Sean Dougherty

Sean Dougherty
The Son of Neptune
Rick Riordan
Fantasy/Mythology
Just Right
Pg 37


1. Currently, I am reading The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. I started this book earlier this year but dropped it due to longevity, but now I feel that I have time to read it from the beginning. There's a prior book in this series, The Lost Hero, and this is the second of three books in this thrilling series. I'm at the beginning of this book and right now, Percy, like Jason, had a memory wipe. He doesn't know anything about his childhood, parents, or friends. The book stats where Percy is being chased by two gorgons, sisters of Medusa. Percy still remembers his name and the fact that he is half god, half human: a demigod. He is able to kill a gorgon, then run away, but the gorgons regenerate and catch up to him pretty quickly. He gets to steep hill, a dead end. He knows there is a tunnel under the hill, but how will he get there. The gorgons are disguised in the human world as workers at the Bargain Mart, and one was carrying a tray with poisoned cheese samples. Percy is able to kill the gorgons one last time, take the tray and uses it as a sled. He gets down the hill and finds the tunnel. There is an old woman there, apparently a Goddess: Juno. She asks that Percy carries her through the tunnel, he excepts. The two guards at the tunnel are able to hold the gorgons off long enough for them all to reach their destination, Rome. Even though they were in the United States at the time, somehow mythology led them to ancient Rome. I can't wait to keep reading.

2. I really have enjoyed this book so far. Even though I am only at the beginning, I find these kinds of books interesting and exciting. I've read many other Riordan books, and have felt the same way. They are very well written and always provide a good handful of mythology that can come in handy in Latin class. I immensely like how the author can mix the characters in mythology with real people living normal, or sort of normal lives. Things like that can just make a book so much better. As in The Maze Runner, I like how the main character starts with no memory. This gives the reader, as well as the character, new ground to build on. Building it from the ground in other words. I feel Rick Riordan does a great job at this.

3. The theme of this book is probably finding yourself. Of coarse, Percy starts out with almost no memory and his goal is to get that back, but it's more than that. He needs to figure out what he means to everybody and the world. He has to except the fact that he's not like other teenagers, he is demigod. He fights monsters and goes to a hero camp instead of school. That's exactly why I chose this theme. I may be early in the book, but I know Percy, he truly is a hero. Same story with all the other demigods, they need to look inside themselves and find out what they mean to the world of mythology. You may think of them as just soldiers, but they are individuals with different talents and parents. Again, the entire plot is for Jason to get his memory back and continue the life he was living before he woke up.

4. Because I have only read so few pages, my favorite character is Percy. He shows he is a hero through his courage and leadership. When he was being chased by the gorgons knowing that he couldn't kill them, he didn't give up. Even when the odds were on top of him, he kept fighting, and eventually he found a way to escape. Also, he is flat out a good person. He didn't know that the old lady was a Goddess before he carried her, still he did the favor and did what's right. He seems like the best character in this book to me so far.

5. My least favorite character in this book is Reyna, the camp of Rome's leader. She was the first one to formally greed Percy when he got to the camp. This greeting was very weak and pathetic. Percy had just had his life at risk as well as the two guards and Juno. She's stiff and very high strung considering the brief time she was described in the book. Despite the responsibilities of being camp leader, she's a teenager, she deserves to have fun every once and a while. I feel like she won't play a big part in the rest of the plot, but right now, she's pretty important to Percy's position.

6. Considering the fact that I've read other Rick Riordan books and know how and where his climax kicks in. He writes hero stories, and heroes almost always win. However, his heroes are teenagers and think differently. I other words, they can't really seal the deal. I now Percy will hardly win, but the story won't be over. There's always this loophole that leads the story into the rest of the series. The gorgons said that their leader was Gaea, and I think that Gaea will almost awake, but due to the strong courage of Percy and his friends, they will keep her asleep. But she's not done, the prophesy says that seven sons of Olympus will unite to defeat Gaea. I believe that this won't happen until the next book.