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,
[3]
which focused solely on Greek mythology.
The book received generally positive reviews, and managed to win the Barnes & Noble Best
Book of 2010
[4]
and landed on five bestseller lists, not including charts in the United
Kingdom.
[5]
The book is the first within the Percy Jackson universe to use Riordan's new style of
writing, third person narration, where the point of view switches between the main characters-
Jason, Piper, and Leo.
Contents
[hide]
1 Development and promotion
2 Synopsis
o 2.1 Prophecy
o 2.2 The Second Great Prophecy
o 2.3 Plot summary
o 2.4 Major characters
3 Release and promotion
4 Critical reception
5 References
6 External links
Development and promotion[edit]
After realizing how many Greek and Roman myths he had left untouched as well the immense
success of the original series, Riordan began writing a second series, using inspiration for his
storyline from experiences that he and his children had while playing video and role-playing
games such as World of Warcraft and Scion. After creating the storyline, Riordan created three
new main charactersJason, Piper and Leobut continued to use the previous main characters
such as Annabeth and Grover as secondary characters.
[6]
Unlike the Percy Jackson & the
Olympians series which uses first-person narration solely from Percy's point of view, the second
series is told in third-person, with the point of view alternating between various main characters.
For The Lost Hero, those characters are Jason, Piper and Leo. Although initially uncertain how
fans would react, Riordan later found that they enjoyed the new format, as it allowed them to
learn more about each character.
[7]

The novel begins on December 17, 2011, several months after the events of The Last Olympian,
which concluded in August. This allowed continuity with the first series, 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".
[7]
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 on 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".
[7]

Synopsis[edit]
Prophecy[edit]
Child of lightning, beware the earth,
The giants' revenge the seven shall birth,
The forge and dove shall break the cage,
And death unleash through Hera's rage.
The Second Great Prophecy[edit]
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
Plot summary[edit]
As the book starts, Jason Grace awakens on a school bus, unable to remember who or where he
is, or anything about his past. He is sitting next to Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, who know him
by name and say they are his girlfriend and best friend respectively. All three are part of a class
field trip to the Grand Canyon, and after they arrive, a classmate Dylan turns into a Venti (Storm
Spirit) and attacks the trio and their trip leader, Coach Gleeson Hedge. In the ensuing fight,
Jason surprises everyone, including himself, when one of his coins turns into a sword which he
uses to battle the storm spirits. During the fight, Coach Hedge revealed himself as a satyr and
was captured by the spirits as they fled. Soon after the fight, a flying chariot appears in order to
save the three, but one of the people in it, Annabeth, is upset when she discovers that her
boyfriend, Percy Jackson, who mysteriously disappeared, is not there as she expected.
Annabeth, seeking Percy, was told in a vision from the goddess Hera to look there for the "guy
with one shoe", but this turns out to be Jason, who lost his shoe due to the storm spirit attack.
Jason, Piper, and Leo are told that they are demigods and are taken back to Camp Half-Blood
where they meet other Greek 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, though Hera tells him he is her champion. Jason finds out about his sister Thalia
Grace. She's the demigod daughter of Zeus and is a hunter of Artemis. Shortly after they arrive,
the three are given a quest to rescue Hera. They soon discover that their enemies are working
under orders from Gaea to overthrow the gods. Thalia and Jason meet each other again for the
first time ever since Jason was captured by Hera when he was an infant.
On the way to Aeolus's castle, Jason, Leo and Piper become separated from Thalia, who says
she will return and meet them at the Wolf House, the last place Thalia had seen Jason before
this meeting. After almost being imprisoned by Aeolus, who is under Gaea's orders, the trio
manage to escape thanks to Mellie, Aeolus's former assistant, and end up in San Francisco,
thanks to the result of a dream Piper had with Aphrodite. After landing in San Francisco, the trio
rush to Mount Diablo to fight the giant Enceladus, who captured Piper's father. They manage to
kill the giant with the help of Zeus sending a thunderbolt and save Piper's father, after which they
rush to the Wolf House to free Hera.
Although the heroes and the Hunters save Hera, the king of the giants, Porphyrion, rises fully;
Hera's energy was being used to raise him, and disappears into a hole in the Earth to escape
Hera as she uses her power to destroy the Monsters around her. Jason's memory then starts
returning, and he remembers that he is a hero from Camp Jupiter, a camp for Roman demigods,
and is the son of Jupiter, Zeus's Roman counterpart. He realizes that Hera, also known as Juno,
has switched him with Percy Jackson, who will be at Camp Jupiter with amnesia, in the hopes
that the two camps would become allies and 7 demigods will defeat Gaea and the giants
together.
Major characters[edit]
Main article: List of Camp Half-Blood characters
Jason Grace: A demigod son of Jupiter. 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
or a sword depending upon heads or tails, although it is destroyed during their quest. He is
15 years old and Thalia Grace's younger brother, although Thalia was born under the Greek
aspect of Zeus while Jason was born under the Roman aspect, Jupiter. Jason was offered to
Hera as a champion at the age of two, which later provoked Thalia to run away from home.
Before the start of the book, he lived in Camp Jupiter the Roman counterpart to Camp Half-
Blood. He harbors feelings for Piper McLean, but at the end of the book it is hinted that he
was romantically involved with a girl named Reyna before.
Piper McLean: A demigod daughter of Aphrodite and Tristan McLean, a Cherokee movie
star. She is Jason Grace's girlfriend and has a dagger named Katoptris, previously wielded
by Helen of Troy. She also has the rare gift of charmspeak, the ability to persuade anybody
to do anything. She is 15 years old and her eyes change color from green to brown to blue.
She has choppy, uneven brown hair that she cuts herself, refusing to make it neat.
Leo Valdez: A demigod son of Hephaestus 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 that can be found in an average
mechanical shop. Leo repaired the bronze dragon Festus. He can also create fire from
nothing, a rare ability sometimes given to Hephaestus's children. He had a crush on Khione,
the goddess of snow, and on Thalia Grace, Jason's elder sister.
Gleeson Hedge: A satyr who was assigned to watch over two demigods, Piper and Leo, until
they could be safely brought to Camp Half-Blood, and suddenly has to guard a third, Jason.
He is taken captive after saving Leo's life twice, and later watches over Piper's father after he
is rescued. Gleeson is first mentioned in The Last Olympian in a letter to Grover Underwood.
Release and promotion[edit]
The novel was first released in the United States on October 12, 2010: the hardcover had a
2.5 million copy first printing, and audiobook and e-book formats were also released. Riordan has
stated that he intends to finish a new book in the series every year, completing it in 2014.
[8]

Before The Lost Hero was fully released, Disney-Hyperion released several sneak peeks in an
effort to build up publicity for the books release. This included releasing a preview of the first two
chapters of the book as well as releasing the book cover. Along with the excerpt, Disney-
Hyperion released information about the series and characters, a book trailer, and an event kit.
[9]

Upon release, The Lost Hero was a No. 1 bestseller on The New York Times bestseller
list,
[10]
USA Today bestseller list,
[11]
The Wall Street Journal bestseller list,
[5]
thePublishers
Weekly bestseller list,
[12]
and on United Kingdom bestseller charts.
[citation needed]
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.
[13]

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".
[6]

Critical reception[edit]
"The Lost Hero" received mostly positive to mixed reviews from critics and fans. Publishers
Weekly gave The Lost Hero a favorable review, and stated that "Riordan's storytelling is as
polished as ever, brimming with wit, action, and heart".
[14]
The novel received a mixed review
from Vicky Smith of Kirkus Reviews, who wrote that the "Greek-vs.-Roman tension tantalizes"
and that "incidental details that bring the gods into the story often shine." However, she also
noted that there are "far too many pages of stretched-out action, telling not showing and
awkward dialogue" and believed that only the die-hard fans would enjoy the book. She said that
"unless Riordan tightens things up considerably by number five, they may find themselves
hoping that it does not end with a third Great Prophecy".
[15]
The Seattle Times's Karen
Macpherson called the Greek and Roman mix "fascinating" and also said that the "characters are
interesting and well-developed, and the richly complex story has Riordan's trademark wry humor
and nearly nonstop action".
[16]
Kidsreads, on the other hand, gave a mixed review, stating "I
always learn something new whenever I read these books, and it certainly helps that I laugh
along the way. Youre not going to want to miss this one!" but also comments on the confusing
plot line, commenting that "This time, they cross over to Roman mythology, and the sometimes-
blurred lines between the two cultures are examined in closer detail."
[17]
The book also received
a positive review from The Epoch Times, which said "If anyone was afraid that Riordan couldnt
top his Percy Jackson seriesthey can quit worrying. This new series, even though in the same
genre as the Percy Jackson group, has fresh ideas, more mystery and magic and keeps the
reader engrossed from start to finish."
[18]

The Lost Hero won the Junior Young Reader's Choice Award in 2013.



Author Rick Riordan
Illustrator John Rocco
Country USA
Language English
Series The Heroes of Olympus (Book 1)
Genre Fantasy, Greek and Roman
mythology, Young adult
Publisher Disney-Hyperion
Publication
date
October 12, 2010 (hardcover, audiobook CD,
Kindle/Nook)
[1][2]

Media type Print (hardback, audiobook CD,E-book)
Pages 553 pages (56 chapters)
[3]

ISBN 978-1-4231-1339-3
OCLC 526057827
LC Class PZ7.R4829 Los 2010
Preceded by The Last Olympian
External links[edit]
The Heroes of Olympus US website
The Heroes of Olympus at Disney Books
The Lost Hero on Google Books
[hide]
V
T
E
Camp Half-Blood chronicles

Rick Riordan

Percy J ackson & the Olympians
Novels
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian

Films
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters

Other
The Demigod Files
Terms
Film cast members

The Heroes of Olympus Novels
The Lost Hero
The Son of Neptune
The Mark of Athena
The House of Hades

Others
The Demigod Diaries


Characters
Percy Jackson
Jason Grace
Piper McLean
Leo Valdez
Frank Zhang
Hazel Levesque

Categories:
2010 novels
The Heroes of Olympus
American fantasy novels
American adventure novels
American young adult novels
Young adult fantasy novels
Children's fantasy novels
2010s fantasy novels
Rick Riordan
Greco-Roman mythology in popular culture