I’m still continuing my way through Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series, and have finished through the fourth one, The House of Hades. The series continues to be excellent fun! Spoilers to follow for the earlier books…

The last book ended with Percy and Annabeth falling into the pit of Tartarus, the darkest, deepest, most horrifying part of the underworld. Their friends must continue their quest to reach the House of Hades and close the Doors of Death, so that monsters can be killed and Gaea, the terrifying Mother Earth, can be prevented from rising up and destroying humanity. Percy and Annabeth, meanwhile, are searching for the Doors in the Tartarus, to complete the other half of the quest and close them from that side.

Let me just say first, while we’re up here at the top near the image–I love this cover.  That’s Percy and Annabeth there, and I love that you can’t really tell who’s holding up who.  Because they both lean on each other throughout the book.  Which always makes for a good romantic pairing. 🙂

All right, on to the text…  This was a big character growth book. Frank, the shape-shifting son of Mars, grows into his strength as a warrior. Hazel embraces new abilities and new confidence.  And Hazel and Leo come to a new understanding that helps resolve their uneasy triangle with Frank—and wise-talking Leo gets a more serious side, and a chance at an eighth-wheel to balance out his seventh-wheel status. By which I just mean he finally gets a bit of romance of his own! Continue reading “Book Review: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus)” →

After reading the Roman-set Mark of the Thief, I was happy to turn to another Roman-inspired book…and one I had more confidence in!  The Mark of Athena is Book 3 in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series, modern demigods who have to save the world from monsters and villainous gods.  I enjoyed and reviewed the first two books (The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune) and was happy to find the third book equally satisfying.  Some spoilers to follow for the first two books…

This third book opens with the Percy/Annabeth reunion I felt cheated of in Book 2, so that was a good way to begin the story!  The Greek and Roman heroes of the first two books are finally united here, to set off in their flying ship, the Argo II, towards the ancient lands of Rome and Greece.  This will be the battleground to try to stop the waking of Gaea, a very unmotherly Mother Earth who wants to destroy humanity.  Obstacles come thick and fast, from tensions within the group and from monsters at every turn. Continue reading “Book Review: The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus)” →

I find myself with an accumulation of Once Upon a Time reads that I have got behind on reviewing—in part because I don’t have quite enough to say on them! So I thought perhaps a round-up, to say a little on each…here’s my first two-for-one review, and I should have another next week!

A Question of Magic by E. D. Baker

Serafina finds herself unexpectedly trapped when she goes to visit an old woman she believes to be her aunt—who turns out to be the legendary Baba Yaga, who has gone into retirement and left Serafina to take over her home and duties. Serafina must answer truthfully the first question anyone asks her, giving her a powerful magic gift akin to prophecy. Unfortunately, each question she answers causes her to age dramatically. She searches for a way to escape her new role and return home to her family and sweetheart.

I have a rocky history with Baker, but I was so intrigued by this question-answering business that I decided to try the book anyway. That wasn’t as exciting as I thought it might be, since magic essentially takes over Serafina and forces an answer with no thought or intention from her. But on the plus side, my chief complaint with Baker, characters lacking emotional depth, was so much better here. Continue reading “Book Reviews: A Question of Magic and The Son of Neptune” →

I recently reviewed The Riverman by Aaron Starmer, which left me with a very disappointingly ambiguous ending.  So naturally I went swiftly on to the recently-published second book, The Whisper.  I liked the ending better…but had mixed feelings about the book on the whole.  Spoilers to follow for the first book because it’s pretty unavoidable!

The Riverman was about Alistair and his friendship with Fiona, who tells him a strange and impossible story of traveling to Aquavania, where kids can create entire worlds with just their imaginations.  Alistair mostly believes that Fiona is inventing an elaborate metaphor, including the shadowy Riverman who stalks Aquavania, in response to dangers threatening her in the real world.  The Whisper blows apart that uncertainty between fantasy and reality, when Alistair follows Fiona into Aquavania.  Fiona has been taken by the Riverman, also called the Whisper.  Alistair chases through worlds, trying to find and fight the Whisper, hoping to find and rescue Fiona in the process. Continue reading “Book Review: The Whisper (Riverman Trilogy)” →