The Son of Neptune Response-Demigods and Their Quests

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan is about friendship.  It is superbly engaging, and hilarious.  One of the most interesting things about it is that the main character, Percy, has lost his memories.  Since the Heroes of Olympus series is the sequel to the Percy Jackson series, it's very interesting, because I know all of Percy's adventures- but he doesn't remember any of them.  Knowing all his old friends as characters, I was curious to know how he would react to meeting new demigods.  He did what I thought he would- got along with them, made friends, etc etc and so on.  At the end of the book, his old friends appear.  They don't show the reunion, but I want to know how the Romans will react to meeting the demigods from Camp Half Blood.  The Roman policy is, after all, "Never trust a graecus(Greek)."  (And of course, the next book comes out NEXT YEAR.  Typical.)

This book shows just how deep friendship can go.  Percy discovers that his "fatal flaw" is always having to help his friends.  Is that a flaw though, really?  The gods talk about putting duty before personal things, but wouldn't someone say protecting your friends is your duty also?  Since it is a book after all, if he has to chose between one or the other, he'll probably manage both.  (This didn't happen this time, but it probably will later in the series.)  Anyway, if helping your friends is a flaw, and we were trying to be perfect, then we would be an even more flawed race than we already are.  I don't think that's a flaw, really, more of a weakness.  Always having to help someone.  But is that a weakness?  Being too kind?  Either that, or Percy is the kindest human being ever to be invented.

Danger is the root of the book.  The main characters- Percy, Hazel, and Frank- go on a quest to free Death from where he has been captured.  Hazel and Frank are both supposed to be dead, but they're willing to sacrifice themselves to defeat Gaia, more commonly known as Mother Earth, who wants to destroy humankind.  Since Death is captured, monsters- and people- can't die.  Hazel and Frank are terrified that Death will claim their lives if they free him, but they do it.  Sacrifice is also a huge component.  Most of the quests demigods go on are pretty much suicide(confronting a Cyclops for its prize possession?  Exploring a living, shifting, monster-infested labyrinth?  Killing two giants to pretty much rescue the world?  Not to mention the time limit, which is usually around three to four days?  Sound easy?  Yeah).  Anyway, the characters in these books are selfless, which bothers me a bit.  Because they're a little too perfect, if you know what I mean.  Most people I know would NOT sacrifice themselves if they were on Death's list.

Maybe being too perfect is a flaw.  I think it could be.  If you're that perfect, your life doesn't have much purpose.  Does it?  You need some bad qualities to be interesting.  Like stubbornness.  I guess that IS a big part of sacrifice, having to help others even when you're told not to.  It's very confusing to think about.