The House of Hades

October 15, 2013

Title: The House of Hades
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney/ Hyperion Books
Pages: 597
ISBN: 978-142314672-8
Publication Date: October 8th, 2013

Synopsis:
At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.
Review:
Ok, I will start off by saying, we have answers fairly quickly to the fate of Percy and Annabeth...thank goodness! After the cliffhanger of Mark of Athena, it was questionable to what would happen to one of them. I'm not so morbid to think both of them would die, however I thought the possibility of one of them biting the dust was there. However, that idea did leave after the cover was revealed a few months ago with both Percy and Annabeth alive.

For the most part, I did enjoy the book, but there was a couple of parts that popped up that I didn't like. I will start with the good.

Again, we learn about Percy and Annabeth pretty quickly. They are alive...but not much better then that.They have fallen into the pit of Tartarus, a place where only monsters and Titans have lived or where they head to to regenerate when they are killed in the mortal world. Tartarus is not a place where demigods go willingly or where they could easily survive.

Percy and Annabeth face many obstacles on their journey to the the Doors of Death in Tartarus. All they want to do is close them from keeping the monsters from reaching the surface. They wouldn't make it with out the help of Bob, a Titan who had his memory wiped by Percy in a previous battle. Bob was a great character who lightened up what could have been a really dark plot of the book.

Leo, Frank, and Hazel were also enjoyable to follow on their journey. Their wit and humor was fun and the battles they faced, they faced using their brains.

For the part of the book I was ok with was Piper and Jason. I haven't really made much of a connection with them in the series, so with them not having much of a point of view in the story. I was fine with them as a secondary role.

There was one plot in the story that just didn't sit well with me. It revolved around Nico. His story arc came out of no where for me and I didn't find all that appropriate for a kids book. The angle that was used seemed to be thrown in to make the story more politically correct or to give it a more modern societal view.

All and all, the story was just ok.
3 out of 5

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