“The Son of Neptune” is the second book in the “Heroes of Olympus” series by Rick Riordan. It truly added so much to this series and universe.  

“The Son of Neptune” follows a trio of both old and new characters. The first of the trio is Percy Jackson, the son of the Greek god Poseidon, which is the only character that is from earlier in the series.  

In this book, he has amnesia, much like how Jason does in “The Lost Hero.” Percy is determined to find his way home even if he doesn’t know where that is.  

The next member of the trio is Hazel, who is the daughter of the Roman god Pluto. She is one of the first people that Percy meets when he ends up at the Roman demi-god camp, which mirrors the Greek camp that Percy is from.  

Then there is Frank, who at the beginning had no idea who his Roman godly parent was. This didn’t stop him from taking Percy under his wings.  

However, there is something Hazel and Frank have in common that they don’t even realize, and their similarities could easily be fatal for them.  

This is one of the things that drives them to team up with Percy Jackson to free the god Thanatos from a giant that is holding him captive, despite the risks.  

This book is the best book in the universe, so far at least.  

It has so many great and fun aspects that make this book phenomenal. To start off with, Percy’s motivations throughout this book are simply so well done and are woven directly into his character’s fatal flaw, which is loyalty. 

This is seen so many times, but one instance is when he chooses to give up his curse of Achilles, invulnerability, for a chance to see the one person he can remember, Annabeth.  

This not only showcases Percy’s fatal flaw, but it also keeps Percy from becoming too overpowered, like many main characters do in their series. Instead, Percy just becomes vulnerable again, so that enemies actually pose a chance against him.  

There is also a humorous aspect to what Percy does remember. He remembers essentially two things: love and hate.  

This is hilarious because Percy is known for having beef with the Greek God of War, Ares. Due to this, when Percy sees Mars, the Roman God of War, he immediately gets angry while the rest of the demi-gods are bowing. That scene was simply great overall.  

It was also nice to see Percy from other perspectives than his own because it shows how much of a threat he is.  

This is shown in the way that both Hazel and Frank describe him while he is fighting, especially near the end of the book. This is just refreshing to see because Percy often makes it seem like he is just a guy instead of an incredibly powerful demi-god.  

Outside Percy, Hazel and Frank are such interesting characters, too. Frank gives a glimpse of what different levels people can have in relations to different gods, which also impacts the powers they have. As for Hazel, she shows what being given a second chance can truly do for someone.  

Lastly, the way that Camp Jupiter, the Roman demi-god camp, and Camp Half-Blood, the Greek demi-god camp, mirror each is so interesting.  

They aren’t even aware of each others’ existence until the end of this book. However, both camps are so similar.  

For example, at Camp Half-Blood they do what they call capture the flag, which is capture the flag but with weapons and powers being used. Meanwhile, Camp Jupiter does the same thing, but they call it war games.  

Overall, Riordan did a great job adding to this series with “The Son of Neptune” through delving into ideas and characters both new and old.