I just made a paper airplane out of my math homework paper. You can do these things in homeschooling.
This post is in fact for my book review on Rick Riordan’s The Son of Neptune. Now, I realize that I have posted much on Riordan in the last week, but bear with me; I won’t have anything more of his to read until May. For the purpose of protecting unwary readers from spoilers that might (as spoilers commonly do) spoil the book for them, I shall refer to all characters by clever nicknames, using the first few letters of the character’s name or just the character’s name hidden in the pseudonym or even just the initials. So saying, I shall commence.
I loved this book. It was well written, hilarious, and altogether a great book. PJ was, as always, my favorite character, but coming in close second to him was, believe it or not, that character whom I shall call Octagon. He’s a jerk through the whole book, I know, but he’s great on the speaking platform and with crowd control. I like characters like that. If only he was on the good side in Camp Juniper (not the real name, but close), he would be a powerful character, toga or no toga.
I must say that The Mark of Athena, the continuation of the Heroes of Olympus series that this book is part of, will be amazing. Mark what I say: It’s going to start in Camp Juniper with JG and PJ, just after the Festus ship touches down. I don’t know who the three lucky fellows will be who narrate this one, but I know it will have either JG or PJ. Probably JG, Pied Piper and Repairman again. The Pied Piper and Praetor Rain will be competing for JG, while Fai will be working to get Hazelnut back from Repairman, whatever his first name is. Annie Oakley will be there for PJ at last, and General Peanut Butter and Chicken-girl will be hitting on each other again. Then the whole story of this book will be going along any road (they all lead there anyway) to the old(er) city, where of course Annie Oakley will come along (architecture, remember?) with PJ, along with JG, Repairman, Pied Piper, Fai and Hazelnut, all looking for Nicky Angel. Most likely Pony-boy will come along on Festus ship to say hi to Praetor Rain, but of course Argyle will stay home to keep an “eye” on Camp Help Bud. Those three will probably stay at Juniper with Octagon while PJ and co. run off on Festus to save Nicky Angel. Then they’ll chose the seven for the prophecy and whatnot, most likely with the main characters of book 1 and the main characters of book 2, plus one more: Annie Oakley? Nicky Angel? Not Rain… Probably someone unexpected who pops up in book 3.
Someone will get captured somewhere in there, and someone else will die, Gabby will pull someone else into the ground halfway and spit them out, and someone else will come out with a joke that cracks everyone up at the end. We’ll see PJ do more water stunts, and JG with more sky stuff. Hazelnut will have the Gold Horse to prance around on, Fai will do more changing tricks. They’ll kill things that look like two different animals joined at birth, and probably will meet some near-immortal beings with strange personalities, who give advice to the heroes as they try and find Nicky Angel. They’ll see some new facet of an immortal they thought was unchangeable (in book one it was Afrodatey and in 2 it was the Mars Bar). It always happens like that. This is the template Riordan follows.
If you could follow what I said in here with all the strange names and stuff, please tell me what you think. I know there wasn’t much of a review for SoN, but that’s okay, isn’t it? I just predicted the next book. I kinda hope I’m wrong, though; it would be nice to see Riordan break out of the mold for a while.
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 16, 2012Love the names. It took me a minute, but I got all of them. I think.
I can’t believe you like Octagon! (Octagoon is a better name for him) He drove me crazy!
I don’t know about Annie Oakley coming with PJ though. My dad thinks she’ll stay behind to help bring the camps together with Rain. I’m not sure I agree with him, but it is a good hypothesis.
This series had a lot more romance in it than I expected. Poor Hazelnut. And I’m not sure Rain and Pied Piper will be competing for JG. At least I hope not.
The Mark of Athena can’t come too soon!
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 16, 2012Octagon is brilliant. He’s going to make a great mini-antagonist.
If Annie Oakley stays home, it won’t be of her own free will, but probably of Pony Boy’s. The two camps wouldn’t come together until they have something definite to strike at. If they just have the vague idea of fighting Gabby, they aren’t going to do much more than give the satyr’s (and G-man especially) heart attacks by polluting everything. I think Annie goes with PJ.
Oh, Pied Piper and Rain will, most definitely, compete like the world depends on it. Think: Pied Piper is Afrodatey’s daughter (with the gifts that come with that) and Rain was the previous GF. Pied Piper will protect, Rain will attack. But yes, a lot of romance.
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 16, 2012You’re right about the camps needing a common enemy. I hadn’t thought about that before.
I still don’t think Pied Piper and Rain will fight for JG. Rain will be too busy running Camp Juniper, and JG and Pied Piper will be on the quest. And JG and Rain were never actually together. That was just a possibility that Rain mentioned.
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 17, 2012Oh, no, Rain was attached. At the end of book 1 JG recalls a former girlfriend named Rain. Just a coincidence? No. And Rain does exhibit multiple signs of an attachment to JG. On another note on the same topic, I’m glad Riordan didn’t make PJ forget Annie Oakley. That went on too long for it to be cut off so quickly.
You said before that you didn’t expect so much romance– Look at all the books. In PJ+O, Riordan couldn’t do too much romance, because of only one POV, but he did a lot. (PJ and Annie Oakley, Selena and Charlie, Clarisse and Chris, to name a few.) Then in the Kane Chronicles, Sadie’s got two admirers, and Carter is one of his own. Then in Heroes of Olympus, there were more POVs, so that makes for more relationships. If you think about it, there are just as much romance through all his series as in this last one.
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 17, 2012I’m still not convinced about Rain and JG. I guess we’ll see this fall.
Yeah, if PJ had forgotten Annie Oakley, I think I would have died. Well, not died, but the book would have been way less enjoyable.
You’re right about all the romance in Rick Riordan’s writing. I guess I just never put it together like that before.
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 17, 2012When I finished the Lost Hero, I thought to myself, “Oh, goodness, I hope he doesn’t make PJ forget Annie Oakley like he made JG forget Rain, whoever she is.” You see, I saw that JG and Rain were together, but she was forgotten, and I thought the same thing about PJ and Annie.
I never thought of it that way until I set myself at justifying the author. Just as I like to do.
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 17, 2012I thought that too, only I thought “I hope this Rain person is dead because I want JG to end up with the Pied Piper.” Or something like that. Some member of my family suggested Pied Piper being a way for JG to get over a messy break-up with/horrible-accident-resulting-in-death of previous girlfriend, since H–, hmm, no name for her yet, since Hero-life-messer-upper (the person who took PJ and JG’s memories) doesn’t do infidelity. Why put JG and Pied Piper in a relationship if JG already has Rain? Unless of course she has a grudge against one of them, which wouldn’t actually be that surprising. Hmm…
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 18, 2012Call her Hairy. Yeah, she’s pretty cruel, but it wasn’t her; it was Pied Piper and her… ancestry. Afrodatey, I mean. And when you don’t know anything from your past, it’s kinda hard not to accidentally throw away your old girlfriend, which JG found out. Why put them in a relationship when JG has Rain? Well, I’m not sure if Hairy has a grudge, but I think it’s just for conflict’s sake. Good old conflict, eh?
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 19, 2012You’ve got a point about forgetting your girlfriend when you’ve forgotten everything else about your life, and it could be just for conflict. But then why did PG remember Annie Oakley? How come one remembered their girlfriend and not the other? Of course the readers were already attached to PG and Annie Oakley as a couple, so it would be doubly mean to make him forget her.
This debate is kinda long. Hope I’m not annoying you too much.
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 19, 2012Exactly. Riordan would have been murdered at his next signing if he had made PJ forget Annie Oakley. But I do wonder how that would have worked out…
Oh, no, you aren’t annoying in the least. In fact, this has been entertaining. I’m glad you actually understand what I’m saying. I like these book review conversations, don’t you?
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 19, 2012[annoying reporter comes on TV] “At 4:42 this afternoon Rick Riordan, author of multiple children’s books, was murdered at a book signing. It is said that when the culprit got to the front of the line of eager fans, he pulled out a bow and arrow that he had hidden in his coat and shot said author to death. Fans all over the world mourn the loss of such a beloved writer, and the end of the series he had been writing. But more surprising is the number of ex-fans, disgusted by Riordan making his main character forget his girlfriend, who cheered for the murderer. You can find more details of this story on our website. Also this afternoon a man wearing pink bunny slippers…”
I imagine the murder might have gone something like that.
And yes, I find these book review conversations quite enjoyable.
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 20, 2012Exactly, but the murderer would have been wearing a toga and yelled “Erre es korakas!”
Gwendolyn Copperstone (Lily Jenness)
/ January 20, 2012Of course!
ummreem77
/ January 18, 2012Woah, that’s a pretty cool post. Your names are really cool but I don’t get some of them.. Praetor Rain, for instance?
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 18, 2012Thank you! Praetor Rain is the only praetor at Camp Juniper at the beginning of the book. I suppose I’ll have to let one name slip: Praetor Rain is Reyna. Any others?
Cassie
/ January 18, 2012I love your nicknames! This is a bit weird commenting on your post because I don’t actually know you. But I have a question: is The Mark of Athena actually coming out in May?
Liam, Head Phil
/ January 19, 2012No, no, no, no. I’m sorry. The Serpent’s Shadow, the third book of the Kane Chronicles, is the book coming out in may. The Mark of Athena comes out in fall this year.
I get a lot of unknown commenters, really, and don’t be afraid to comment more if you want to.
Seana J. Vixen
/ June 2, 2012Ah, those were excellent nicknames. Quite clever actually. For a while I was confused who Chicken-girl and General Peanut Butter were, but then the little light bulb went off above my head and it dawned on me. Those predictions do sound like a possibility. Of course, Rick Riordan has been known for random curveballs to his story, so there’s going to be something huge that happens that none of us expect.
Octagon…he’s such a egomaniacal dork. He slaughters teddy bears and steals innocent pillow pets. For some reason I too wish that he might have been good. Or at least partially good anyways.
Hmm…you’ve got a love shape going on in your predictions. Praetor Rain vs. The Pied Piper. Who will win? And Fai vs. Repairman for Hazelnut? That’ll be some drama. I can almost taste the suspense already. Tastes like…rainbows. o_o
Yes, not much of a review on SoN, but the predictions for MoA (Mark of Athena) made the post excellent anyways.
Liam, Head Phil
/ June 2, 2012Please, remind me; who is General Peanut Butter? (Whisper it and it’ll be all right.)
Riordan is definitely one for the love triangle, so I’d bet my buttons on it. The more he can get, the better (he thinks).
Seana J. Vixen
/ June 2, 2012Alright. General Peanut Butter is…. *looks around for anyone listening in then in a whispering voice speaks* Tyson.
Betting buttons, eh? Well you must be super confident then. I wouldn’t dare to part with my pretty little buttons!
Liam, Head Phil
/ June 2, 2012Oh, yes. Now I remember.
They’re Quirk’s buttons, but don’t tell him. He loves his buttons.
Seana J. Vixen
/ June 3, 2012They’re Quirk’s buttons! Oh no, he’ll be most upset if you loose his precious buttons, won’t he? Prepare yourself for the wrath of Quirk if you’re wrong. o_o
Liam, Head Phil
/ June 3, 2012Oh, Quirk’s wrath actually is something to sneeze at. I even spit at it once. I don’t fear him at all– *falls to the floor, bludgeoned over the head with Quirk’s club*
Seana J. Vixen
/ June 3, 2012Quirk! Control yourself! Violence is not the answer. Just back away slowly…that’s right…put down the club…
Liam, Head Phil
/ June 4, 2012*climbs slowly to his feet* Thanks, Miss Vixen. You’re a real lifesaver.
Seana J. Vixen
/ June 4, 2012You’re quite welcome. Remember, Quirk, if you dare pick up that club again and attack poor Liam (or rich Liam, I doubt it matters his wealthiness), I’ll have to calm you down again, or, if it’s bad enough, resort to the plasma ray gun and singing Justin Bieber songs.
And with that, I’m off to mourn the loss of my laptop…needs to be cleared out/repaired this summer. Phooey. Aye, I’ll have to resort to the big slow monster that I call “a sad excuse of a computer”.
Liam, Head Phil
/ June 5, 2012I wish you hadn’t said that, Miss Vixen; Quirk is now screaming in terror. He, along with the rest of my Phils, hates Justin Beaver (as I call him– he’s got the same hair).
Singing Sushi
/ July 12, 2012You know, I just figured out that the Prophecy said “By storm or fire the world must fall,” so would that be Repairman and JG that Gabby is trying to take advantage of there? Or is it still PJ because of his little ‘personsl hurricane’ trick?
Also, the seventh person HAS to be Annie Oakley, or else why would it be called the Mark of Athena? ( Besides talking about the half of a prophecy that chickengirl spouted in SoN.)
Another point I wanna make is with the whole Hazelnut-Repairman-Fai love triangle. Repairman is immune to fire/ can control it, but Fai’s life depends on not catching fire. Some major tension has just been added to that.
I, personally, would like to see R.E.D. show up and impress Octagon’s butt of with her prophecies. She didn’t have a nickname, but I hope you understand who I meant.
And have you seen the cover? PJ and JG are fighting on it, if anyone wants to bother to check it out. It’s freaking awesome.
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Liam, Head Phil
/ July 12, 2012This is the first really coherent challenge/agreement with my hypothesis. Thank you. I hope you stick around.
I think that still remains to be seen about the prophecy. JG and PJ could always collaborate on an epic storm. As for fire, we still don’t know the significance of Repairman and whether or not he’s up to the task. JG and PJ both are legendary in any camp they set foot in, and Repairman… well, he’s just fireproof.
Athena can do more than just follow her daughter around. For all we know, PJ could end up being the center of whatever the mark of Athena is.
Indeed. I hadn’t recognized that tension, but you’re perfectly right. This is shaping up to be a really cool book.
Perfect nickname; one I never would have thought of. I probably would have gone for scribble-jeans or something. Yours is much better. As for her shaming Octagon… well, I still like that guy. We’ll have to see what happens.
I have seen the cover, but it… yup, you’re right. Just looked closer. There’ll be a huge battle between the camps: Civil War 2!