5 Reasons to Read "The House of Hades"
"The House of Hades", the fourth book in "The Heroes of Olympus" series, was published on October 8, 2013. There was no doubt about Rick Riordan's talents, as readers sensed his passion on Greek mythology. They became believers. This was arguably the best in the series.
The beginning of "The House of Hades" was a cliffhanger, as the crew of Argo II left Rome in low spirits. They came to get the Athena Parthenos, which once stood inside the Parthenon. The Greek demigods suspected their Roman counterparts of stealing and hiding it, and an imminent war between the two groups was coming. Someone must bring the statue to America, but Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, and Leo Valdez were distracted by what happened to Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. The daughter of Athena outwitted Arachne, her mother's bitter enemy, who hid the statue all this time. The trio fell into Tartarus.
Those who were anticipating this book weren't disappointed. Here are five reasons:
There are no loose ends in the story. Before heading into the dark pit, Percy promised Jason that they would reunite in Epirus. This was the spot where the mortal world and Tartarus would meet. After finding themselves in the most undesirable place (for demigods), Percy and Annabeth settled unfinished business with Arachne. And then they have an unfortunate encounter with the empousa, demigoddesses who lured men and sucked the life out of them. (Percy and Annabeth killed them in "The Battle in the Labyrinth".) It won't be hard for readers to follow this episodic novel, where the outcome was revealed after a few chapters. The wait would be over before they knew it.
Riordan deftly handles the mature themes. Some were not surprised at what Cupid did to Nico Di Angelo in Croatia. He was the son of Hades, a troubled teenage boy too. The God of the Underworld was an absentee father, but he couldn't be blamed much. Riordan didn't probe Nico's sexuality because America became a politically-correct society. The author recalled some of his past students, who were gay, and how they managed their (teenage) life. There was one dramatic moment, with less words.
Tartarus is not for sissies. If free falling into Tartarus was bad enough, then encountering more deities was worse. Percy and Annabeth met Nyx, the goddess of night. She wanted to devour these two demigods, who wandered freely into her realm. Annabeth tricked Nyx into telling them that her temple, which was located at the very bottom of Tartarus, was the only way to the Door of Death. The lovebirds have no choice but to do another free fall. It was their most unforgettable experience, if not scariest. The two were running inside the temple, eyes closed. What they might see might be worse than Medusa.
More lesser gods and goddesses (with a grudge to settle). Hazel, the daughter of Hades, had her first stern test. She would face Pasiphaë, another demigoddess who allied with Gaea. She was the mother of the Minotaur, which had been a cause of embarrassment in Olympus. She wanted revenge. Riordan carefully built this subplot, and the confrontation between the two would make readers hold their breath. You never seen anything like it before.
The ending is an anticlimax, but it didn't matter. Readers sensed a happy ending, even if the demigods weren't near from what they wanted to achieve. But they knew what was about to happen.
