The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan - 516 pages
The Heroes of Olympus - book 5

This is the final book in The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.  Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge are taking the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood - if they can make it there.  Both Reyna and Nico are going to have to face their ultimate fears -- Reyna's past and Nico's loneliness.  Meanwhile, Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Leo continue on to Athens to try to stop Gaea from rising.  They too will have to face their fears to finally defeat Gaea.

This was a good end to the series.  It was much better than the last book which was slow and boring.  This kept the action going the entire time.  I particularily enjoyed Reyna's and Nico's stories as they were the characters we did not know as much about.  A great series ender.

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan - 596 pages
Heroes of Olympus #4

Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus making their way to the Doors of Death.  In the mortal world, the others are being led by Nico to The House of Hades to those same Doors of Death.  There they hope to meet up and close the Doors -- if only they can make it there.

I thought this was a very slow read.  Usually Rick Riordan's books are fairly quick to read and very engaging.  This book took a lot of time to draw you in.  Still, I'm anticipating the final book in the series coming out in September.

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan - 586 pages
The Heroes of Olympus, book 3

The Greek demigods have just shown up at Camp Jupiter when Leo is possessed and attacks the camp.  The demigods, both Greek and Roman, have just enough time to jump about the ship and fly away before the Romans hurt them.  Now they are off on the Great Prophecy.  They are the Seven who must unite to defeat Gaea and her giant children.  This quest will take them to Rome by way of Kansas, Atlanta, and Charleston.  It will be a challenge to keep them all together and united.

This book has been sitting by my bed to read for over a year.  I don't know why I haven't picked it up before now.  As I had a day at the auto shop to sit through I decided that it was finally time to read the book.  I'm glad I did.  It was a great way to pass the time.  In fact, I was a little annoyed when my car was done about 30 pages before the end.

Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan - 521 pages
Heroes of Olympus, book 2

I decided to re-read this book before I read Mark of Athena and House of Hades.  I'm glad I did as there were parts of the story I did not remember.  I really enjoyed the Lightning Thief series.  However, I think the Heroes of Olympus books are even better.  They seem to be more nuanced than the original series books.