The Lost Hero
Encyclopedia
The Lost Hero is a 2010 fantasy
-adventure novel
written by Rick Riordan
and is based on Greek
and Roman mythology
. It is the first book in the series The Heroes of Olympus
, the next series about Camp Half-Blood. It was preceded by the Percy Jackson & the Olympians
series, which focused solely on Greek mythology. The Lost Hero was released on October 12, 2010.
and Scion
. After creating the storyline, Riordan created three new main characters—Jason, Piper and Leo—but used the previous main characters—Percy, Annabeth and Grover—as secondary characters. Unlike the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, the second series is told from the third person alternating between the three main characters. Although initially uncertain of how fans would react, Riordan later found that they enjoyed the new format that allowed them to learn more of each character.
The novel occurs two to three months after the events of The Last Olympian
so previous characters could be included and readers would not be confused. Riordan says that "it was my way of letting them revisit that world in a fresh twist, but also to catch up with Percy and Annabeth and the rest of the gang from the first series." He also decided to include the Roman gods after many readers requested that Riordan write a new series on Roman gods, who are the Greek gods with only a few differences. He pondered how the Roman aspect of the gods would be after moving from Greece to Rome to America. After a while, "playing with that idea gave me the idea for the new series."
, then Piper McLean
, then Leo Valdez
repeatedly, each character telling two chapters at a time. The book has 56 chapters and 557 pages.
Jason, Piper and Leo were told that they were demigods (children of a god and a mortal) and are taken back to Camp Half-Blood where they meet other demigod children like themselves. There, Leo is revealed as a son of Hephaestus, Piper as a daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason as a son of Zeus and the brother of Thalia. He remembers his sister while seeing a picture of her in Cabin One. After scarcely 24 hours of learning about their previously hidden identities, the three receive an urgent quest to rescue Hera, queen of the gods, who was captured by unnamed forces. Before the start of their journey Piper had a dream where one of Gaea's sons, Enceladus, tells Piper that she should bring Jason to him in return for her father who is being held hostage.
The three friends set off on the back of a giant robotic dragon that Leo had found in the forest and repaired and had gladly named him Festus (which in Latin means "happy") on a cross-country quest to save Hera and Piper's father from Enceladus. Their enemies are under orders from Gaea to reawaken her and overthrow the Olympian gods by pulling up their original roots in Greece. On their way, Jason, Piper and Leo meet Boreas the North Wind, a trio of cyclopes, the evil Medea, King Midas, a pack of werewolves led by Lycaon, and the very unhelpful Lord of the Winds, Aeolus.
In the end the heroes and their friends, the Hunters of Artemis, manage to save both Piper's father and Hera, whose godly life force was being used to raise the giant Porphyrion. They temporarily stall Gaea's plans, but they were unable to completely destroy the ancient beings, and will have to face them again. With part of his memory returned, Jason realizes that he is a hero from a Roman counterpart to Camp Half-Blood somewhere near San Francisco, CA, and that Hera has switched him with the Greek hero Percy Jackson, who is now at the Roman camp with no memory of his life at Camp Half-Blood. Jason and Percy had been sent as representatives to each other's camps, so that the camps could come together to fight the giants and defeat Gaea.
, The Wall Street Journal bestseller list
, IndieBound bestseller list, the Publishers Weekly bestseller list
, and on United Kingdom
bestseller charts. As of January 30, 2011, The Lost Hero has been on The New York Times best seller list for 14 weeks, ranked at number 1.
To celebrate the release of the book, a release party took place at BookPeople
in Austin, Texas
. The party began at 4 pm with over 800 visitors including Riordan himself. The party featured food, races, and rock climbing. Afterward, over 10,000 joined Riordan on an online webchat where he read the first two chapters and answered questions from the fans. He then signed one copy of the book and announced "that seven 'lucky demigods' will be selected in a sweepstakes to attend an exclusive one-week session at Camp Half-Blood at Bookpeople in July 2011".
Aside from the official release party, Borders Books & Music
in Dearborn
also held a release party. A national event, it began at 2 pm. The party had arts and crafts, trivia, and a reading of the first two chapters.
gave The Lost Hero a favorable review, stating that "Riordan's storytelling is as polished as ever, brimming with wit, action, and heart." The novel received a mixed review from Kirkus Reviews
, which stated that the "Greek-vs.-Roman tension tantalizes" and that "incidental details that bring the gods into the story often shine." However, the reviewer also noted that there are "far too many pages of stretched-out action, telling not showing and awkward dialogue". The reviewer found that only the die-hard fans would enjoy the book, and "unless Riordan tightens things up considerably by number five, they may find themselves hoping that it does not end with a third Great Prophecy." The Seattle Times
found the Greek and Roman mix "fascinating" and that the "characters are interesting and well-developed, and the richly complex story has Riordan's trademark wry humor and nearly nonstop action".
Ian McGillis explained that Riordan’s “corny storytelling devices . . . keeps him from transcending his core readership and crossing over to teen and adult readers the way the Harry Potter books have.”
Postmedia News commented that for Riordan “attracting a readership isn’t a problem.”
, entitled The Son of Neptune
, was released on October 4, 2011.
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
-adventure novel
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
written by Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan
Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr. is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series...
and is based on Greek
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
and Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
. It is the first book in the series The Heroes of Olympus
The Heroes of Olympus
The Heroes of Olympus is a fantasy book series written by Rick Riordan and based on Greek and Roman mythology. It is the sequel series to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians pentalogy....
, the next series about Camp Half-Blood. It was preceded by the Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fantasy fiction books authored by Rick Riordan. The series consists of five books, as well as spin-off titles such as The Demigod Files and Demigods and Monsters. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek...
series, which focused solely on Greek mythology. The Lost Hero was released on October 12, 2010.
Origins and development
After realizing how many Greek and Roman myths he was able to explore and transform into tales for modern-day readers in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, Riordan began writing a second series. Riordan also used inspiration for his storyline from the experiences that he and his children had while playing video and role-playing games such as World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
and Scion
Scion (role-playing game)
Scion is a series of role-playing games published by White Wolf, Inc. The first core rule book, Scion: Hero. was released on April 13, 2007. The second volume, Scion: Demigod, was released on September 12, 2007, and the third, Scion: God, was released on January 23, 2008. The Scion Companion...
. After creating the storyline, Riordan created three new main characters—Jason, Piper and Leo—but used the previous main characters—Percy, Annabeth and Grover—as secondary characters. Unlike the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, the second series is told from the third person alternating between the three main characters. Although initially uncertain of how fans would react, Riordan later found that they enjoyed the new format that allowed them to learn more of each character.
The novel occurs two to three months after the events of The Last Olympian
The Last Olympian
The Last Olympian is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology by Rick Riordan, published on May 5, 2009. It is the fifth and final novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and serves as the direct sequel to The Battle of the Labyrinth...
so previous characters could be included and readers would not be confused. Riordan says that "it was my way of letting them revisit that world in a fresh twist, but also to catch up with Percy and Annabeth and the rest of the gang from the first series." He also decided to include the Roman gods after many readers requested that Riordan write a new series on Roman gods, who are the Greek gods with only a few differences. He pondered how the Roman aspect of the gods would be after moving from Greece to Rome to America. After a while, "playing with that idea gave me the idea for the new series."
Synopsis
The Lost Hero uses concepts from ancient Greek and Roman mythology in a modern setting. The story is narrated by Jason GraceJason Grace
Jason Grace is a fictional character and the protagonist in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus book series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He first appears in The Lost Hero, the first novel of the series, as a 15 or 16-year-old boy suffering from amnesia...
, then Piper McLean
Piper McLean
Piper McLean is a fictional character and the deuteragonist in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus book series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. She first appears in The Lost Hero, the first novel of the series, as a fifteen year-old undetermined demigod who attends the...
, then Leo Valdez
Leo Valdez
Leo Valdez is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus series of novels. He first appears as one of the three protagonists in The Lost Hero where he is a fifteen year-old demigod of indeterminate parentage who attends the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad...
repeatedly, each character telling two chapters at a time. The book has 56 chapters and 557 pages.
Plot summary
A teenage boy named Jason wakes up on a school bus not remembering anything from his past, including anything about who he is. He is sitting next to Piper McLean, a girl who appears to be his girlfriend, and a boy, Leo Valdez, who says he is Jason's best friend. The bus is taking them, along with the rest of their grade at their Wilderness School, on a field trip to the Grand Canyon. While they are there, storm spirits attack the three. Their supervising teacher, Coach Gleeson Hedge, reveals himself to be a satyr, and helps fight the storm spirits. Jason surprises himself by using a sword disguised as a coin to fight off the spirits. During the battle Coach Hedge is captured while defending them. At the end of the battle, two pegasi land next to them carrying two people Annabeth and a boy named Butch. Annabeth was disappointed because she had a vision of Hera telling her that she would find a clue to her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson, at the Grand Canyon. She was told to look for the "boy with the missing shoe"; Jason lost a shoe in the battle, but has no memories of his own identity, let alone Percy Jackson's whereabouts.Jason, Piper and Leo were told that they were demigods (children of a god and a mortal) and are taken back to Camp Half-Blood where they meet other demigod children like themselves. There, Leo is revealed as a son of Hephaestus, Piper as a daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason as a son of Zeus and the brother of Thalia. He remembers his sister while seeing a picture of her in Cabin One. After scarcely 24 hours of learning about their previously hidden identities, the three receive an urgent quest to rescue Hera, queen of the gods, who was captured by unnamed forces. Before the start of their journey Piper had a dream where one of Gaea's sons, Enceladus, tells Piper that she should bring Jason to him in return for her father who is being held hostage.
The three friends set off on the back of a giant robotic dragon that Leo had found in the forest and repaired and had gladly named him Festus (which in Latin means "happy") on a cross-country quest to save Hera and Piper's father from Enceladus. Their enemies are under orders from Gaea to reawaken her and overthrow the Olympian gods by pulling up their original roots in Greece. On their way, Jason, Piper and Leo meet Boreas the North Wind, a trio of cyclopes, the evil Medea, King Midas, a pack of werewolves led by Lycaon, and the very unhelpful Lord of the Winds, Aeolus.
In the end the heroes and their friends, the Hunters of Artemis, manage to save both Piper's father and Hera, whose godly life force was being used to raise the giant Porphyrion. They temporarily stall Gaea's plans, but they were unable to completely destroy the ancient beings, and will have to face them again. With part of his memory returned, Jason realizes that he is a hero from a Roman counterpart to Camp Half-Blood somewhere near San Francisco, CA, and that Hera has switched him with the Greek hero Percy Jackson, who is now at the Roman camp with no memory of his life at Camp Half-Blood. Jason and Percy had been sent as representatives to each other's camps, so that the camps could come together to fight the giants and defeat Gaea.
Major characters
- Jason GraceJason GraceJason Grace is a fictional character and the protagonist in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus book series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He first appears in The Lost Hero, the first novel of the series, as a 15 or 16-year-old boy suffering from amnesia...
: One of the main protagonists. A demigod son of JupiterJupiter (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
(Roman name). Jason suffers amnesia at the beginning of the book and is inclined to call the gods by their Roman names. He owns a coin that turns into a spear, however it is destroyed during their quest. It is revealed that he is Thalia Grace's younger brother, as they have the same mother and though both also having the same father, Thalia was specifically born under the Greek aspect of Zeus while Jason was fathered by the Roman counterpart Jupiter. Thus, making Thalia a Greek demigod and Jason a Roman demigod. When Jason was two years old, he was taken from his mother and sister by Hera, and Thalia ran away from home shortly after that. It is also made known that he came from a RomanRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
version of Camp-Half Blood before he lost his memory. This counterpart to Camp Half-Blood is located near San Francisco, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He harbors feelings for Piper, but hides them, thinking that he was romantically involved with someone before, but can't remember because of his stolen memory. - Piper McLeanPiper McLeanPiper McLean is a fictional character and the deuteragonist in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus book series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. She first appears in The Lost Hero, the first novel of the series, as a fifteen year-old undetermined demigod who attends the...
: A demigod daughter of AphroditeAphroditeAphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
and Tristan McLean, a CherokeeCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
movie star. At the beginning of the book, Piper claims to be Jason's girlfriend, but finds out that it was all the Mist's doing. She still shows feelings towards him throughout the book, though. She has a dagger named Katoptris, previously wielded by Helen of Troy, that can show more than the holder's reflection. She also has the gift of charmspeak, the ability to persuade anybody to do anything. Few children of Aphrodite have had this ability, and none are living in her time that can match her in power. She acts a little tomboyish, despite being a daughter of Aphrodite. She is 15 years old. Her eyes change color from green to brown to blue. She has brown hair. - Leo ValdezLeo ValdezLeo Valdez is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus series of novels. He first appears as one of the three protagonists in The Lost Hero where he is a fifteen year-old demigod of indeterminate parentage who attends the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad...
: A demigod son of HephaestusHephaestusHephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes...
and Esperanza Valdez. Leo claims to be Jason's best friend at the beginning of the book, and although that was a trick of the Mist, he and Jason do become good friends as they get to know each other on their quest. He has a magical tool belt that will produce any tool he requests, though should be able to find in an average mechanical shop. Leo repaired the bronze dragon Festus. He can also create fire from nothingness, a rare ability sometimes given to Hephaestus's children. He has a crush on Khione, the goddess of snow, and on Thalia Grace, Jason's elder sister. - Festus: A mechanical bronze dragon. He appeared previously in The Demigod FilesThe Demigod FilesThe Demigod Files is a collection of stories by Rick Riordan published on February 10, 2009. It is a companion book to the main series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It contains three short stories, titled Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot, Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon, and Percy...
. He helped Leo, Jason, and Piper until he fell in OmahaOmahaOmaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. - Gleeson Hedge: A satyrSatyrIn Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
or faunFaunThe faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
who was meant to watch over two demigods (Piper and Leo). He is taken captive after saving Leo's life twice. He watched over Pipers dad. He was mentioned in The Last OlympianThe Last OlympianThe Last Olympian is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology by Rick Riordan, published on May 5, 2009. It is the fifth and final novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and serves as the direct sequel to The Battle of the Labyrinth...
in a letter to Grover Underwood. - HeraHeraHera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
: The goddess of marriage and Zeus's wife. Also known as JunoJuno (mythology)Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
in Roman mythology. - GaeaGaia (mythology)Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
: The titan of the earth, and the mother of all living things. The mastermind behind Hera's imprisonment. She has also been dealing with MidasMidasFor the legend of Gordias, a person who was taken by the people and made King, in obedience to the command of the oracle, see Gordias.Midas or King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This was called the Golden touch, or the...
and MedeaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
, whom they encounter in OmahaOmahaOmaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
and ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, respectively. - Percy Jackson: A demigod son of PoseidonPoseidonPoseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
, who was the main protagonist in the first Camp Half-BloodPercy Jackson & the OlympiansPercy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fantasy fiction books authored by Rick Riordan. The series consists of five books, as well as spin-off titles such as The Demigod Files and Demigods and Monsters. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek...
series. By the time Jason, Piper and Leo encounter storm spirits at the Grand CanyonGrand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, he has been missing for 3 days. It is then revealed that he and Jason have been swapped, causing their memories to be repressed and Percy to be sent to the Roman Camp Jupiter (Roman version of camp half blood), from which Jason originally came. He is mentioned throughout the story and is essential to the plot line, but he never actually appears throughout the novel. - Annabeth Chase: A 16 year-old demigod daughter of AthenaAthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, who was a main character from the first series and Percy's girlfriend. She first appears in a chariot, looking for Percy Jackson, who is her boyfriend. Instead, she finds three demigods; Jason, Piper and Leo. She brings them to camp and helps Piper choose a weapon. She continues her search for Percy throughout the book. Later, she learns that Percy has been switched with Jason and has been brought to the Roman camp in California and has no memory of who he is. She vows to accompany Jason, Piper and Leo on their next quest to retrieve Percy and to ask the Roman demigods to help them defeat the giants. - Thalia Grace: A demigod daughter of ZeusZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
who became a Hunter of ArtemisArtemisArtemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
to avoid the First Great Prophecy. She is actually Jason's elder sister as he is the son of JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, the Roman counterpart of Zeus, and her mother. He was the only reason that she stayed with her mother, whom she did not get along well with. She makes an appearance in the book where she and the other Hunters help Jason, Piper and Leo to save HeraHeraHera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
. Strangely, being the daughter of Zeus, she is scared of heights
Release
Upon release, The Lost Hero was a #1 bestseller on The New York Times bestseller list, USA Today bestseller listUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The Wall Street Journal bestseller list
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, IndieBound bestseller list, the Publishers Weekly bestseller list
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, and on United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
bestseller charts. As of January 30, 2011, The Lost Hero has been on The New York Times best seller list for 14 weeks, ranked at number 1.
Publication history
The novel was first released in the United States on October 12, 2010, as a hardcover. The audiobook and e-book were released simultaneously with the hardcover. Disney gave the book a 2.5 million first printing. Before release, the website was launched with an excerpt from the novel, information about the series and characters, a book trailer, and an event kit. Riordan has said that he intends to release a new book every year, completing the series in 2014.Promotion
Before The Lost Hero was released in full, Riordan published the first two chapters and the book's cover on the series website.To celebrate the release of the book, a release party took place at BookPeople
BookPeople
BookPeople is an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, and the largest bookstore in the state of Texas. It was founded in 1970 and has been voted the best bookstore by the Austin Chronicle every year since 1995...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The party began at 4 pm with over 800 visitors including Riordan himself. The party featured food, races, and rock climbing. Afterward, over 10,000 joined Riordan on an online webchat where he read the first two chapters and answered questions from the fans. He then signed one copy of the book and announced "that seven 'lucky demigods' will be selected in a sweepstakes to attend an exclusive one-week session at Camp Half-Blood at Bookpeople in July 2011".
Aside from the official release party, Borders Books & Music
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company employed approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores....
in Dearborn
Dearborn
-Places:In the United States, all named after Henry Dearborn :* Dearborn, Michigan* Dearborn, Missouri* Dearborn County, Indiana* Fort Dearborn * Fort Dearborn , in present-day Odiorne State Park...
also held a release party. A national event, it began at 2 pm. The party had arts and crafts, trivia, and a reading of the first two chapters.
Critical reception
Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
gave The Lost Hero a favorable review, stating that "Riordan's storytelling is as polished as ever, brimming with wit, action, and heart." The novel received a mixed review from Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
, which stated that the "Greek-vs.-Roman tension tantalizes" and that "incidental details that bring the gods into the story often shine." However, the reviewer also noted that there are "far too many pages of stretched-out action, telling not showing and awkward dialogue". The reviewer found that only the die-hard fans would enjoy the book, and "unless Riordan tightens things up considerably by number five, they may find themselves hoping that it does not end with a third Great Prophecy." The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
found the Greek and Roman mix "fascinating" and that the "characters are interesting and well-developed, and the richly complex story has Riordan's trademark wry humor and nearly nonstop action".
Ian McGillis explained that Riordan’s “corny storytelling devices . . . keeps him from transcending his core readership and crossing over to teen and adult readers the way the Harry Potter books have.”
Postmedia News commented that for Riordan “attracting a readership isn’t a problem.”
Sequel
The sequel to The Lost HeroThe Lost Hero
The Lost Hero is a 2010 fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan and is based on Greek and Roman mythology. It is the first book in the series The Heroes of Olympus, the next series about Camp Half-Blood. It was preceded by the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which focused solely on...
, entitled The Son of Neptune
The Son of Neptune
The Son of Neptune is the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series written by Rick Riordan. It was released on October 4, 2011.-Development:...
, was released on October 4, 2011.