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Research Rant
Nov. 29th, 2012 02:11 pmEspecially apropos Icon, since the chatty Roman women are from the Colosseum's artifact collection.
Just finished Rick Riordan's The Mark of Athena, third in his Heroes of Olympus series. This series plays on the differences between Greek and Roman mythology. And the third book actually makes it to the classical world; Rome, for now, but Greece is promised in the future volumes.
Overall, it's a yes; it keeps the adventure pace going and ends with one hell of a cliffhanger. The usual weird modern takes on mythological figures appear. The characters are smart-assed as ever, and enthusiastic, and their battles, as usual, reflect who they are, and their strengths and weaknesses. A couple of the quests are too easy, considering (Annabeth's in particular) but Leo's "duel" with Narcissus is a singular piece of awesome. He plays well to his strengths. He's been stretching a bit by expanding the number of points of view - and succeeding in making their priorities and in some cases their observations different enough. And points again for making some of his characters people of colour, even if they're still POCs from North America, and sometimes the other cultures feel forced or surfacy. There's nothing in this series that will sell him to people who find him not to their taste, but there's also nothing that will disappoint his fans. I'm buying the next book. Possibly just as soon after it comes out.
However, I have one gripe. It's not that big, considering most of the action takes place in semi-otherworldly places. And I didn't find a review on a casual scan of 4 to 1 star reviews on Amazon that even noticed. Yet, I did notice, and I've been in Rome four days in my life.
The problem? I am about 95% positive Rick Riordan has never been to Rome. The remaining 5% is the off chance that he was but his experience was so drastically different from mine as to seem like he hasn't, or his characters were meant to be that kind of clueless American tourist. (Well, they are. But there are still details that made me go "Bwah?")
(He says he HAS been to Greece, so I hold out hope for the future volumes)
Details, from lesser to greater:
( Read more... )
Question: Couldn't Mr. Riordan have got his work checked over by someone who'd notice?
* For those who don't know, nothing in Rome is allowed to be built taller than St. Peter's basilica.
Just finished Rick Riordan's The Mark of Athena, third in his Heroes of Olympus series. This series plays on the differences between Greek and Roman mythology. And the third book actually makes it to the classical world; Rome, for now, but Greece is promised in the future volumes.
Overall, it's a yes; it keeps the adventure pace going and ends with one hell of a cliffhanger. The usual weird modern takes on mythological figures appear. The characters are smart-assed as ever, and enthusiastic, and their battles, as usual, reflect who they are, and their strengths and weaknesses. A couple of the quests are too easy, considering (Annabeth's in particular) but Leo's "duel" with Narcissus is a singular piece of awesome. He plays well to his strengths. He's been stretching a bit by expanding the number of points of view - and succeeding in making their priorities and in some cases their observations different enough. And points again for making some of his characters people of colour, even if they're still POCs from North America, and sometimes the other cultures feel forced or surfacy. There's nothing in this series that will sell him to people who find him not to their taste, but there's also nothing that will disappoint his fans. I'm buying the next book. Possibly just as soon after it comes out.
However, I have one gripe. It's not that big, considering most of the action takes place in semi-otherworldly places. And I didn't find a review on a casual scan of 4 to 1 star reviews on Amazon that even noticed. Yet, I did notice, and I've been in Rome four days in my life.
The problem? I am about 95% positive Rick Riordan has never been to Rome. The remaining 5% is the off chance that he was but his experience was so drastically different from mine as to seem like he hasn't, or his characters were meant to be that kind of clueless American tourist. (Well, they are. But there are still details that made me go "Bwah?")
(He says he HAS been to Greece, so I hold out hope for the future volumes)
Details, from lesser to greater:
( Read more... )
Question: Couldn't Mr. Riordan have got his work checked over by someone who'd notice?
* For those who don't know, nothing in Rome is allowed to be built taller than St. Peter's basilica.
