User blog comment:Hermione Chase/"The Blood of Olympus" Expectations/@comment-3146930-20140102211408/@comment-3146930-20140102230920

I admit that the first two kind of slowed the series down, as the series basically has two introduction books, leaving 2 left to advance the plot, then one to conclude everything. Then there are things we keep hearing about over the course of the books, but they are still going. For example, CJ manages to make it to CHB by the middle of The Mark of Athena, yet by the end of The House of Hades they still haven't done anything with it; we just keep hearing about it. Also the Athena statue was the focus of the MoA, but once again we still have no idea what powers it has (if it even has any. Maybe the reason it is the Giant's bane is because it will unite the camps). Not to mention the fact that Gaea needs a sacrifice is a plot point that keeps being brought up, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I mean the MoA has Gaea going around and mentioning needed a sacrifice and the book makes several attempts to make the reader think Gaea will capture someone, but it never happens. Everyone escapes her traps, even Percy and Annabeth in the next book. It is almost like the MoA and the HoH have different plots, but the same key events: Gaea needs a sacrifice, the statue is important, and CHB and CJ are about to fight.