Board Thread:Antaeus' Arena: Audience Chamber/@comment-1515612-20160707163532/@comment-24067344-20160711230223

Le Dernier Vache wrote: I haven't read The Hidden Oracle yet, but for The Lost Hero, I can confidently say that it was probably one of the most mediocre series starters that I've ever had the misfortune of reading. A series opener is supposed to introduce you to the characters and make you care for them throughout the course of the series. However, I found myself caring very little for the new main characters in the Heroes of Olympus series, with the only exceptions being Hazel, Leo (to an extent), and Frank. In terms of its mediocrity, the only fitting comparison I can make is Star Wars Episode 7. Both were disappointing and incredibly average, with some of the new main characters being recycled content from previous books/movies. Piper was an annoyance to read about. If she was not being self-centred during The Lost Hero, it was because she was too busy fawning over Jason as if he were some messianic figure revered by a cult. This is not to mention how insignificant her problems were ("Daddy isn't paying attention to me"). Jason was essentially the male Mary Sue of the series. He had very few problems, always strove to be perfect, and had few flaws. While some might enjoy characters like this, I do not. Stories are driven by the conflicts that characters have and Jason, has remarkably few, making him one of the driest main characters in the universe by far. At least Leo had some sort of inferiority complex, that made things somewhat interesting. While I do not laud the The Lightning Thief as an amazing book, if I had to choose the lesser of two evils, The Lightning Thief would be first, The Lost Hero would be last and goodness, I hope that The Hidden Oracle is good enough to be second.

Wait, you didn't like Reyna? I mean, she's not part of the 7, but I guess you could consider her a main character, considering the fact that she got a POV in The Blood of Olympus. It's true she wasn't as relevant to the plot like the 7+Nico, but I think she was pretty important. Also, while this might not be good enough to change your mind, but I think one of the reasons why you might have not enjoyed it could as well be the fact that the new characters, including the old ones, where narrated in 3rd person. It could affect the characters a bit. For example, many have not liked Percy so much in this series, for we really couldn't see his thoughts as much like in PJ, resulting him to be less funny.