(Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books.)
This week’s question:
“Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her.”
I just finished reading The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.
One of the main characters, Leo, has had a rough life. He’s never even met his father, and his mother died in a fire when Leo was seven years old. Since then he’s lived in a string of foster homes, always running away, forever afraid of the secrets that haunt him.
The Wilderness School, however, has been pretty good to him. He’s even made two friends, Piper and Jason. But after falling asleep on their way to a field trip, Jason wakes up claiming not to remember either of his friends. Things get even crazier when the class jock turns into a tornado, and the teacher is apparently part goat. Two teens on a flying chariot save the three friends, but the adventure takes one frightening turn after the other as it becomes clear that Jason somehow knows the location of Percy Jackson, son of the Greek god Poseidon.
Leo Valdez, the hero
Leo is by far the most troubled character in either of Riordan’s Olympus series. A serial runaway with a bad habit of starting fires, Leo is a frustrated, frightened kid, unable to trust anyone for fear of hurting or losing them.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I loved watching Leo slowly begin to see that rather than having no family, the students at Camp Half-Blood, and Piper and Jason in particular, are his friends, are his family. It was great to see Leo come to understand his father, and to grow more fully into his powerful—and extremely rare—powers.
But secrets still lurk within Leo, and I know that he has much more growing to do. I’m not sure how many books are going to be in The Heroes of Olympus series, but I’ll certainly stay tuned in — and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this son of the forge god.
Who’s your most recent favorite character?
I haven’t read this book, but I love the descriptions you gave of the characters. You were a lot more thorough than I was!
Have a good weekend!
I’ve read Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and I love the themes in those books. And while many of the characters in both series are dealing with “mommy issues” or “daddy issues,” Leo is the first one I’ve come upon who is actually damaged. He blames himself for many things, and it takes him a long time to start to come to terms with who he is. He’s a complex character, and I love it.
You have a good weekend too! Happy hopping!