1) The first chapter of House of
Hades came out today
2) The ending of the Sammy Keyes
series
-The link to the sneak peak is here: http://tibbitoo.tumblr.com/post/53276098285/god-alert-hoh-preview-your-welcome-
Okay, so first, the House of Hades.
I really liked this first chapter (which was in Hazel’s point of view by the
way) because although it didn’t give away how Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus
besides them still being alive, it established a lot of character development. I
know, I know, only 3 out of the 7 were actually conscious but still. You get to
see a side of Leo that you’ve ever seen before; he blames himself for what
happened back in Rome and is working himself to death so that he can rescue
Percy and Annabeth in Greece. It’s more of the bitter side of him, which we don’t
really get to see, which was nice. I’m really interested in seeing how his
character develops. Then there’s Nico. Nico’s healing and getting back to the
way he was before Tartarus and he actually isn’t acting that crazy, so I figure Percy and Annabeth won’t be as bad as I was
thinking after they get out of Tartarus (if
they get out). And then there’s Hazel. I can’t wait for some sibling
bonding/connection between Nico and Hazel; they’re the only siblings on the quest
and it’s nice seeing Nico have a sister, a family,
again. He trusts her more than anyone, which can be determined based on the
fact that Nico told Hazel about a special job/task that needs to be done at the
House of Hades in order to close the doors and tells her to keep it on the
down-low. I’m really happy with her POV
for the first chapter; it gives a lot of insight into her character and some
others. Especially Percy.
It’s always so interesting to see other’s POV’s of Percy. In the
last book (MoA), we got to see inside Percy’s head; all his doubts and
criticisms against himself, but then Hazel comes along in the first chapter of
HoH saying that he’s what kept the 7 together, the GLUE as Juno put it. It’s
like while we saw him face all these internal challenges and hardships, the
others saw someone who was confident. I think it really reflects the
characterization of Percy from the first series. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians,
we saw Percy as quirky, fun and having self doubt, but all the campers at Camp
Half Blood saw him as some kind of hero who had these awesome powers. It’s the
same concept; while Percy doesn’t think highly of himself, the others put him
on some pedestal to be praised and admired. Percy really must be good at
pretending everything’s fine because he’s got most people fooled. I wonder what
the others would think if they saw him as he was-his self doubts and the
challenges Gaia gives him on the emotional level.
I mean, Percy knows a lot about his fate and what’s to come (he’s
been given many hints by Juno, Phineas and Gaia), yet he still pretends
everything’s fine. It’s like the other characters are too memorized with the IDEA of who Percy Jackson is-this
great hero with awesome powers who will save the day-that they don’t see the
tired, self doubting, sad REAL
Percy. It was such a huge difference in perspectives, and what Hazel said
really stood out to me. Compared to Percy being “useless” and “doubtful” in MoA
(his perspective), Hazel responding to those same actions in HoH by saying how
he was confident and lead the group forward is very opposite. Percy just has
this eternal sadness that has always interested me. I can see how his character
is the same when compared to the first series, to Lightning Thief even. He was
the son of one of the Big Three and he was considered very powerful, but he
always doubted that power. It makes me sad when I reread the part in MoA where
Percy says “You’re wrong. I’m not as good as you think I am” (paraphrased). His
fear of suffocation in all these expectations people give him while he feels
weak and helpless is going to eat him away. I hope Rick Riordan writes a scene
or addresses this in more depth in the future; everyone believes in Percy, but
he doesn’t believe in himself.
And then Hazel goes on and tells herself that she needs to do her
best so that Percy and Annabeth can be proud of her. It’s just really cool to see
Hazel’s perspective of the duo; they seem so vulnerable in their own
perspectives but so confident in others’; it’s a huge contrast.
In other news, Wendelin wrote the last sentence of the last
chapter in the last book of the Sammy
Keyes series last Saturday (I think it was). It really made me sad because I grew
up with these books, and I will cry my eyes out when it comes to a close. What
Mark said on Wendelin’s blog about the books is so true:
“To me the core of the books wasn’t the mystery at all. It was the whole ‘fitting in’ thing. You know, when you’re twelve or thirteen and suddenly you leave the K-thru-6th land of‘children only’ and you’re thrown into this weird menagerie of half-grown semi adult creatures… of several sub-species. The spoiled rich kids. The jocks. The popular ones. The nerdy outcasts. And all of those (all of us?) who don’t fit neatly into one of the above boxes, but are somewhere on the continuum between them, just trying to fit in. Who just want a good friend or two who understands them and makes them feel like they’re not facing the universe alone.” -Mark
I first started
reading the books when I first entered 6th grade and became obsessed
with them in 7th grade. They’re what helped me find my groove in
middle school (heck, even high school) and they taught me a LOT. I don’t have a
huge group of friends (just 3 really close ones), but I love them dearly and
Sammy taught me that that was okay. She taught me it was okay to be spunky and
be who I am. So what if she wanted to wear high-tops? She was gonna. She didn’t
let people tell her who she was or what she should be. She surrounded herself
with friends that understood her and was who she was without being ashamed. She
showed me it was okay to be me and to mess up. She really helped me throughout
middle school and now high school, and now the books are closing in as I’m
closing in on my child hood.
The last heroes of Olympus book and the last Sammy Keyes
book are coming out the fall of my senior year of high school, before I turn 18
in May. I’ve grown up with these books and they’ve shaped me who I am today and
have helped me not to abandon who I am. I’m not saying I’ll give up being a fan
of these series (they’ll always be in my heart and I’ll reread them), but their
stories of growing up will come to a close as a I face the world as an adult.
And as my favorite characters (friends, family) grow up to become something bigger
than they are to reach a destiny that is unknown to them, I will face a destiny
that is uncertain. It truly is as if the books and I grew up together, and now
we have to part ways. And the thing is? I’ve always been terrible at saying
goodbye.
