The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2)

The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan

Blurb:

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth.
Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.
Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery — although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially in front of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely — enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Review:

"Um ... is that thing tame?" Frank said.
The horse whinnied angrily.
"I don't think so," Percy guessed. "He just said, 'I will trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man'."

If you know anything about Rick Riordan's books you'll know what I'm going to say: this was interesting, fast-paced, and funny. Generally, there is a lot of fun to be had when reading Riordan's books and The Son of Neptune is no exception. That being said, this one felt like a book right down the middle. Yeah, it was interesting but I'm used to that from Riordan and this was nothing special (the snippet I enjoyed most was the ROFL-store thing, it speaks to a very weird aspect of my humor). It was also fast-paced but that's just what I'm expecting from these books. And, yes, it was funny but I never physically laughed out loud or even snorted.

I couldn't even pinpoint anything I really disliked about the story. The thing is, there are a lot of new things being introduced and looking back at the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series it did take me a while to get comfortable in that story as well before I was able to completely enjoy myself and fall in love with that series. Meaning, my theory is that I just need to read more of these books.

However, because I've got nothing new to say about The Son of Neptune that I haven't said about another Riordan book before and I am very much planning on reading the rest of the series I don't feel like I can stretch this review any further. That's really all there is to this. I'm excited to continue, though. 

"Jeez, Hazel," Percy said, "tell your horse to watch his language."
Hazel tried not to laugh. "What did he say?"
"With the cussing removed? He said he can get us to the top."
Frank looked incredulous. "I thought the horse couldn't fly!"
This time Arion whinnied so angrily, even Hazel could guess he was cursing.
"Dude," Percy told the horse, "I've gotten suspended for saying less than that..."

Rating:

It was funny, alright. It was interesting, alright. It was enjoyable, alright. Still, it wasn't anything extraordinary, nothing was particularly special about it; nothing stood out but it was a good book and I'm giving this a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Details:

Name: The Son of Neptune 

Deutscher Titel: Der Sohn des Neptun

Series: The Heroes of Olympus

Author: Rick Riordan

Previous Books in this Series: The Lost Hero (#1)

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 521

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