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The Son of Neptune

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The Son of Neptune
Heroes of Olympus - The Son of Neptune.png
Cover of first edition
Author Rick Riordan
Cover artist John Rocco
Country United States
Series The Heroes of Olympus (bk 2)
Genre Fantasy, Greek and Roman mythology, young-adult novel
Publisher Disney-Hyperion Books[1]
Publication date
 October 4, 2011 (hardcover, audiobook CD, Kindle/Nook eBook)
Media type Print (hardcover), audiobook CD, e-book
Pages 513 pp (first ed.)[1]
ISBN 978-1-4231-4059-7
OCLC 719377188
LC Class PZ7.R4829 Son 2011[1]
Preceded by The Lost Hero
Followed by The Mark of Athena

The Son of Neptune is a 2011 fantasy novel, the second book in The Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan. The story follows the adventures of amnesiac Percy Jackson, a demigod son of Poseidon, as he meets a camp of Roman demigods and goes to Alaska with his new friends Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang to free the Greek god of death, Thanatos and help save the world from Gaea, the earth goddess.

The book received mostly critical acclaim, won the Goodreads Choice Award in 2011,[2] and appeared on several bestseller lists.[3] The book continues Riordan's use of third person narration, where chapters are from the point of view of one of the main characters, switching between Percy, Frank, and Hazel.

The book was first published in hardcover on October 4, 2011 by Disney-Hyperion with a cover designed by illustrator John Rocco. After an initial hardcover printing of three million copies, the book has since been released in paperback as well as an audiobook and e-book, and has been translated into 37 languages.[4]

Development and promotion

In an interview by Scholastic with Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero, Riordan was questioned about the whereabouts of Percy Jackson. The author hinted that the answer would be revealed as Jason's quest progressed. By the end of the book, he said that readers would have a good idea where the second book is going.[5] On May 26, 2011, Riordan released both the cover art and the first chapter for The Son of Neptune confirming that Percy would play a role in the book.[6]

On August 8, 2011, Rick Riordan released a video giving more information about the book and its characters. The video includes pictures of a black haired boy with a bow and arrow in his hands who is later revealed to be Frank Zhang, a blonde-haired boy holding a teddy bear later revealed as Octavian, a girl with black hair wearing gold armor and a purple cloak sitting on a throne flanked by a gold and a silver canine creature, both with red eyes, who was revealed on Rick Riordan's blog to be Reyna, and another girl riding a horse named Hazel Levesque.[7] Along with this, two chapters were released prior to the book's launch: one was put on Riordan's website and another read out by Riordan on Percy's birthday, August 18.[8]

Synopsis

Go to Alaska.
Find Thanatos and free him.
Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.

This prophecy is given by Mars, the Roman god of war, in Camp Jupiter. Yet, during the course of the story, the harpy Ella recites what seems to be the first two lines of the true prophecy: "To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion’s crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown –". After reciting the prophecy, Ella says, "Hmm. Burnt. The rest is burnt." Percy, Frank and Hazel think that Ella read the Sibylline Books and that the rest of the page has been burned. So Percy and Frank, and Hazel protect Ella from the Romans who would make her a slave.

Percy Jackson is a Greek demigod who has lost his memory and wandered into a Roman demigod training camp. His father is Neptune, the Roman sea god. Also known as Poseidon, the Greek sea god. Percy has been in the wilderness for some time under the protection of Lupa, the goddess protector of Rome. However, he has been led to Camp Jupiter by the goddess Juno who has a plan in mind for Percy. Unfortunately, he won't find out what that plan is until after he has once again proven he is a hero.

Percy can't remember his past and isn't certain what his future will be. When he arrives at Camp Jupiter, he is assisted by two new friends who take him under their wing. Frank and Hazel are outcasts at Camp Jupiter. They know what it is like to be an outsider and both consider it their duty to help Percy adjust. Each also has their own demons to fight and past to overcome. Before any of them have a chance to gain their footing, they are selected to go on a quest to rescue Death from the giant Alcyoneus who is hiding deep in Alaska. Uncertain of their skills and sure that they will not survive the trio, they embark on the test of their lives.

The goddess Gaea has a plan to destroy the gods and the world along with them. She has created seven children, all of whom are giants. Each of these giants is matched to fight a god who is an enemy. Each giant has the skills to oppose one god and they can only be defeated if the gods and the demigods join forces. This is not an easy task. Percy and his friends manage to defeat the Alaskan giant and save Camp Jupiter from destruction. During their journey, Hazel and Frank become true heroes who know how to use their powers and have self-confidence. Percy regains his memory and helps them save the day.

Major characters

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Main article: List of Camp Half-Blood characters
  • Percy Jackson: A demigod son of Poseidon, who is the main protagonist in the first Camp Half-Blood series. He and Jason Grace have been swapped, because Hera (Juno in Roman form) has wiped their memories away to unite the two demigod camps. Percy is sent to Camp Jupiter, from which Jason comes from. And Percy is from Camp Half-Blood. He goes on a quest with Frank Zhang, son of Mars, and Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, to save Thanatos, Pluto's lieutenant and the deity of death. He succeeds and at the end of the book leads the Roman camp into battle against Gaea's forces and is made praetor by the campers. His memories are restored at around the middle of the book, as Percy drinks gorgon's blood when he challenges Phineas.
  • Frank Zhang: a son of Mars. He is a Roman demigod at Camp Jupiter, a camp for Roman demigods. Frank has a crush on Hazel, which she reciprocates. He is a Chinese Canadian.
  • Hazel Levesque: daughter of Pluto and Nico's half sister. She has been recently resurrected by Nico from her death in 1942 at the age of 13 and lives in Camp Jupiter. She has a crush on Frank Zhang. She is an African American demigod from New Orleans.
  • Nico di Angelo: Hazel's half-brother and son of Hades. Initially, he is aware of what Hera has done to Percy, and pretends he does not know who Percy is. He rescues Hazel, his half-sister, from the Fields of Asphodel, giving her a second chance.
  • Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano: daughter of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, and praetor of Camp Jupiter. It is found that Reyna and her sister Hylla were servants of the witch Circe, whom Annabeth and Percy had killed in The Sea of Monsters. Reyna goes on to Camp Jupiter, and Hylla goes to the Amazons, where she later becomes queen.

Release

The Son of Neptune was given a first printing of three million copies, the largest for Disney-Hyperion to that point.[9] Upon release, the book ranked No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list, USA Today bestseller list, and The Wall Street Journal bestseller list.[3] It was the Amazon Best Book of the Month in October 2011.[10]

Critical reception

The novel was met with mostly positive reviews. Dana Henderson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called the addition of new characters "refreshing and captivating" and claimed that it would "make the reader to want to keep reading".[11] Kimberly Bennion in Deseret News cited it as an "emotional roller coaster" and would please both old and new fans. However, she thought the characters had flaws.[12] The Hutchinson Leader's Kay Johnson wrote that the plot was confusing and the first half was not engaging, but thought Riordan should be given credit for introducing Greek and Roman mythology to a new generation.[13] Kirkus Reviews was positive about the book, thinking that Riordan had "regained his traction" after "spinning his wheels" in The Lost Hero.[14]

Sequel

The Mark of Athena was released on October 2, 2012 and "The House of Hades" was released on October 8, 2013[15] The Blood of Olympus was released on October 7, 2014.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The son of Neptune". LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved November 9, 2015.
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External links

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