The Son of Neptune - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

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 the god of the sea, 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, and appeared on several bestseller lists. 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.

The son of neptune by rick riordan booktalk with xtinemay

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. 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.

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. 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.

Synopsis

Several months after Percy Jackson's defense of Mount Olympus during the events of The Last Olympian, Percy finds himself alone and on the run from monsters in southern California without his memories. Under the initial guidance of Lupa, the wolf-goddess and protector of ancient Rome, he makes his way toward Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod training camp and counterpart to Camp Half-Blood. Upon arriving, he is again attacked by several Gorgons, and successfully defends a disguised goddess Juno as well as the camp with the help of the guards on duty. Because he protected her during the attack, Juno announces his arrival with her approval, identifying that Percy is a son of Neptune. She further tells him privately that he can only regain his memory by learning to be a hero again and successfully survive the challenges he encounters at camp.

Quickly befriending the guards, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, he acclimates quickly to Camp Jupiter's new routines and leadership. Though Frank and Hazel are outcasts at Camp Jupiter, relate to Percy's outsider status and consider it their duty to help Percy adjust. However, the three receive a direct prophecy from Mars, the Roman god of war:

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

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. During the trip, the trio learns that the goddess Gaea is awakening from several millennia of slumber with 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.

Viewpoint Characters

Percy Jackson: A demigod son of Poseidon(Neptune), 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.

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: son of Hades, brother of Bianca di Angelo, is a main character from the first series and Hazel's half-brother . 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.

Frank Zhang: a son of Mars and a legacy (distant descendant) of Poseidon on his mother's side. A notable ancestor of Frank is Periclymenus, who was given the ability of shapeshifting by his grandfather, Poseidon. It is revealed that the descendants of Periclymenus have inherited this ability, and Frank learns to use it late in the novel. Frank 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.

Other Characters

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. 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. It was the Amazon Best Book of the Month in October 2011.

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". 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. 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. Kirkus Reviews was positive about the book, thinking that Riordan had "regained his traction" after "spinning his wheels" in The Lost Hero.

Sequel

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

References

The Son of Neptune Wikipedia

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