"The House of Hades" (2013) by Rick Riordan REVIEW

Note: If you have not read the previous books in this series, get off your butt and read them now before you end up finding spoilers below.

Wait, am I really only one book away from finishing this amazing series? NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Shortly after the events of Mark of Athena, the Argo II crew are in a race against time to stop Gaea, the Earth goddess, from awakening. Now they know the date she plans to rise: August 1, just barely a month away. However, before the demigods can figure out where the giants plan to resurrect Gaea, they must first find the mortal end of the Doors of Death and close it to keep the monsters at bay. Meanwhile, in the depths of Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth struggle to survive. Weak, injured, and starving, their chances of closing the Underworld's end of the Doors of Death are thin. Can the seven demigods of the prophecy still succeed?

Told from the perspectives of all seven demigods, Rick Riordan's House of Hades did something I didn't know was possible: it surpassed it's predecessor and left it in the dust. Riordan masterfully paces the story, going back and forth between the normal world and the Underworld. The humor remains strong, the action is edge-of-your-seat, and the writing in both the dialogue and narrative flow naturally.

I don't want this series to end. It's just too good. Alas, like all good things, this series will be coming to an end. Here's hoping it's a great one!

5/5 Stars

Comments

"Need for Speed" (2014) REVIEW

I know I'm not the only one who thought this movie was going to be a flop. I mean, not only is it a high-speed street racing movie, but it's also a videogame movie. Still, I gave it a shot, but mostly for the D-Box experience. Even with the earnings from winning illegal street races, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is still unable to keep his auto repair shop from his father open. For a chance to get $500,000, Tobey takes an offer from his street racing rival and successful car dealer Dino Brewster (Domonic Cooper) to finish building the Ford Mustang that Caroll Shelby was working on when he died. After building the car and selling it without Dino's consent, Dino challenges Tobey and Tobey's friend, Pete, to a street race for the money. Nearing the end of the race, desperate for revenge, Dino pushes Pete over a bridge and drives away, leaving Tobey to be blamed for vehicular manslaughter. Two years later, fresh out of prison, Tobey seeks out to knock Dino off his p...

What to Read After Insomiac's Spider-Man

So you've just defeated the Sinister Six, maybe done a side mission here and there, or perhaps 100% completed what most are considering the best Spider-Man game ever made (and they're right). What now? Where do you go from here to learn more about the wisecracking wall-crawler? Besides Tom Holland's performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've never really seen Spider-Man portrayed so solidly like we have here. This, my friends, is where the fun part comes in: Entering the vast world of Spider-Man presented in comics and novels. Allow me to be your guide, providing recommendations for any requests you may be wishing for. "I just want more..." Well, you're in luck because Marvel has 2 options for you! Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is the official prequel novel to the game, taking place 6 months prior. It follows Spider-Man trying to find an imposter killing people, working with a newfound friend from the police force to take ...

Blue Beetle Rebirth Vol. 1: The More Things Change (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)

2/5 Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle has interested me and been on my reading list for a while. When I first discovered the character watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold , seeing Jaime as a relatable teen arguing with the sentient suit that gives him his powers, his New 52 line had already been cancelled. Then Geoff Johns wrote Rebirth and added a little scene with Jaime Reyes that I thought was both very interesting and promising. In short, Keith Giffen doesn't deliver in this volume until issue #6, where he kind of gives a small splice of what the series could be. Getting the obvious out of the way, the dialogue here is absolutely horrible. I tell myself it feels like a first draft, but then there are moments of repetition and sentences upon sentences of nothing going on. By then, it feels more like a very bloated outline with the characters speaking mostly hot air. The dialogue here isn't flat, it's completely empty. This, in turn, makes all the charac...

Kevin Lau

Search This Blog