The House of Hades

Updated on Jan 28, 2024

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Rick riordan the house of hades

The House of Hades is a 2013 fantasy novel based on Greek and Roman mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series, which succeeds the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.

The book uses the third person narration, with chapters being narrated through the points of view of the seven demigods of the "Prophecy of Seven": Annabeth Chase, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson and Piper McLean. After falling into Tartarus at the end of The Mark of Athena, Percy and Annabeth try to escape from there at the same time they try to close the Doors of Death to avoid the constant rebirth of Gaea's army. Meanwhile, the others go to the Greece to close the doors on the mortal side.

The novel received mostly critical acclaim due to the approach of more adult themes, differing from the other books in the series. In addition, the relationship built between Percy and Annabeth during their journey in Tartarus was also praised. During the first week, The House of Hades sold about 350,000 copies, reaching the top of the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, The Globe and Mail and The Wall Street Journal, and also won the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Middle Grade & Children's Book of 2013.

The house of hades by rick riordan book discussion

Development and promotion

The House of Hades was announced by Rick Riordan on October 20, 2012, two weeks after the launching of The Mark of Athena, the third book in The Heroes of Olympus series. The cover and the synopsis were revealed at the BookExpo America in May 2013. According to Riordan, the main focus of the plot would be on "Percy and Annabeth plunged into the worst imaginable circumstances with no one to help them except each other – and how they deal with it."

In an interview with the US News, Riordan said that to write the book, he used his experience of having traveled to the Mediterranean with his family as part of a Disney-Hyperion promotion for the end of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Many of the tourist destinations he visited were included in the series. But because of the conflicting record of Tartarus in the literature, the author said that appealed to his imagination to write the scenes of the underworld.

To promote the book, a tour around the United States during the month of release was announced on August 8, 2013. On the next day, the first chapter was released online. A video with Riordan reading a part of the first chapter of Annabeth was published in September. In the days prior to the launch, promotional images were released revealing the characters of Nyx and Cupid.

Plot

Coach Hedge and the demigods of the quest (minus Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, who are trapped in Tartarus) continue their search for the Doors of Death aboard the Argo II, aided by Nico di Angelo. In Bologna, the Argo II is raided by the Kerkopes; Leo Valdez goes after them to retrieve his stolen Archimedes's sphere, and takes an agricultural book belonging Triptolemus and an astrolabe made by Odysseus as recompense. He also sends the Kerkopes to harass the Roman army massing at Camp Half-Blood. In Venice, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, and Nico retrieve special barley cakes (designed to protect them from poison in the Necromanteion) from Triptolemus after doing the god several favors. Frank receives the blessing of Mars for his heroism in Venice, becoming physically strong and much more confident. During a later encounter with the bandit Sciron and after a meeting with the goddess Hecate, Hazel successfully learns to manipulate the Mist.

At Jason Grace's behest, the demigods visit Split to visit the tomb of Diocletian, retrieve his powerful scepter, and leave a note for Reyna (who has been asked by Annabeth to find the Greek demigods). The god Cupid, guardian of the scepter, refuses to relinquish it until Nico admits that he once had a crush on Percy Jackson. Sailing through the Adriatic Sea, the ship is attacked by Khione and the Boreads and only narrowly defended by Piper McLean's newly powerful charmspeaking skills; Piper is still disappointed in her performance and resolves to train in swordsmanship. During the attack, Leo is transported to Ogygia, where he falls in love with Calypso. Although he leaves the island, Leo promises to return for her. While Leo is detained, the rest of the crew meets with Notus, who helps Jason to realize that he has chosen to be a Greek demigod rather than a Roman, thus settling an internal conflict within himself. Jason later gives up his praetorship to Frank in accordance with this decision.

Arriving at the Necromanteion, the reunited crew is attacked by Clytius, Pasiphaë, and a group of their minions. Each of the demigods uses some aspect of their newly strengthened powers or identities to help defeat these monsters; for example, Hazel's new power and alliance with Hecate helps her defeat Pasiphaë and Clytius. During the questers' journey in the mortal world, Percy and Annabeth have been travelling through Tartarus to the other side of the Doors of Death, aided by the Titan Iapetus (Bob) and a few other beings. As the other demigods fight in the world above, Percy and Annabeth's group reaches the Doors and fights the personification of Tartarus to destroy the chains holding the Doors in place. Bob stays behind amongst hordes of angry monsters to defend the Doors while Percy and Annabeth escape. Once the full quest group is safely reassembled in the mortal world, Reyna arrives on her dying Pegasus. Annabeth says that Reyna, as a Roman, should bring the Athena Parthenos (in the Argo II's hold) back to Camp Half-Blood to appease both the Greeks and Romans, with Nico and Coach Hedge volunteering to accompany her, and the novel ends.

Major characters

Annabeth Chase: A demigod daughter of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. Along with her boyfriend Percy, she is trapped in Tartarus during the novel.

Frank Zhang: Son of Mars, the Roman god of war. He struggles with the voices of his father and Ares fighting in his head during most of the novel. After defeating all the katoblepones in Venice, he receives the blessing of Mars and peace from their arguing. He is dating Hazel Levesque.

Hazel Levesque: Demigod daughter of Pluto. When Argo II was prevented from crossing the Apennines by Ourae, she met with Hecate, who showed her a north path to go on, with the condition that Hazel would learn to use the Mist. At the Doors of Death, she uses the Mist against Pasiphaë, recreating the Labyrinth of Daedalus and throwing the sorceress into an imaginary abyss. She also defeats the giant Clytius with the help of Hecate.

Jason Grace: Demigod son of Jupiter, the Roman aspect of Zeus. In an audition with Auster, the Roman deity of the South Wind, he reveals his preference for Camp Half-Blood instead of Camp Jupiter, and the god forces him to commit to his choice. Due to this, during the battle against the monsters in the Doors of Death, Jason can't control the Diocletian's scepter.

Leo Valdez: Son of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and forges. After Khione and her siblings attack the Argo II, trireme built by Leo, he falls into Ogygia and manages to escape from there with the help of Calypso after they fall in love. At the Doors of Death, he helps Hazel fight Pasiphaë and opened the door for Percy and Annabeth return to the mortal world.

Nico di Angelo: Demigod son of Hades. After being confronted by Cupid, he admits he had a crush on Percy and asks Jason to keep his secret. In Epirus, Nico leads the group to the Doors of Death. He works with Frank to summon and control the dead Roman legion against the cluster of monsters from Clytius. He and Hazel also use their powers of travel in the shadows to take the group safely to the surface. Later he offered to take Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood with Reyna and Coach Hedge.

Percy Jackson: Demigod son of Poseidon, who is also the main protagonist of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He falls into Tartarus with his girlfriend Annabeth.

Piper McLean: Daughter of Aphrodite. When Khione attacked Argo II, she rescued the rest of the crew after reactivating Festus (Leo's automaton dragon integrated with the ship) with her charmspeaking, which burned Calais and Zethes and allowed Piper to defeat the goddess.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano: Demigod daughter of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, is the praetor of Camp Jupiter. After she and the augur Octavian meet Rachel and Grover Underwood in New York City, Rachel gives her a message from Annabeth stating that Reyna was the only person able to take Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood and prevent the war between the Greeks and Romans. She agrees and goes to the Greece in her pegasus Scipio in search of the other demigods, leaving Octavian in power. Upon finding them, she accepted the help of Nico and Coach Hedge to take the statue back to the United States using the shadow travel of Nico to perform the transport.

Release

The House of Hades was released in the United States by Disney-Hyperion on October 8, 2013 with a first printing of two and a half million copies. The audiobook (narrated by Nick Chamian) and ebook were made available on the same date. The book has been translated into 37 languages and distributed in 36 countries.

For the first printing, Disney-Hyperion offered different types of gifts that varied according to where the book was purchased. Readers finding bumper stickers from the Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter on the Walmart, door hanger on the Target and a full-color map of Tartarus on the Barnes & Noble. Later, a paperback edition containing the short stories The Crown of Ptolemy and The Sword of Hades was launched in the United States on March 31, 2015.

The House of Hades sold over 350,000 copies during the first week, 26% more than The Mark of Athena during a comparable period. Upon release, the book ranked #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, USA Today bestseller list, The Globe and Mail bestseller list and The Wall Street Journal bestseller list, also ending up as the seventh bestselling book on Amazon and fifth in the Nielsen BookScan.

Critical reception

The novel was received with positive reviews. A collaborator of The Guardian praised Riordan's ability to handle the multiple perspectives format smoothly and referred to his treatment of "more mature themes," specifically the revelation of Nico's sexual identity, as "subtle and effective." According to the author, the sexual orientation of the character was not planned but developed during the writing of the books. He also commented that he had inserted a homosexual hero into his books because he had already taught gay and bisexual students, feeling that they deserved representation. For him, the idea of treating sexual identity as an adult topic is "absurd".

Karen Rought of Hypable considered The House of Hades as "one of the most gripping tales Riordan has written in his Percy Jackson world." She liked the development of the relationship between Percy and Annabeth during her journey in Tartarus and was surprised with the direction taken by some characters. Finally, she called it as "the darkest book in the Heroes of Olympus series." Kirkus's analysis highlighted the portrayal of Tartarus as "hellish, monster-infested landscape", as well as the development of the characters, making moments of jokes rarer.

Writing to Rappler.com, Gabriela Lee praised the writing "fast-paced and efficient". She especially highlighted the scene in which Nico reveals to be gay, commenting: "there was nothing soft or comforting about their confrontation. Love was shown as something violent and frightening, and Nico’s internal conflict unfolded without a hint of irony or disrespect." Lee was also surprised by the role given to Bob and confessed to having cried at the end given to the character. To close her analysis, she said: "The best lesson that one can take away from reading this book: that even the most terrible person can have a change of heart and make their own choices to do what is right."

The House of Hades won the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Middle Grade & Children's Book of 2013.

Sequel

On the same day as the release of The House of Hades, Rick Riordan announced its sequel, The Blood of Olympus, the last book of the series. The cover, featuring Jason, Frank, Hazel and two giants was released on May 14, 2014. The first chapter of the story was released along with The Staff of Serapis, a crossover between The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson & the Olympians. The Blood of Olympus was released on October 7, 2014 with a first printing of three million copies and sold 162,000 copies in the first week.

References

The House of Hades Wikipedia

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