subtle digs at "Harry Potter."

Notes:
(1) I mentioned it during my first read of this book, but it bears repeating: The idea that in Vancouver of all places, Frank is bullied at school for being Chinese is the most ridiculous thing I've EVER read.
- As someone actually from Vancouver, I can say with dead certainty that this would never happen because the overwhelming majority of students here ARE Chinese.
- Who exactly would be doing the bullying?