The novel “The Son of Neptune” by Rick Riordan is an extremely exciting read. The plot is very engaging, with well-developed, interesting characters and a spotlight on Roman mythology. Thematic topics of regret, perseverance, and friendship are echoed throughout the book. Written in third person omniscient point of view, this adventure/fantasy novel starts out with Percy Jackson arriving at Camp Jupiter, a Roman camp, with no memory whatsoever of anything that happened before. He soon meets and befriends two demigods, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang, who both have a fascinating background. Frank’s life depends on a special piece of wood, and this is Hazel’s second life. Percy and his friends are sent on a quest to save all of “god-kind”. Gaea, the earth titan, is rising, and wants to take over the gods’ realm. She’s captured Death (Thanatos) and is preparing to unleash the deadly giant Alcyoneus and an army to destroy Camp Jupiter. Together, through many difficult tasks and roadblocks along the way, they have to travel to Alaska, the land beyond the gods, and do whatever it takes to stop Gaea’s evil plan. This quest may be the most important of them all, and it shows all three friends that they should never give up, since anything is possible with friendship, no matter the circumstances.
This book was captivating, enchanting, remarkable, hard to put down, and a lot more. It was particularly interesting to me since Roman/Greek gods fascinate me, and I learned a lot about them while reading. It was a fun read, and a bit educational in the process, so I finished the book knowing many new things. Not only that, but it was full of action and suspense, so you were always waiting for something. This quote – “He soared upward, then dove at the giant with his talons extended, his razor-sharp claws raking across the giant’s eyes” (Riordan 459) – shows the author’s extensive variety of descriptive language, that paints a vivid picture in readers’ minds, and the action that keeps you wanting more.
The characters are also extremely captivating to read about and by alternating between each character in his chapters, Riordan lets readers know all about the characters’ unique lives.
Also, the tone is humorous, pretty informal, and modern – “the thing about plummeting downhill at 50 miles an hour on a snack platter – if you realize it’s a bad idea when you’re halfway down, it’s too late” (Riordan 13) – so I can relate to the characters easier since they speak much like a normal teenager would.
Overall, I would definitely rate this book a 5/5 and recommend it to everyone who wants an exciting book that they would love to read. This book can appeal to a broad audience, from youngsters to older adults. The novel is relatively easy to understand for younger children and adults will like the action and the education involved too.