HOUSE OF HADES!!!!
Chatterbox: Blab About Books
House of Hades
HOUSE OF HADES!!!!...
HOUSE OF HADES!!!!
By the time this is posted, it will likely already be October 8, which means... THE HOUSE OF HADES HAS BEEN RELEASED!!!!!! It's late, but I'm going into MAJOR fangirling fits of impatience waiting for this. I'm going insane! I'm dying! I've BEEN dying! But this HAS to be the most painful part of the dying process!
Now, before we all go screaming about how we got it, what it looks like, etc. we should all agree NOT to spoil ANYTHING for at least one month. I read this with my family, so it'll take longer for us to finish it. It will be INSANELY hard, I know, but for the sake of others...
Agreed?
submitted by Blonde Heroines Rule, age classified, Dying for HoH
(October 7, 2013 - 8:56 pm)
(October 7, 2013 - 8:56 pm)
@ Lizzy:
Agreed. After all, the characters are almost college age (whereas in PJO they were junior high/high school), so I'm a little surprised RR didn't decide to make HoO a young adult series. It would make the romance and the other bits a little more understandable.
Regarding the ship-hold chapter, there wasn't really anything that bad about it, as far as I can tell (but I'm naive by usual standards). Regarding "oh gods," I agree that it did get on my nerves a little by the end. It sounds too spazzy for the level-headed heroes to throw around all the time.
(October 30, 2013 - 10:09 pm)
@ Blonde Heroines Rule:
Aren't you even going to finish the series to find out how it ends??? I mean, I know they must defeat Gaea, but I still want to find out how and if anyone dies or anything.
(October 31, 2013 - 10:58 pm)
@ Everinne: I still don't know. It really bothered me.
As to the whole age thing, yes, it may be directed at an older audience. But it's still a continuation of PJO, which will automatically draw in readers. And anyway, no one should be focusing on that kind of stuff. Heroes of Olympus is being put on the shelves in the kids section, which means it being advertised for kids. If it is aimed at an older audience, it needs to be advertised as such. And young kids aren't the only ones to be affected. It can happen to anyone whether you're in elementary or college. This, I can speak from experience. I know for a fact, this stuff has influenced people on both ends.
(November 1, 2013 - 2:46 pm)
Gah. Gah. Ahghghggggg.
Okay, Katia. Be respectful. Be nice. Politics has no place on the Chatterbox. Shhhh. No. Not right now.
*deep breaths*
*spoilers below if someone has kept away from the Internet long enough to not know what happened yet*
I'm just going to say, BHR, that I disagree with you. This isn't about not liking romance, it's about people, and it's about not hiding things that are a part of life from kids. I think personally that reading that part of the book and seeing something he previously avoided a little in a character that he liked has made my brother a better person and I hope that someday things like what Rick Riordan did will become normal.
I think PJO was heteronormative, America-centric, and generic. I like HoO more not just because of Nico but because they went outside the United States and not all the characters were white. I liked them because of showing that Annabeth was smart, not just telling, because of creating characters (Piper, Frank, and arguably Hazel) that go against what the stereotypical personality of their brothers and sisters is. And I like it because it's the closest I've seen to a children's series that includes a character like Nico. Riordan goes further than Rowling, actually stating it in the text.
I'm sorry if this sounded angry. Politics make me angry.
(November 1, 2013 - 7:42 pm)
Also, I'm pretty sure that when you're in college you're either mature enough to handle the fact that some guys get crushes on other guys, or have formed enough of a political opinion to put the book down.
(November 1, 2013 - 7:43 pm)
While that is some people's view, it's not everyone's, and it needs to stop being shoved in our faces. This is already everywhere, so why does Rick feel it needs to be put in a kids book? If he wants to write political stuff, he needs to do that separately, not trying to influence kids. It still wasn't his place. People like me shouldn't have to in depth research every single book before we read it because someone is trying to express his or her political views in it. I already know it's out there, as do most people and kids unfortunately. I don't want to keep hearing about it! Rick did just fine with PJO, and I don't get why he felt he should change. I know a lot of people who enjoyed PJO like me, but were quite disappointed in Heroes of Olympus. While the characters are older in this, I don't see why they have to change so much! It's not like every single kid suddenly grows up, and WANTS to read all this and suddenly likes it! I know college age students who were just fine with PJO, but were just disgusted with Heroes of Olympus. I really don't care for the series, and I will warn people about it.
And yes, while in college, you should be able to handle the fact, but it's still not like we want it all in our faces. And you still can be swayed by simple things like that. It's letting that stuff, no matter how small, get to you over time. You don't realize it, until you're completely desensitized to it. We don't need to immerse ourselves in it. And that's why I haven't read House of Hades yet. I'm trying to make a stand that says, "I'm not going to let this slide, even if it's just "a small thing"". I don't appreciate that in there. I may very well not finish out the series.
(November 1, 2013 - 9:32 pm)
That's certainly your choice, and it's certainly their opinion not to like it and I'm not trying to stop you or them. But it's Rick Riordan's choice to do this just as much as it is yours to boycott the series.
I view it this way: one hundred years ago, a boy might have picked up a book with a strong female character and said, "Ugh! Why is she in there? We already know that women exist, so why should we put them in books? She just ruins it for me."
On a lighter note, Spamthor said wubz.
(November 1, 2013 - 10:21 pm)
I argee totally with Fantasy Quill. Good job, you stated it perfectly.
(November 2, 2013 - 8:36 am)
@ FantasyQuill:
Kudos.
(November 2, 2013 - 3:34 pm)
@FantasyQuill: Actually, I think it already is pretty much normal. 3 out 4 books I read have something similar in it. And I don't really think that that comparison is parallel.
(November 4, 2013 - 11:55 pm)
Could you elaborate on that? It might not have been the best one comparison, but why don't you think it's parallel?
(November 5, 2013 - 10:41 pm)
Also, something I really, really liked about the Heroes of Olympus that RR didn't do in PJ was that he took a whole bunch of steriotypes and demolished them.
Take Jason for example: He's supposed to be a jock, all hot and popular. And he is. But he's not mean and stupid like 'jocks' are supposed to be. He understands about the different things in people and he is pretty sweet. He also mature in a way 'jocks' aren't supposed to be.
And now take the whole steriotype for children's books. They're supposed to be 'safe' and 'moral' and all that, right? They aren't supposed to adress problems in our society, right? They're not supposed to have hints of stuff children are going to have deal with later in life, but their parents won't tell them about it until it's too late, right? Well, with Heroes of Olympus, RR completely goes against that. His character aren't moral and safe. They're teenagers, they're not supposed to be. With Nico, he adresses a problem our soceity totally has. But our soceity tells us not to show it to children, but why? They're going to figure it out anyway. It's like that with all those figures like Santa Claus too. My parents told me the regular myth and I thought it was so stupid because by the time I was four, I knew exactly what went on. If I ever have kids, I'm going to tell them exactly what happens and let them decide whether they want to beliave in Santa or not. I'm not going to lie to them. Same thing with this stuff. My siblings talk about this kind of stuff in front of me all the time. It's not like I fragil or anything. I'm just as good as them.
I think, personally, that kids should be able to pick themselves whether they want to hear or read this kind of stuff. My family curses in front of me all the time. But I don't simply because I don't want to. Us tweens and teenagers have minds of our own. We can pick what we want to do for ourselves.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. It's just getting on my nerves how much parents keep from kids because we aren't 'strong' enough to handle it. We are.
(November 8, 2013 - 4:15 pm)
I've read every book, and it's too romantic for me. I hate romance. I hate how everything is matched out perfectl. I hate all of the annoying details, and how Percy aways wants to laugh. I hate how they do everything succesfully. It is so annoying. And I hate how Hazel and Leo are connected! And Hazel isn't important! And the Greeks and Romans clashing!
(January 4, 2014 - 9:24 pm)
I've read every book, and it's too romantic for me. I hate romance. I hate how everything is matched out perfectl. I hate all of the annoying details, and how Percy aways wants to laugh. I hate how they do everything succesfully. It is so annoying. And I hate how Hazel and Leo are connected! And Hazel isn't important! And the Greeks and Romans clashing!
(January 4, 2014 - 9:24 pm)