Spoilers are impossible to avoid in “The House of Hades,” Rick Riordan’s fourth book of “The Heroes of Olympus” series.
Set in a modern world where both Greek and Roman gods are real and their sons and daughters fight for survival in the most peaceful times, “The House of Hades” takes place during a time when giants rise in advance of Mother Earth herself, Gaea.
For the demi-gods fighting the battles of the gods, it’’ even more dangerous than the rise of the Titans followed in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Not that most of the demi-gods know it – the Greek and Roman camps are too busy preparing to fight each other, while one small group tries to save the world as they know it.
What began as a unified team of seven in the third book, “The Mark of Athena,” has split. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, is a member of the crew that remains on the flying ship the “Argo II.” Their goal? Epirus, in Greece. The problem? There are several. There’s the mountain gods throwing rocks at them in Italy. The visit from the goddess Hecate warning Hazel that she must master the magic that shields mortals from the monsters the crew will face, like the thieving dwarves in Bologna – and that is only the beginning.
Demi-gods Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, heroes of Riordan’s completed series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” tumble through the air in a deadly trajectory to Tartarus, the mythical Greek depths of hell. Percy and Annabeth have grown up since we first met them in “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief,” and so has the style of story they find themselves in. After years of facing dangerous threats together, with a liberal sprinkling of sixth-grade humor, their trip through Tartarus becomes the most impossible challenge they have ever faced.
Both parties must reach The Doors of Death to unchain them. They face insurmountable obstacles before they can do so. Both parties face almost certain death.
When Riordan introduced readers to the world of Percy Jackson nine books ago, the challenges Percy and Annabeth faced were equally impossible, but through each of them the heroes found ingenious, improbable and often hilarious solutions. Even in the most dangerous moments, Percy and Annabeth never seemed likely to die.
In “The House of Hades,” the characters on both sides tiptoe much closer to death – and not just because both Hazel and another crew member, Nico, are children of the god of the underworld. The crews of “Argo II” are on constantly unfamiliar ground, often facing long-forgotten enemies of ancient myth.
Where Percy and Annabeth travel through Tartarus, there is nothing but pain, probable death and the kindness of a Titan who was once dropped in the river Lethe and is now trying to choose his own fate. Even that kindness isn’t what keeps the couple alive. With each step, each is the reason the other continues to live – talk about a co-dependent relationship. Over the course of nine books, they’ve changed tremendously, and now are verging on becoming one character: Percy-and-Annabeth, impulsive-but-with-a-plan, gutsy-but-intelligent.
Riordan’s writing style remains pithy and light in “The House of Hades.” He delves deeper into the psyches of his heroes and challenges them with darker enemies than ever before. From “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” a rip-roaring series perfect for the 12-year-old in all of us, to “The Heroes of Olympus,” Riordan has expanded his world tremendously. There’s still one book in the series to go, and this time, it’s difficult to tell if any characters are really safe to love.
