Blood Of Olympus Cover Review and Book Expectations

Okay, I've been asked to do a review of the Blood of Olympus cover so yeah, I'll start talking about it.

Above you see the recently released American cover for the Blood of Olympus.
I'll start with the obvious observations first.

Greek columns + giants = fighting Gaea on Mt. Olympus in Greece.
The three people easily appear to be (left to right) Frank with his spear, Jason flying and commanding lighting and Hazel riding Arion.
In the background we can see something hanging from a crane tower.

I've heard someone suggest that it's the Argo two but I don't think so. It just doesn't look like a boat.

At first I thought that it might be the Athena Parthanos somehow captured by the giants.
But then I saw this image (below) done by someone else and it makes sense.

It does appear to be Percy and Annabeth. This worries me but I still don't think that either of them will die.
You can see some lightning arcing around them and that might be Jason trying to free them somehow. Although I don't see how that would work.
Maybe it's just the perspective.

Some people were worried by the fact that there are only 3 (clear) demigods on the cover and the fact that 3 is a sacred number for quests and quests with more than three members often have only 3 members survive.
So does this mean that only Jason, Frank and Hazel will survive? Meaning that Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Leo would die?
I don't think so. In The Battle of the Labyrinth we had a large quest (Annabeth, Percy, Grover, Tyson and (in the end) Rachel.) They all survived.
I saw somewhere, someone said that Rick Riordan has said that he never has more than three characters on the cover.
But I do think that there will be deaths of main characters during this book.
If they didn't have to fight Gaea it would be boring in my opinion.
So for them to fight Gaea, she would have to 'awaken' fully.
For that to happen a girl demigod and a boy demigod have to die.
Rick Riordan has said that not all of the 7 would survive.
Gaea would prefer Percabeth to be the sacrifice but I don't think that Rick would kill them both off.
I'm not sure who will die.

I think:
Something is going to happen with Frank's firewood.
Percy's fatal flaw will come into play.
Hazel might die since she's supposed to be dead.
The 'oath to keep with a final breath' might pertain to Leo swearing to return for Calypso.
Nico is going to have to confront/confess to Percy.
Nico might die.

Reyna might die.

We Know 100% for sure:
Basically nothing.
We know Jason has a POV. ( first chapter preview released in recent e-book)
We Know Nico has a POV. (Rick Riordan said so on twitter.)

Brace yourself

5/14/14

Hi everyone! I have another instalment/chapter of Second Generation Demigods ready!
 I found time to work on it when I was supposed to be doing spanish or memorizing bible verses for Survival. (Like Vacation Bible School only for teens.)
  I sacraficed 60 points to get this story to you so be greatful! ;)  (60 points, because we get 10 points per verse and I memorized 1 out of 7.)
It might be a while before I post again because I really should do spanish instead of writting. These past few weeks when I'm supposed to be using my mom's computer for spanish I've been writting instead.
  And I'll need to work on my memory verses more, there are 12 verses for next week. >.<

My story isn't really 'short' anymore. Short stories are normaly about 1,000-1,200 words or less. Mine has now reached 10,879 words. It's the longest thing I've ever written!
And I will say, all my instalments that I post are the first draft. So sometimes there are mistakes. My sister was reading over what I've written (she loves new parts of the story as much as you guys do!) and she found a whole lot of little mistakes, misspelled words, missing words and incorrect or missing puncuation.
  So just remember that most of the time I don't even re-read it after I've written it.
Most of the mistakes are so small I don't even notice them. And I'm sure that you can figure out what it's supposed to say if there is a mistake.
Without further blither-blathering here's more of the story!

  By the light of a green torch Mallory lead Helen and Ben through camp towards the hills.  “Our Oracle lives in a cave, but it’s not drippy and dark like a normal cave. I’m not sure if she’ll be there but it’s the first place to check,” she said.
   When they approached the entrance to the cave they heard worried voices talking about something. A woman with curly red hair turned as the group approached. “We have some visitors,” she announced to the other people, who Helen noticed, all except one were adults.
  “Come on guys,” said Mallory. “I’ll introduce you.”
“You know all these people?” Helen asked.
  Mallory nodded, “They’re all friends of my parents. I call them my ‘aunts and uncles’. We aren’t really related, but they’re like family.”
  “So what brings you over here?” the woman with red hair asked Mallory as they entered the cave, “And who are your friends?”
  “This is Ben and Helen,” Mallory said. “Guys, this is my ‘aunt’ but not really ‘aunt’, Rachel.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rachel said.
  “We’re here so that Helen can consult the Oracle about her quest,” said Mallory.
A girl of about fourteen with long blonde braids stood and walked over, “Did someone say Oracle?” she asked.
  Mallory nodded, “We’re here for guidance on our quest.” To Helen and Ben she said, “Meet our Oracle in training, Nymna.”
“Hi,” Nymna said shyly.
“Oracle in training?” Ben asked.
Rachel nodded, “I’m the Oracle right now. But the Oracle of Delphi lives in young maiden and I can feel my time with the gift of prophesy coming to an end soon, I’m not as young as I used to be.”
  “She’s the same age as my parents,” Mallory whispered.
“And my sight has been getting stronger,” said Nymna. “Soon Rachel will pass the full gift along to me. Right now she is training and preparing me.”
  “Come sit and we’ll make introductions while we wait for Mallory’s parents,” Said Rachel.
“My parents aren’t here already?” Mallory asked.
  “They’re talking with Chiron before he leaves,” explained Rachel as she returned to her seat.
Helen and Ben took seats on the cushions scattered around the floor of the cave as Mallory gave quick hugs with her ‘aunts and uncles’ whom she hadn’t seen in a while. By the time Mallory took a seat her parents had arrived along with two satyrs, a tree nymph carrying a baby and a wind nymph. So she introduced everyone, pointing to each as she spoke. “Meet my parents, Percy and Annabeth. Shawn and Cassandra’s parents, Jason and Piper. That weirdo over there is my ‘uncle’ Leo and next to him is his wife Calypso. They have twins named Hector and Sammy who are our age and are around camp somewhere but I don’t think you’ve met them yet. Then there’s my dad’s best friend Grover,” she pointed to the younger looking satyr. “And the tree nymph is his wife Juniper, the baby is their youngest son, David Billy. They have two more kids, Rose and Birch who are older than us. And last but not least are Jackie’s parents,” Mallory gestured to the older satyr and the wind nymph. “Coach Glesson Hedge and his wife, Mellie. There’s also my aunt Hazel and uncle Frank but they’re not here.” Mallory took a deep breath. “Now for the slightly shorter introductions. This is Helen, daughter of Zeus,” She said, pointing to Helen.
  “Hi,” Helen waved at everyone.
Mallory paused before introducing Ben. Her parents and their friends had all known Ben’s father, but had they known of Ben? “And this is Ben . . . Di Angelo, son of Hades and Legacy of Eirene.”
  There was stunned silence all around. 

5/6/14

Hey, sorry I haven't been posting as often as I used to. I've been busy and I tend to lean toward reading over writing when I have free time in-bewteen schoolwork, chores, family time and church events.
But I got the next instalment of Second Generation Demigods done! It's shorter (only about 400ish words instead of 800-900) than some of the other instalments that I've done but that's only because I decided to end it with a little clifhanger. >:) Yes, I'm evil. Thank you.

“Well,” Helen began, “I guess you can come, who else would bring? I don’t have a lot of friends yet.” But she still looked unsure.
  “What about me?” Interrupted Hannah. “I’m your friend.”
Ben bit his lip; he looked like he was afraid that Helen would pick Hannah over him.
 “Do you want to come?” Helen asked Hannah.
“Heck no, I just got to camp and a quest sounds dangerous. I was just pointing out that you don’t have zero friends, you’ve got me, Mallory and Cassandra,” replied Hannah. “But you should consider bringing an older camper along, someone who knows what they’re doing.”
   “We can’t have three unexperienced newbies on a quest anyway. You’d be doomed to fail,” Said Mary as she came over. “I could come instead of Ben and help you guys.”
  Mallory rolled her eyes, Mary was making it seem like she was doing them a great favor, offering to come along on the quest when really she was basically demanding to be brought along.
  Helen glared at Mary, clearly insulted. “If you don’t think that three ‘unexperienced newbies’ couldn’t finish a quest then I guess we’ll just have to prove you wrong,” she said, “Ben you’re in.”
  Mary scowled and turned to Chiron, “Do you really think it’s a good idea to let three newbies go on a quest all by themselves?” she demanded.
  “Helen has the right to choose the members of her quest,” Said Chiron, “And Mallory has some experience. Helen is the leader of this quest and her decision stands.”
  “But do you think it’s a good idea?” Mary pressed. “You didn’t really answer my question.
Chiron sighed, “It is not what I would have chosen, but I have faith in these demigods. There has been many a quest with unexperienced members that has prevailed. What better way to prepare demigods for the life ahead of them than to jump right in?”
  Mary scowled; she knew there would be no changing the quest group. She glared at all of them as she walked away but particularly Ben. She wasn’t happy to have her new, younger, half-brother on the quest instead of her.
  Helen made a rude hand-gesture at Mary’s back then turned back to the group. “So now what?” she asked.
     “Maybe you should consult the Oracle?” Mallory suggested.
“What’s the Oracle?” Helen and Ben asked in unison.
  Mallory grinned, “More like, ‘who is the Oracle.’ Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

(See? Aren't I evil? I thought it was a good place to end this instalment.)

4/29/2014

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been busy.
I'm working on the next part of my story but I haven't finished it yet.
 I don't have to many more events coming up though so I'll have more time to work on it. There are only two more Youth Group meetings until we're done for the summer. I have a bunch of open houses that I don't know if I'm going to go to or not and I have my church's Sr. Honors Banquet. (To celebrate the graduating high school seniors, I'm not a senior but everyone in high school is invited to come.)
All that is spread out over weeks and months so I'll have plenty of time to work on my story until June.
In June I'll be gone from the 18th to the 29th for a youth convention, so I won't be writing.
As summer comes how much I post will depend on how much garden/outside work my parents have me do and if my dad decideds to limit computer use for the summer.

What you've all been waiting for . . .

THE NEXT INSTALAION OF SECOND GENERATION DEMIGODS!!!!
I finished it! I hope you like it.
I even know what I'm going to do for the start of the part after this, so maybe I have beaten the writer's block!

“What?” squeaked Helen, “What’s a quest, and how does my dad think I’m going to find Apollo? Up until a few weeks ago I didn’t even believe in the gods.”
  “A quest is when three demigods set out to fulfill a prophesy or to do something for the gods,” Said Mallory. “What exactly did Zeus tell you, that Apollo has been kidnapped?”
  “No, just that Apollo has gone missing and might have been kidnapped, and that I need to find him to prove myself as his daughter or something,” complained Helen. “He was going to say something more but the dream was cut off by something that sounded like a cow mooing and then I woke up.”
  “A cow?” asked Mallory, confused. 
 “Sounds like a weird dream,” said Hannah suddenly popping up behind Helen. “What’s up?”
“Zeus talked to Helen,” Said Mallory.
  “What?” said Jackie as he came trotting up, “Zeus?”
“Yes, get with it,” Said Hannah. 
“Helen’s been given a quest by Zeus himself,” said Mallory. 
“Does it have anything to do with this weird darkness?” Jackie asked.
“Zeus said that Apollo is missing,” said Helen, “And doesn’t Apollo control the sun or something?” Jackie nodded and was going to say something but Helen continued talking. “Anyway what do you think the whole cow interrupting Zeus thing meant?”
  “The cow is one of Hera’s sacred animals,” explained Jackie, “Hera isn’t normally fond of Zeus’ children by mortal women so she might have cut off the dream to prevent Zeus from giving you the quest and getting glory or credit or something like that.”
   “Didn’t you say that Zeus said that Apollo was missing, not kidnapped?” asked Hannah. “Aren’t the gods notorious for disappearing for short periods of time?” When she received weird looks from the others she shrugged and said, “What? I’ve always loved Greek mythology so I paid attention in class when we were learning about it. So anyway, what if Apollo isn’t really ‘missing’? He could have decided to take like, a vacation or something.”
  “But it is still night,” protested Jackie, “I don’t think that Apollo would have just dropped his duties like this.”  
    “But Apollo can take breaks for short periods of time, I think,” said Mallory. “My father once ran into Apollo in Central Park so obviously he wasn’t driving the chariot at the time.”  
  It looked like Jackie was about to say something but just then Chiron entered the pavilion.  A hushed silence fell over the campers as they waited to see what Chiron would say.
    “An emergency meeting has been called on Mount Olympus,” He announced. “Mr. D and I will be leaving shortly to attend. I ask that all campers stay here in the dinning pavilion until we return. Cabin Counselor’s may escort their campers to the restrooms or to the cabins if needed. Argus will be in charge while we are gone.”
People called out in the crowd.
  “Why is it so dark?”
“How long will you be gone?”
 “Have the gods abandoned us?” 
Chiron waited for silence once more then said, “We do not know why darkness has fallen, that is why the meeting has been called. I do not know quite how long the meeting shall last but I can assure you all that we will return and that the gods have not abandoned us.”
   Helen climbed onto the nearest table. 
“Get down!” hissed Mallory. 
“No!” she whispered back. Then she turned her attention to the crowd. “I know why it’s dark!” she announced, “My father, Zeus spoke to me last night in my dreams.”
  Whispering broke out among the campers. 
“Silence!” yelled Chiron. Addressing Helen he said, “What did your father say?”
“How do we know she’s telling the truth?” yelled one of the Ares campers.
Mallory climbed up beside Helen, “I believe her!” she yelled.
 “Yeah, sure, I trust the word of two first year campers,” Sneered the Ares camper.
“Let her speak,” Said Chiron.
  Helen took a deep breath then said, “My dad, er Zeus, told me that Apollo has gone missing and might have been kidnapped.” She bit her lip, “He said that I need to find him. And Mallory said that that meant that Zeus has given me a quest.”
  There was stunned silence all around. 
“Very well, a quest then,” Said Chiron. 
“Hey hold on!” someone called; it was Mary from the Hades cabin. She marched right up to Chiron. “You’re just going to believe her and let her lead a quest? She hasn’t even been here two full days yet! Are you even going to consult the Oracle? I’ve—“
Chiron cut her off, “It is clear that Zeus has issued her a quest, therefor we do not need to consult the Oracle about if she should go.”
  Mary opened her mouth to speak again but Chiron silenced her with a wave of his hand. 
“I regret that we haven’t had any opportunity to train her but we should not delay this quest,” Continued Chiron, “Helen you are allowed to pick two companions to join you and I urge you to choose wisely. I also advise that you consult the Oracle for any information that might help you on your quest, but there are not often prophesies for things such as quests issued directly from the gods.”
  Helen nodded, “I want Mallory to come with me,” she turned to Mallory, “That is, if you’re willing to come.” 
  Mallory’s heart thumped in her chest, she wasn’t anywhere near ready for her first quest, “Why me?” she asked, “Surely you’d want a more experienced camper. I’ve never even been on a real quest before.”
Helen shook her head, “I want you to come because you’re my friend. And I heard that your father lead a quest when he was our age, people say that greatness runs in your family!”
  Mallory blushed, “I’m not great like my father or mother but I accept.”
“Who will be the third member of your quest?” asked Chiron.
Helen took a moment to consider, she was about to say something when someone came running up to their table.
   It was Ben di Angelo, panting a little he said, “Let me come, please.” He straightened up and said, “I want a chance to prove myself to my father, to prove that I can be a hero too.”
  Helen looked puzzled, “But I don’t even know you,” She said. 
“I know,” said Ben. “But at least give me a chance.”

4/15/14

I'm working hard on the next part of my story.
It's getting harder to keep writing and sometimes I feel like I want to quit but I'm going to keep writing.
I feel like giving you some bits backstory for my story. They might not be totally revelent but they're interesting.
Once I was writing a fan-fic on a fan-fic website. It was about my demigod character Mary.
She was my main character and my alter ego. It was set just after the Last Olympian and since she was 16 at the beginning of my story even Hades (her father) would have broken the 'Big Three' oath. That's part of the reason that I stopped writing. The main problem with that story was that I had absolutely no plot whatsoever. I just wrote whatever I decided and it just failed.
A story with no plot is not a story at all.
So I'm making sure to work on my plot for this story so that it doesn't die.
And Mary has gotten new life as a minor character in this story! She has a ton of backstory that probably won't come into play but it makes me happy to include her a little in this story.
I remember when I first made her up and how she liked to annoy Nico. >:) She once slipped a red sock into his white laundry.
I did a lot of fan-fiction with my sister and our BFF.
Only we didn't write it down, we acted it out.
It was so much fun and we came up with so many ideas and plot lines and weird scenarios.
Mallory came to life during the long nighttime hours of our pre-teen sleepover with no sleep years.
Originally her brother was younger than her and his name was River.
Well his name changed when we got older and our BFF started dating a guy named River. . . it got weird.
Then as I worked on my story I found that it worked better for him to be older than Mallory.
Ben was also a character that was invented durring our years of RPGing out our fan-fics in real life.
Of course originally his mom was a demigod and married to his dad but I had to change that in my story to make it flow better.
You can imagine our heart attacks durring HoH.
"Nooo, now Ben can't exist!"
Of course way before HoH we had deciced that Percy and Nico weren't really keen on Mallory and Ben being close friends so that still works.
Well he does and he'll play a fairly important part in this story.
Hannah is also a charcter that was made up years ago by my sister.  Like Mary she was part of the first series generation, just a few years younger than Percy.

Of course, some of my characters are compleatly new like Jackie, Cassandra, Shawn and a few others who haven't been intoduced yet.

So to be clear,
Charles and Mallory are Percy and Annabeth's children.
Shawn and Cassandra are Jason and Piper's children.
Ben is Nico's son.

I also plan to later introduce some more children of our favorite characters like Grover and Juniper's nymph/sayter children and Leo and Calypso's children.

And for this story Frank and Hazel are also married but they and their daughter (Eliza) won't be main or even minor characters in this story. (although I might mention them) Since both Frank and Hazel are Roman their daughter would be at Camp Jupiter.
(Note: I'm writing my story as if all 7 demigods + Nico survived the war with Gaea even though that is not realistic and Rick has said that not all of them will survive.)

4/12/2014

Just a quick post to tell ya'll that I'm almost done writting the next instalment of Second Generation Demigods.
Hopefully I'll be able to post it sometime within the next week or so.
:)
Thanks for reading!