Percy Jackson

It’s always melancholy when a brilliant book series comes to an end. It was no different with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and it was the same with the follow up series, The Heroes of Olympus. The final book of The Heroes of Olympus was released on Tuesday, and I was so excited, yet dreaded, the end to a series I had followed for years.

                Percy Jackson and the Olympians was one of my favorite book series, and still is. The language Riordan uses throughout the book is targeted towards younger kids, but the mythology and the plot are meant for all ages. The books are entertaining, and the characters are endearing, and I fell in love as soon as I started The Lightning Thief. And as I grew up, so did Percy, and I read each book within a few hours because I simply could not put it down. I had always been interested in the Greek gods, and Riordan made the series more modern and interesting to my sixth grade mind. And when The Last Olympian was published, I was devastated despite it being the best book out of the series. I simply didn’t want it to end.

                Then I discovered that another series was in the works, about the same gods and goddesses I had learned and read about. And Percy would be a main character in them! I was ecstatic. I read all four books as soon as they came out, and I rushed to Barnes and Noble on Tuesday to get the final installment.

                To say the least, I was a bit disappointed. The whole series had led to the awakening of Gaea, but then her rising was downplayed a lot. They defeated her quickly and fairly easily, which left me wondering, really? That’s it?! I suppose I wasn’t as attached to The Heroes of Olympus series as I was Percy Jackson, mainly because Percy was in his series more, but there were a few characters in HOH that I really enjoyed, but there wasn’t any real closure to their stories. Nico, for one, had a hinted at future, but nothing set in stone. Reyna left for the Roman camp alone, after everything that she went through. I mean, I was hoping for more of a BANG! THAT’S THE ENDING, and instead I got Eh. It’s over. There were too many “secret backstory” subplots that bounced back and forth between the characters, and there was too much of a buildup to the end, in my opinion. Three hundred pages in, and I was like, alright, get to the end already, stop fighting random monsters. I do recommend the series to anyone interested, however, just know that the ending is a bit of a buzzkill.